Max Fisher recently wrote an article titled, “Is the world really falling apart? Or does it just feel that way?

The brilliance of the question is that the answer doesn’t matter.

Whether the world is truly falling apart, or if anxiety has escalated beyond actual events matters not. Both have the same net effect on our mental state. 

And our well-being is taking a beating. 

As a result, many are falling apart whether the world really is or not.

Such a fear saturated milieu has direct implications on the ministry.

The polarizing political and social climate has placed landmines practically under every footstep. It’s hard to know where to walk sometimes for fear of getting blown up.

Like an IV bag of bitterness, social media injects hatred into the veins of millions…day by day, minute by minute, second by second.

Drip. 

Drip. 

Drip. 

The pandemic, global conflicts, and doomsday headlines wind the nerves tighter and tighter and tiger. People are snapping right and left.

As ones called to shepherd souls in such a climate, is it any wonder that people are quitting the ministry in alarming numbers?

I get it.

Ministry Burnout

Seven years ago, when the world was a less hostile place, I hit my own ministry-rock-bottom. 

Ministry burnout led to debilitating depression, anger, and loneliness. To save my family, sanity, and future, I resigned from my church and moved back home to heal.

I’ve been back in vocational ministry for four years now. I’m grateful to say I’ve never been more joyful. 

(I’ve written a book, Better After Burnout, which tells my story.)

But I certainly don’t do things like I used to. And no matter how you ministered before the pandemic, I believe today’s world demands a more varied suite of ministry skills

In the next few emails, therefore, I’ll be sharing Strategies for Ministry Longevity.

They’ve sustained me for more than twenty-five years of ministry and I believe they will help you as well.

As for today, I share with you another title. 

Not one by a New York Times columnist, but by a Pentecostal preacher..

My father used to preach a sermon called, “The Lord is my shepherd. That’s all I need to know.”

I think that title is pretty brilliant too.