“8 The LORD is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed. 9 Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever.” – Psalm 28:8-9
Two Unrelated-Related Sheep Conversations
CONVERSATION WITH A FARMER:
We have some farmers who have recently been attending our urban core church. It’s been a delight to watch them enter into the community life of our church. Our urban congregation has loved visiting, working, and getting fresh produce or seedlings from the farm. I recently had a conversation with one of them about “lead sheep” that are a part of a sheep fold.
“Did you know that in most sheep folds there is a lead sheep/ram? Often this is the sheep that the farmer will call out by name and speak direction to. This dominate sheep is acutely attuned to the Shepherd’s voice and moves first in response causing the flock to follow their lead.”
CONVERSATIONS WITH SOME LEAD SHEEP:
I met with several pastor/elders over the last month. Many of these have included some very difficult conversations.
“This pandemic seems to have brought out the worst in my church members/attenders. How do you navigate discontented or out-and-out belligerent sheep?”
“There is a vocal group of people at my church that act as if they are entitled. They make their consumer needs known but make no real move to enter into the care and accountability that is the church’s life.”
“I feel like I am alone. I feel like I’m carrying a burden of responsibility for the care of the church. Over the last several months that weight has more than doubled.’
“I feel like whenever I turn to lead the way towards Jesus someone has stuck a ‘Bull’s Eye’ or a ‘Kick Me’ sign on my back.”
And in this week alone, I heard from three lead pastors, this same echo of discouragement:
“I am asking God to release me from the call to either lead this church or from pastoring altogether. It’s too much. I’m burnt out and seeing very little to no fruit or encouragement in this difficult season of leading my Church.”
The Sanctification of the Sheep
Describe the emotions you feel when struggling with burnout and tell me why it is ‘anger’. A counsellor once told me that most men who are feeling an extended, overwhelming plethora of emotion react with the predominant emotion of anger. Are you prone to out bursts, easily irritated, consistently using words to write-off others, moving from conflict to conflict, marked by an inability to listen to others without correcting them with strong bias, or a long absence of time to reflect on your attitudes or actions? These are a pretty good indicators you’re struggling with some level of emotional burn out.
Sheep Farmer Wisdom
YOU’RE A SHEEP FIRST
The journey through burnout begins when we are able to admit we are sheep first. We are often told, either through a self made persona or through our ministry culture, that we are not really a part of the flock. We are set up as aloof from the flock. Over it. Often we see ourselves more as the answer to the messiness of the sheepfold. If we believe this lie we will soon hear ourselves angrily shouting at God, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts…..and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” (see 1 Kings 19:10). I am personally thankful for God’s great grace to me when I have shouted at Him, “You owe me! Do you know how much I have sacrificed for these sheep?!”
Remind yourself :
– In Psalm 23, you’re not the Shepherd in the Psalm. You’re part of the sheep fold being lead. You too need the deep cool waters of rest, the lush green feed offered by THE Shepherd. You don’t have the ability to spread out a feast and make cups run over in the presence of enemies. The direction through the valley of death does not rely on your amazing map discerning abilities.
– You have the same basic needs for sanctification (being made holy in Christ) as the rest of the flock. You can’t heal your own wounds, you need spiritual tending from others outside of yourself. You sleep in the same ‘stuff’ that your sheep sleep in. You will always need to be responsive to the rod and the staff of the Shepherd just like every other sheep in the fold. In short, you will always need the truth, hope and work of the Great Shepherd.
TRY THIS:
Pick one of these very helpful resources to refresh your life for being a sheep first:
Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund
The Imperfect Pastor by Zack Eswine
Dangerous Calling by Paul Tripp
Buy at least two copies. Reach out to at least one of the more mature spiritual fellow sheep (someone who is neither afraid of you nor enamoured by you) in your congregation. Tell them you need them right now. Ask them to read through this book with you. Make a time at least once a month to work through at least two chapters. Work on being honest and open with your spiritual friend through your times of interactions.
YOU’RE A LEAD SHEEP SECOND
A Lead Sheep is acutely attuned to the voice of the Shepherd. Do you feel acutely attuned right now? I know it can often be hard to hear the Shepherd’s voice when the flock is going though an increased time of ‘BLAAAATING’. It is harder still when we feel compelled to constantly ‘BLAAAAT’ in response. It soon becomes ‘a BLAAAT, BLAAT here, a BLAAAT, BLAAT there, everywhere a BLAAAT, BLAAT’ . Some sheep folds have a classic Ol’ MacDonald syndrome that has marked their culture for years. Pray that God will transform this culture by transforming your responses first.
Remind yourself:
When I am struggling with and extended overwhelming emotional drain I have found increasing my diet in the Psalms a great source of emotional sanctification. In these times the Psalms have truly come to life. They have allowed me a holy platform to weep, complain, confess and rejoice. This has slowed down my smouldering anger-driven knee-jerk reactions to conflict. This has caused me to move anxiety more readily from my side of the yoke (sorry for mixing metaphors) to His side of the yoke. He carries the greater weight of our burdens. It has made me a more acute listener.
TRY THIS:
Buy a journal or start one in your device (there are lots of journaling apps out there). Journaling during times of burn out can feel extremely difficult to do but it has proven helpful for thousands of saints before you or I.
JOURNAL. It doesn’t have to be full of brilliant insight or tweet-able quotes.
– Start with a few lines of UPDATE: capturing your emotional and spiritual state the day or two before today’s entry. If you only get this far most days it will prove helpful in navigating your emotional health.
– At least three times a week move from update to MEDITATION: Take a Psalm or part of Psalm, read it to understand. Capture in as few a lines as possible the thrust and key focus of the Psalm.
– As you sit in meditation of the text begin to allow it to penetrate deeper. Reread or write it as a PRAYER to God for your current state. Asking God to do a work of sanctification through your emotional and spiritual life this day.
KEEP IN MIND:
-Recovery from burn out is not simple; It won’t happen over night; It can’t be hurried; It will take more help than you can give yourself.
-This too is God’s work of gospel sanctification in you; Being a part of the Body of Christ means you don’t have to rely on yourself for health and recovery.
Here’s a helpful article regarding our “emotional sanctification” from TGC written by Nic Gibson
I would love to hear from fellow Sheep what you have found most helpful when struggling with burn out.
Fire me your best practices or helps in the comment section.
Thanks for reading,
BRS
east coast veritas 