Developing a Persevering Heart in Ministry
美佳之窗 His Window 112（ Oct - Dec 2025 ）主流话题
Text by Rev. Matthew
In our day and age, we are accustomed with the word “burnout.” This word on the surface denotes a serious issue where a person’s physical, mental and emotional strength is seriously affected. Burnout does not just happen to those who are working, it happens to anyone who are placed in conditions that are overly negative, toxic, and ridiculously fast-paced. This is a phenomena that is happening within the church as well — amongst full-time ministry staff, coworkers and volunteers alike. So, what are some of the cause of ministry burnout and most importantly, what can we do to prevent this from happening in the church ministry circles?
What Creates Burnout?
Burnout happens when there is no clear vision or direction of what one is doing. A clear direction and vision creates purpose. Purpose in return creates value in the ministry or event that you are running, and when people serve with purpose, they will continue to have passion. A purpose-less ministry does not bring satisfaction or fulfilment to those volunteering within the ministry or those assigned to work in this ministry. And when there is no satisfaction and fulfilment in what you are doing, this leads to a demoralising, “Why am I still doing it?”
Apart from the above two, burnout is also caused by increasing church events and ministries, utilising similar faces, and eating into the holidays. Typical church planning will involve identifying the public and school holidays and then inserting church events into these dates. While the intentions for these events are good, it still begs to ask the question: is it really necessary? While some events need to be held during the holidays, the church must also have the awareness that not all holidays needs to be filled up with events. Sometimes, like all people, Christians (coworkers and volunteers) simply need to rest.
Discovering the Purpose of Ministry?
The answer is simple — we need to discover the purpose of the church and its ministries. Paul’s epistle clearly defines the purpose of the ministry of the church. In Ephesians 4:11-13, the purpose of church ministry is to “equip his people for works of service”. This clearly informs us that the church must teach people how to serve God. And according to the Ephesians context, which forms also the context of our church today, works of service means the “fruit of the Spirit.” Church ministry must teach Christians how to love God more, love the people around them, be generous and gracious to all people. And if the ministry does not “build up” and teach people how to be in a better relationship with God, then it is not fulfilling its godly purpose.
Ephesians also reminds the Christians that ministry is to bring about “unity in the faith.” We are not united only because some people serve more than others or some people serve in multiple ministries. We are united because of our faith in Christ. And where there is unity because of the faith, there is the love of Jesus Christ. Christians must not only love those who serve, and despise those who don’t. Christians must not only call on Christians to join more ministries or sacrifice more time for church. Such is a church where there is no unity of faith. Such is a ministry that is displeasing to God.
Thirdly, the purpose of ministry is so that Christians will “become mature.” Church ministry and events must build up the spiritual lives of the believers. The spiritual impact and benefit must be there. And sometimes, it is not the quantity that determines impact, rather the quality. Church should not be concerned with turnouts, but, rather the impacts and the practical lessons or benefits to be shared with the congregation. Even if an event is not grand and pompous, it is still meaningful if it helps the Christian grow in his or her personal faith.
What Can We Do?
Change can and must happen, starting from the church as an organisation. What are we looking to achieve through all our ministries combined? Then we plan accordingly. The collective result must be clear as daylight. Clear goals creates purpose. The burden is on the church to run purposeful ministries in line with the collective end goal. Simply doing events out of “tradition” or “obligation” will not create purpose. We must clearly answer the question of “why we do what we do?” And in doing so, the purpose will surface.
“Less is more” and this saying cannot be truer for the church. Sometimes, we fear taking out or removing irrelevant events or ministries. The church must focus on quality not quantity. Run and plan events that truly bring about maximum practical impact, with the lowest resource, manpower or effort. If a large scale event needs to be held, then, weigh out what needs to be removed so that our congregation, volunteers and coworkers will not be overly exhausted by the amount of work that needs to be done.
Finally, on the part of the volunteer, developing perseverance is about knowledge. Knowledge of why you are serving is important. Serving God is not a vocation, it is a calling and in the calling there is grace and mercy. When God calls, the principle is simple: God is a gentle master — never demanding more than you can give. When God calls his yoke is easy and the burden is light — it will never require you to sacrifice so much that you run on empty. God is also a humble master — if you cannot go any further, he understands. True ministry according to Matthew 11:28 is one that actually refreshes and satisfies. We are not called to persevere through bad human choices or plans, we are called to only persevere through the spiritual challenges of the ministry that may present itself occasionally.
