The Long Game

Are you aging out of worship leadership? Are you feeling burned out or pushed out? Do you wish you had the same passion for Jesus, worship leading, and people that you once had before all those years in worship ministry? How can you rekindle a youthful, yet mature exuberance for the next season of ministry?

I want to explore two factors that prematurely take us out of the race. And how to combat them.

1. Burnout

2. Stagnation

BURNOUT

Typically, we think of “burnout” as stemming from being too busy, being asked to do too much, the weekly grind, difficult relationships, a lack of knowledge, being stretched, etc. But burnout happens when we lose our connection to Jesus. When God no longer appears larger than our problems, when we do ministry for the Lord and not with Him, when we forget that “Friendship is the Point.”

So burnout happens when we no longer keep our first love alive. Ministry happens as a result, as a fringe benefit of friendship with Jesus. Never settle for doing stuff for God when you can walk with God in the cool of the day.

To combat burnout, do the following:

1. Hiddenness. What happens behind closed doors, in your prayer closet, has so much more impact on your ministry than your hours of practice. This is where it all begins and is sustained – in the secret place.

2. Make friendship your greatest ambition. Having a quiet time isn’t the point. Checking your daily reading off the list isn’t the goal. You don’t meet with God to be qualified for ministry. Do it because you want to be with Him again – it’s the Psalm 42 longing and hunger. You want to build a whole life with the Father, a friendship with Jesus, and intimacy with the Holy Spirit.

3. Together. And it’s not a great strategy to try to go this road alone. Those who’ve travelled the leadership journey alone are probably already out of the game. Find a coach, a fellow leader, a pastor, a business friend, a group of worship leaders, others who elevate, challenge, encourage, and love you.

STAGNATION (lack of activity, growth, or development – to become a swamp)

Curiosity never actually killed the cat. It gave him his nine lives. The original phrase was “care killed the cat,” meaning worry. Maybe curiosity got its bad rap from the Irish newspaper back in 1868. But curiosity is such a great posture to embrace. It can resolve conflict. It opens new possibilities. It keeps you from the dreaded skepticism. It enables possibility thinking and creativity.

To combat stagnation, do the following:

1. Keep learning. Songs, styles, technology, ways of doing things, etc. Listen – your go-to’s might have to go. You need to think well about the differences between principles and your preferences.

2. Walk into new seasons. Your past prepares you for your future. You don’t want to be a 64-year-old with dyed hair wearing skinny jeans and dating a 40-year-old. Be a father to a new generation. Be what you may never have had. Open doors of opportunity for younger leaders, then walk alongside them for the next 10 years.

3. Physical health. We experience life through our bodies. When our knees hurt, our lives hurt. We may have thought we could get away with it when we were young. But to live in the fullness God has for us, we need to steward our physical bodies well. If you haven’t taken action on this, it’s not too late. You can always improve your health. Just start where you are and do what you can do.

4. Together. And it’s not a great strategy to try to go this road alone. Those who’ve travelled the leadership journey alone are probably already out of the game. Find a coach, a fellow leader, a pastor, a business friend, a group of worship leaders, others who elevate, challenge, encourage, and love you. And yes, it was good enough to say twice.

Here’s to a whole army of worship pastors in their sixties and seventies!

-Dave Helmuth
Author of the Five Faders and Founder of Ad Lib Music

The Long Game (Nº 462)