Feeling Stuck in Ministry? How to Refocus Your Vision and Calling

This episode focuses on overcoming the challenges of ministry overload, including comparison, mission drift, and loss of purpose. By returning to our core calling and refining priorities, listeners can regain clarity and focus in their ministry work. 

• Exploring the issue of ministry tunnel vision 
• Understanding the detrimental effects of overcommitment 
• Discussing the impact of comparison syndrome 
• Identifying signs of mission drift 
• Emphasizing the importance of revisiting personal calling 
• Encouraging leaders to refine their essentials 
• Stressing the value of mentorship and accountability 
• Providing actionable steps for reflection and focus 
• Inviting feedback from listeners

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:13

Man, do you ever feel like you're just running from one ministry task to the next Meetings and emails and planning without really knowing why anymore? Like the vision that once fired you up is now just blurry, and if you're feeling that way, you're not alone. Today, we're talking about ministry overload and comparison and mission drifts. Those three things steal our focus, sometimes before we even realize it. Thanks for joining me. My name is Todd Rhodes and I'm one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffingcom, and you've tuned in to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. I do want to share some good news. Today, though, you can reclaim that clarity and purpose, and today I'm hopefully going to walk you through, first of all, some of the problems and then maybe how to get some of that confidence back. Okay, so how do we lose focus in the first place? A lot of times, we just get what I call this ministry tunnel vision right. Ministry, if we're honest, is a lot Meetings and emails and planning and counseling and conflict management. Oh, church politics. Don't get me going Somewhere in the mix, though, the clarity of why we're doing all the things that we're doing can sometimes get lost.

Speaker 1: 1:37

I had a moment like this yesterday. I was talking to my wife Dawn about it and I just said I'm so busy. Is anything that I'm doing making a difference? So it happens, it happens. You can get weary sometimes in well-doing, as scripture says, and we're not supposed to do that. And what I find sometimes and I've seen it myself, but maybe you've been here what starts as this clear sense of calling can turn into busyness and just trying to keep your head above water and keep up with the demands that you've got going on this week.

Speaker 1: 2:16

And I really think there's three major reasons why we get this kind of, as I call it, ministry tunnel vision and why our vision gets a little bit blurry. And the first is and I'm guilty of this over-commitment, overload, Over-commitment, overload, A lot of overs in there, but everything is urgent. Have you ever had a time where it just seemed, ah, I'm not ever going to get all this stuff done and everything just feels like it needs to be done right now? And when everything is urgent, nothing is truly important. So overcommitment, overload, that's one of the first things that happens often. The second is a little bit even more dangerous and that's comparison syndrome Looking at other churches or other leaders and feeling like you're behind or you're never going to catch up. You're not ever going to be Andy Stanley, and guess what? You're not ever going to be Andy Stanley, and that's okay. But that comparison syndrome can make what we're doing in the moment seem insignificant and really blur our overall vision. And then the last thing is and this happens all the time too I've seen it in myself, I've seen it in others, I've seen it in churches and organizations but it's mission drift, Slowly shifting from why you started to what's expected of you right now. So, and it can be ever so slight, but that mission drift will make things really blurry for you Without it happens, so gradual that you just don't even see that it's happening. Do you ever just feel like you're going through the motions? That's a warning sign. It's a warning sign that maybe it's time to recalculate. All right, so how do we get? You've done a great job, Todd. Thanks so much for giving me all these three things as to how I'm out of whack here. Help me now and tell me how I can get back into focus. Let me give you three different things and hopefully this will help.

Speaker 1: 4:23

And if you listen to the podcast, if you you watch on YouTube, you know that I often talk about getting back to your roots. Go back to your calling. Remember why you started, and that's the first thing. Go back to your calling. Why did you get into serving in the church? Why did you take that role as a staff member at your church? What did God place on your heart when you first stepped into ministry? Write it down and revisit that often, because that can bring some of that blurriness back into focus.

Speaker 1: 5:03

Sure, I'm busy. Sure, it seems like I'm doing a lot of things that I don't even know if I signed up for. But this is why I'm doing it and this is my why. This is the reason. Revisit that often. Go back to your call.

Speaker 1: 5:17

Second is refine your essentials. Not everything deserves your attention, and what has God really asked you to do? What truly aligns with the mission that God has given you? Sometimes, when things get blurry, you do have to intentionally and this is hard, intentionally cut out the focus and or cut out the noise, I'm sorry cut out the noise and then refocus on what actually matters. You can't do everything, you just can't. So sometimes, if things get a little blurry, if you're just starting to get burned out and you're just so busy, refocus on what actually matters and cut out some of that noise. That'll really help bring that blurriness back into perspective. And then, lastly, find your ministry lens check.

Speaker 1: 6:07

Okay, we all need people who help us to see. Clearly, If you're trying to do it all on your own, it's incredibly lonely. Maybe you have a mentor or a trusted friend or a coach, somebody who can help you. Just close your eyes, step back and ask are you still aligned with the vision that God gave you? Step back and ask are you still aligned with the vision that God gave you? Maybe you need to get some time with your coach or your ministry partner or trusted friend or mentor and maybe you start here.

Speaker 1: 6:42

Maybe you go back and just say, hey, can I tell you? Because I just I need to get it off my chest and I think this will help you understand who I am and what I'm doing. Can I tell you how God called me to ministry? Maybe they don't even, maybe they've never heard you tell the story. I always, when I do interviews with potential candidates for churches, I always love to hear their story of how they came to Jesus, and that's always cool, but I always love to hear the story. How did you know that you were called into ministry. It's always a fascinating story and everybody's story is unique. So share that story often and that will help you not only to revisit yourself but, as you tell it to somebody else, that'll help you to bring back into focus what you really should be doing.

Speaker 1: 7:25

So here's your bottom line today. I'd love for you to take five minutes to just reflect on this, especially if you're feeling like everything's like. I'm in that ministry, I've got that tunnel vision right. Take five minutes today, reflect on this. What's one thing, just one thing that you're doing that's distracting you from your core calling, and what's one thing you can do to refocus. Just taking five minutes to do that might help you at least realize where things are blurry and how you can bring them a little bit more good focus. Just by changing one thing. That might be all that you need to do to bring you back Now. Maybe you're way out of whack and you need to do a lot more, but this is at least a start. You got to start somewhere and this is a great way to do it in five minutes or less today.

Speaker 1: 8:10

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Maybe you totally disagree with everything I just said. Be nice, Give me some feedback. Listen to the feedback video that we did and podcast that we did yesterday on how to give good feedback. Be kind, right, but I'd love to hear your thoughts. You can always send me an email podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. And if there's any way that I can help you or your church with any of your staffing or transition needs, feel free to reach out to me anytime. Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. All right, Thanks for listening and watching. However, you're consuming this today and remember, your vision might get blurry, but God's calling on your life does not get blurry. You've got this, this. I believe in you and I'll see you right back here tomorrow. Thanks so much, you.