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It might have been the third sermon I had delivered to a camera and three people when I found myself driving home in a kind of funk. Certainly these kinds of Sundays happened before the Coronavirus, but this edge of sadness felt particular. I didn’t think much about it, though. Ministry often requires a shortened processing time. On to the next thing.
But not more than a week later I found myself with my first day off in a number of weeks, walking my son around my neighborhood as he napped. Listening to Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks, I had the sudden realization that I was discouraged. It was a nearly perfect California spring day and I was wondering if I even enjoyed not just my job, but my vocation. I have not had this thought in a while. And there it was.
Early on in ministry, I had a mentor in my life help me zero-in on the term “discouragement.” He did this after I told him I was “burnt out.” You’ve definitely heard this term before, “burnout.” You have probably used it. We ministry leaders use it easily and quickly to describe a time when we are overwhelmed and unsure if we can go on. Burnout is real, but my mentor instructed me to not trust everyone who uses that term. For many who claim they are “burned out” are actually something else: they’re discouraged.
