Breathing in Life Instead of Burning Out

Burnout is a hot topic these days. Much has been written about it. Not only is there a plethora of books, courses, podcasts, and social media currently addressing burnout, but it has been researched for over 50 years. Even our own Michaela O’Donnell shared her musings on what to do about burnout. One thing is clear: burnout is an unfortunate reality for a growing number of workers. One thing is clear: burnout is an unfortunate reality for a growing number of workers.

One thing is clear: burnout is an unfortunate reality for a growing number of workers.

However, we do not have to resign ourselves to accepting burnout as an inevitable reality. Understanding why and how we end up in burnout can be helpful in successfully avoiding it. As the saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

A Christian Perspective on Burnout

A common misconception is that burnout is “just” working too hard or giving too much.
But as far back as 1999, author Parker Palmer challenged this myth, writing,

“Though usually regarded as the result of trying to give too much, burnout in my experience results from trying to give what I do not possess — the ultimate in giving too little! Burnout is a state of emptiness, to be sure, but it does not result from giving all I have; it merely reveals the nothingness from which I was trying to give in the first place.”

As marketplace leaders who are, first and foremost, followers of Jesus, we recognize these truths in the words of Jesus in John 15, particularly in verse 4: “Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me” (NIV). Jesus’ words are not a pronouncement of judgment, just a statement of fact. When we are separated from the source of life, we will feel lifeless. When we are separated from the source of life, we will feel lifeless. We will have nothing to give because even if we fill ourselves with the best degrees from the best schools, the best job opportunities at the best companies, and surround ourselves with the best mentors and colleagues, eventually we will find ourselves staring into a dark abyss, wondering, “What is it all for?”

When we are separated from the source of life, we will feel lifeless.

Ultimately, burnout is not a crisis of competence, but of conscience. We do not burn out because we cannot do things, but because we have listened to voices and bought into lies that lead us to do things we should not do. Burnout is often birthed at the intersection of organizational dysfunction and our individual buy-in to inaccurate messages perpetuated by such organizations. Some of these are:

• “You can (and should) have it all.” You might, but certainly not all at once. There is a reason why seasons are part of the created order.
• “Everybody else is doing it” or “Nobody else is doing it.” Chronically comparing yourself to your competitors not only stifles your creativity, but also blinds you to your truest self and calling.
• “I’m the only one who can do it.” Really? If you were to die tomorrow, would the work cease to exist? Perhaps in the rarest of cases, but generally, the answer is a safe no.
• “You cannot stop or take a break.” Inextricably intertwined with the previous lie, it deceives us about our self-importance, makes us our own god, and makes idols of our work and activities.
• “Mistakes are unacceptable.” This is possibly the most insidious of all the lies because it implies that being human, which we all are, is unacceptable. It leads us to make choices out of fear—which almost always ends poorly. It also makes us into cruel and harsh leaders because we become cruel and harsh with ourselves.

Henri Nouwen shares this outrageously radical antidote to burnout:

“I am deeply convinced that the Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her own vulnerable self. That is the way Jesus came to reveal God’s love. The great message that we have to carry, as ministers of God’s word and followers of Jesus, is that God loves us not because of what we do or accomplish, but because God has created and redeemed us in love and has chosen us to proclaim that love as the true source of all human life.”

At first glance, this sounds as appealing as Christ’s directive: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Matt. 16:24, NIV). Yet anyone who has followed Jesus wholeheartedly knows the deep, paradoxical truth of this command and its corresponding promise.

The word used for “life” and “soul” in verses 25-26 is the Greek word psyche, which can also be translated as “breath of life.” Its opposite, apsuchos, could be translated as “lifeless, soulless, inanimate.” What could possibly describe burnout more accurately than that?

If we want to avoid becoming soulless, lifeless versions of ourselves, we must turn away from the traditional ways of approaching work and calling. It does not mean we quit our jobs (which, ironically, many do when they end up in burnout), but that we radically shift our mindset about our jobs—a renewing of our minds, if you will (Romans 12:2). Jesus asks us to deny all the ways we make our work about ourselves, take up our crosses—the work we do in this life—and follow him, wherever he leads us in our work.

More is not more, unless it is more gas on the pedal on the highway toward burnout. As Christian leaders, we are invited to find the counterintuitive way that Jesus prepares for us—the road that is not only less traveled but less relevant, less popular, less paved with ego-stroking accolades and fickle attention.

The Restoration of Sabbath

One concrete way we can begin this transformational work is to learn about and practice the Sabbath. It is in the “Top 10 Things God Wants Us To Do” (Ex. 20.8-10), up there with “Do not murder” and “Do not steal,” yet we nonchalantly brush it aside as existential fluff. Observing the Sabbath, however, is powerful and dangerous stuff. In fact, theologian Walter Brueggemann argues it is countercultural, revolutionary, resistance:

“[Sabbath] declares in bodily ways that we will not participate in the anxiety system that pervades our social environment. We will not be defined by busyness and by acquisitiveness and by pursuit of more, and either our economics or our personal relationships or anywhere in our lives. Because our life does not consist in commodity.”

When we engage in this defiant act, it restores our connection to the life-giving Vine. It opens our eyes and ears to the truths of our Creator—truths about who we are and what we were created for. We become unabashedly human, full of life and a whole range of emotions, both joy and sorrow. We connect with others as God intended and our work becomes a way to serve them, as well as God.

Ruth Haley Barton quotes Ron Rolheiser in her excellent book Embracing Rhythms of Rest: From Sabbath to Sabbatical and Back Again: “Work, like prayer, is a privileged way to get to know God because, when we work, we are toiling and partnership with him.” Sabbath is how we restore work to its status as a privilege, rather than allowing it to devolve into idolatrous bondage that leads to burnout.  In doing so, we experience the Breath of Life renewing our minds, restoring our bodies, and making our souls whole again.

Sabbath is how we restore work to its status as a privilege, rather than allowing it to devolve into idolatrous bondage that leads to burnout.