Leading on Empty

Picked up a new book at the Rockpointe Church library on Sunday. It’s called “Leading on Empty – Refilling Your Tank and Refuelling Your Passion” by Wayne Cordeiro. He talks about being in the middle of a growing and thriving ministry and one day in the middle of an afternoon jog finds himself sitting on a curb weeping uncontrollably. It was the beginning of a three year journey of seeking to be healthy and being able once again to be an effective leader.

He talks about how he should have seen the signs, but choose to ignore them. He was easily irritated by people, avoided situations that might bring tension, didn’t return e-mails or phone calls, and didn’t seem to have any energy to dream big or to see a vision of the future. He had slipped into survival mode, except that he found he couldn’t survive long like that.

The result – depression. In addressing his depression and his need to get away from the rat-race he had allowed himself to fall into, he found that he suddenly craved isolation. “Solitude is a chosen separation for refining your soul. Isolation is what you crave when you neglect the first.” (page 71) He explains that depression changes the way we look at life – the perspective we bring to life’s situations. “Depression isn’t necessarily a sin,” Cordeiro explains, “but we can indeed fall into sin by an inaccurate or distorted perception of God, others, or our circumstances.” (Page 105) He then defines depression as “a perceived inability to reconstruct your future.” (Page 107)

I like the advice he gives for living the intentional life that doesn’t need to lead on empty. It starts with daily limiting the amount of ministry time that takes us away from family, reserving energy for family and self. And set time aside daily for prayer, exercise, planning, reading and devotions. Weekly be sure to take a Sabbath day, and plan it to be filled with activities that fill your tank. Seasonally, take personal retreat days and holidays. Find ways and times to celebrate. Finally, after seven or so years of consistent ministry, find a way to take a three month sabbatical to renew your hunger.

I love how Cordeiro explains the logic for a three month sabbatical every seven years. After explaining that most pastors only get one day a week off, he says, “Most pastors put in an eight – to ten – hour day on Sundays. In the marketplace, most employees in the secular world get about six long weekends a year due to national and state holidays. This means that they are off work from late Friday afternoon until Tuesday morning – six times a year. Now let’s apply some basic math. If you multiply these three days off times six weekends, then multiply that number by seven years; it equals 126 days or the equivalent of a three – to four – month sabbatical. In this sense, pastors don’t really get any more time off than the average person when they take a sabbatical every seven years.” (Page 190-191)

Where was this guy when I was in Pastoral ministry?!

This book is a good read for any of us in ministry. If we can be proactive in the care of our soul and our ministry, we can be so much better able to be effective leaders in the place that God has called and placed us.