16 Practices You Should Adopt NOW | By Mike Osborne
Pastors and church workers are gifted but limited individuals who thrive when they connect, recharge, and focus on their spiritual maturity. Here’s how.
Here are sixteen practices that will restore your energy if done consistently. Even if you can start with a few of them, you will be taking better care of yourself. And if you want to be any good for those you lead, you need to be good to yourself. I’ve adapted some of these from J. R. Briggs’ book, entitled simply Fail. It’s a great read.
16 Ways to Recharge and Renew
⦁ Secure a mentor, coach, or spiritual director. Someone with experience who listens well, cares about you, and can shoot straight with you.
⦁ Attend a small group you do not lead.
⦁ Visit with a trusted Christian counselor.
⦁ Connect regularly with other pastors/Christian leaders who are safe.
⦁ Develop friendships with people who see you as a person first and as a pastor/chaplain/missionary second.
⦁ Develop a prayer team with whom you can vent and be truly honest.
⦁ Stop reading how-to ministry books. Invest your time reading theology, church history, and biographies of faithful Christians. Be sure to read Eugene Peterson and Henri Nouwen.
⦁ Journal — and be raw, blunt, and honest.
⦁ Talk with your church leaders about what success and failure look like. Make sure you see success the same way.
⦁ Avoid conferences that promote Christian celebrities and events that highlight ministry success but will only bring you under bondage and make you envious and anxious.
⦁ Be the first to repent and admit weakness.
⦁ Practice Sabbath. Disconnect and be refreshed. Learn to work from rest.
⦁ Participate in life-giving activities. “It is more important for leaders to focus on energy management than time management.” Do things that replenish your energy.
⦁ Get out of your ZIP Code on a regular basis.
⦁ Exercise and eat well. “Clergy today have significantly worse health than the average American.”
⦁ Listen to your spouse. He or she is the best source of wise counsel you have.
Learn more about Mike Osborne’s work with Surviving Ministry. Be sure to check out his book, Surviving Ministry: How to Weather the Storms of Church Leadership. Click here to find J.R. Briggs’ book, Fail. This article originally appeared here.
