When You're Good at Your Job But Don't Love It Anymore

In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses the difference between being competent in ministry and finding fulfillment in it. He highlights the importance of alignment between one's deepest gifts and the church's needs, urging listeners to seek both competence and fulfillment in their ministry roles. Todd encourages church staff to reflect on what aspects of their ministry make them feel most alive and to create more space for those fulfilling activities, rather than merely managing tasks. He offers practical advice on how to reclaim the sense of purpose and calling that first drew them to ministry. • Competency does not equate to fulfillment. • Fulfillment comes from alignment of gifts with church needs. • Reflect on moments of deep engagement in ministry. • Create space for activities that bring fulfillment. • Move beyond just managing tasks to thriving in your calling.

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Transcript

When Success Feels Empty

SPEAKER_00 0:07

You get good feedback to get your performances. All of your programs are running pretty smoothly. It seems like people love you, they appreciate your work, but Sunday night you're already dreading Monday morning. And you're not sure why. You're not failing in ministry. You're just not, I don't know why I want to put this, you're not alive in it anymore. And there's a difference, it seems, between being good at your job and actually loving what you do. And if this sounds familiar, you're in the right place on the right day at the right time, because that's what we're talking about here today on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast.

Research On Fading Fulfillment

SPEAKER_00 0:47

My name's Todd Rhodes, and I'm one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffing.com. I came across some research recently that put words to a lot of what some people are really thinking, and I have felt this way over the years as well during ministry. A recent study found that fewer pastors are finding their work deeply fulfilling, not incompetent, not effective, just not deeply fulfilled. And you can hit your metrics and miss your calling. You can serve faithfully and at times just feel kind of empty.

The Competency Trap Explained

SPEAKER_00 1:22

So here's what's happening to a lot of really good church staff people. It's really a competency trap. You get good at the administrative stuff, you've learned to manage programs and your budget. You know your church really well. Your schedule is mundane, it is the same week after week. You can run meetings, you can plan events almost with your eyes closed, blindfolded. You can coordinate volunteers, but somewhere along the way, you stopped touching the one thing that called you here. You became more of a ministry manager instead of a ministry leader. And the skills that made you successful are now, it's weird, but they're those same things that made you successful are counting out just suffocating your soul. And I want you to hear this. Being competent is not the problem. Churches need competent leaders. Your church needs you, your church needs you to be a competent leader.

Alignment Over Achievement

SPEAKER_00 2:23

But the fulfillment comes from alignment, not from achievement. That's really important. Let me repeat that. Your fulfillment comes from alignment with your ministry role, not the achievement that you get in your ministry role. Here's what I mean. It's when your deepest gifts meet your church's greatest needs. It's when you're doing ministry from your calling, not just in your calling. So ask yourself what part of my role makes me lose track of time? What ministry moment last month made me think this is why I'm here? That's your fulfillment compass. But here's the part that a lot of people just don't talk about. You might need to give yourself permission to want more than just find. Sustainable isn't the same as satisfying. So God didn't call you to ministry management, he called you to ministry. And there's a difference between serving faithfully and thriving purposefully. There's a difference between serving faithfully and thriving purposefully. You're allowed to want both competence and fulfillment. So here's your bottom line for today. Being good at your ministry job isn't enough if it's slowly killing your calling. Here's what I think would be really helpful.

A 30-Minute Reset Practice

SPEAKER_00 3:43

Try this. This week, I want you to block out 30 minutes. Grab your calendar right now, you've got it. On your computer and your phone. Write down the last three times, schedule that 30 minutes out, and then write down the last three times you felt fully alive in your ministry world. What were you doing? Who were you with? What made it different? And then ask yourself, how can I recreate more space for that? Whatever those three things were. How can I create more space for that? Those kind of things in my current role. Because here's the truth. You weren't called to be a ministry machine. You were called to be you in ministry. And there's a difference. I hope that's helpful for you today. And maybe today will prompt some thoughts. I hope you'll take that 30 minutes on your calendar. Again, the three things I want you to ask yourself. The last three times, actually, just the three times that you felt really alive in ministry. What were you doing? Who were you with? And what made it different? And then end out your 30 minutes with just, hey, name a couple of things that you could do to create more space for those kind of things to happen this next week in your ministry.

Invitation To Reach Out

SPEAKER_00 4:55

My name's Todd, and I'm your ministry partner here at Chemistry Staffing. We are for you and we want to help you however we can. If there's a way that I can help you in your ministry, particularly when it comes to staffing, reach out to me. I'd love to hear from you. My email address is podcast at chemistry staffing. I read every email, get back to everybody that emails me. So please do that, podcast at chemistry staffing. All right, that's it for today. I hope you have a great day and join us here again tomorrow on the Helping Church staff.