The Competency Trap: Why Being Better at Ministry Doesn't Always Make You Happier

This episode of the Healthy Church Staff podcast, hosted by Todd Rhoades, explores the paradox ministers often face of growing in competency but feeling less satisfaction in their roles. It emphasizes aligning one's calling with their skills to find joy in ministry work. • Increased competency doesn't always equate to increased contentment in ministry roles. • Misalignment between skills and calling can lead to dissatisfaction. • Identifying what gives energy vs. what drains it is crucial for personal and professional satisfaction. • Growth should be aligned with one's true calling, not just areas of competency. • Understanding the difference between being good at something and being called to it is essential. • Performing roles that don't align with one's passion can lead to burnout and unhappiness.

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Transcript

The Joy Starts Leaking Out

SPEAKER_00 0:09

You've been minister in ministry for about five years now, and if your preaching is objectively better than when you started, your leadership skills have grown quite a bit in the past five years, your Bible knowledge is a lot deeper than the first day that you started. But here's the weird part: you're less satisfied with your job today than when you were when you started. And you thought maybe getting better at ministry would make you happier in ministry, but as it turns out, five years in, competency and contentment are not the same thing. And if this is your story, I'm glad you're here. We're going to talk about it today here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. My name is Todd Rhodes, and I'm one of the co-founders over chemistrystaffing.com. This happens to a lot of us in ministry. Year one, you feel like you're drowning, but you're so excited to be

From Drowning To Competent

SPEAKER_00 1:06

here. You keep saying to yourself, I can't believe I get to do this, and I can't believe that they're paying me for it. That's year one, year three, you've figured out the basics. You're still maybe in a little bit of your honeymoon, maybe the honeymoon's over a little bit, but you're competent. You feel like you've got this, you can do this. You don't feel too big for the role anymore. And then a couple years later, year five, you're actually good at this stuff, and people start to notice, but somewhere during that five years, during that climb, the joy just started leaking out, and you didn't expect that. Matter of fact, you're five years in, you're wondering, what in the world just

Mastering The Wrong Things

SPEAKER_00 1:44

happened? So, what is happening here? It could be that you just mastered the wrong things. You got really good at parts of the ministry that drain you instead of fill you. And that's what we've been talking about here this week on the podcast. It could be that in the past five years you've become competent in areas that aren't actually your calling. Your skills grew, but maybe they grew in the wrong direction. Nobody told you that you'd be good at something and being called to something are different. There's nothing wrong with developing competency. Matter of fact, that's actually biblical stewardship. But competency without alignment can be a ministry uh recipe for misery and ministry disaster.

What Gives You Energy

SPEAKER_00 2:29

So ask yourself what parts of your role give you energy versus drain you? That's what we've been talking about this week. Identify, and if you get nothing out of listening to me this week on the podcast, identify what brings you energy in your current role and what absolutely drains you. Where do you feel most like yourself when you're working? What would you do even if you weren't getting paid for it? Those answers matter more than you perform because here's the real question.

Am I Supposed To Do This

SPEAKER_00 2:58

It's not am I good at this? It's am I supposed to be good at this? You can be incredibly competent at something that God or God never intended for you. That's not growth, that can be drift at times. Maybe you're an incredible administrator who's called to be a teacher. Or maybe you've become a stellar event coordinator, but you're wired for discipleship. You're succeeding, but you're succeeding at the wrong things. You're succeeding at the things that don't bring you joy. You're succeeding in the things maybe that you can do really well, but just drain you. Your competency is actually taking you further than your calling, if you think about it. And it's no wonder that you're not overly satisfied or just feel empty. Here's the bottom line getting better at the wrong things will never make you happy. Getting better at the wrong things will never make you happy. Your calling matters more than your competency. Don't forget that. Your calling matters a lot more than your competency. I hope this helped you today. I hope this at least pricked your heart a little bit, got you thinking a little bit. What are you called to do? And what are you competent to do? What are you excited about? What are you passionate? What would you do if they didn't even pay you? Compared to the things that you're really good at. But they're not your passion. They kind of drain you, but you're really good at

Fixing The 80/20 Gap

SPEAKER_00 4:27

them. And if you're out of whack, if you're doing those things 80% of the time, and the things that you're really passionate are called to, 20% of the time, there's the gap. There's the gap that you need to work on. All right. I hope this has been helpful to you. My name is Todd. I am your host every day. It's just you and me here on the podcast, and a few hundred other people that listen along as well.

Reach Out For Staffing Help

SPEAKER_00 4:51

But hey, I'd love to make this a two-way conversation. If you'd like to reach out to me, tell me your story. If there's any way that I can help you at your church, particularly in the area of staffing. That's what we give our lives and our ministries to over here at Chemistry Staffing. So if there's any way I can help you, reach out to me, podcast at chemistry staffing.com. And I'll see you right back here again tomorrow. Have a great day.