3 Reasons We Lack Motivation and What To Do About It
by Mohan Zachariah
Motivation can come in waves. And when your career and call demands consistent motivation, like it does for those of us in ministry, it can be especially challenging. Our work requires us to motivate others to love God, love one another, and love their neighbors. We want them to trust, to commit, to serve out of joy. But when we are the ones who lack the motivation, who struggle to do the things that only we can do, and are called to do, it can leave us feeling lost.
This is one of the reasons that many pastors consider quitting. But if we trace the source of our unmotivated state, we may find causes that go beyond our habits and disciplines. Can you identify with any of these reasons for your lack of motivation?
SPIRITUAL STRUGGLE
Before entering full-time vocational ministry, I thought pastors would never struggle with spiritual lows. After all, if their work requires them to read their Bibles, pray with people, and share their faith, shouldn’t it create a fire for God? If anyone had it together, I assumed it was the leader of the church. But after becoming a Christian in my early 20s, I realized that seasons of spiritual lows happen to even the most faithful.
Consider Elijah, the great prophet of Israel, who fell into depression after a season of great ministry (1 Kings 19). He needed the Lord to strengthen him again. Other times, our spiritual desert is unrelated to depression and is the result of sin. We wandered from God and our gap in motivation became as wide as our distance from him.
In these situations, we find motivation for our work when we remember that he loves us, is not far from us, and calls us to return to him. Your identity is that of a child of God. Returning to serve out of that place of belonging and attachment will change your focus and spark motivation. If you find yourself serving out of an obligation to “do the work” and not out of your position as a child of God, you will eventually be drained and will be unmotivated over time.
BURNOUT
The Mayo Clinic describes job burnout as: “a special type of work-related stress — a state of physical or emotional exhaustion that also involves a sense of reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity.”1
Ministry leaders who feel that they are so needed that they cannot say no are often exhausted. There are times when we struggle to say no because there is no one else to carry the ministry burden with us. But other times, it is because we feel something else is at stake and will be lost – such as our identity, our ideas of success, or the approval of others.
If you are someone who struggles to say “no” to ministry needs, I suggest a return to the call of Jesus for discipleship as a solution. This means we refocus our efforts away from doing all the ministry ourselves to equipping others to do the work of ministry. Regardless of the breadth of your ministry, you are called to train, teach, and disciple others to serve Jesus. As you find and utilize partners in ministry, give away some of the things that you are doing. I have found this especially helpful as pastoral needs arise. I say “no” to meeting the need myself, and say “yes” to connecting them to our growing team of servants in our church who take on the much needed tasks of care, so it doesn’t all rely on me. This not only serves the church, but also serves me in helping me avoid the burnout that kills motivation.
CRITICISM
There is no scarcity of opinions in the church. After pouring your heart out in a sermon and feeling the joy of having preached as faithfully as you can, the comments and critiques of your work can deflate you. And that is just one example. Criticism can find us in nearly every area of our ministry. How we choose to respond can make all the difference. If we aim to please people instead of God, our motivation will suffer.
This doesn’t mean we don’t need feedback. We just need to be watchful for who gives us feedback and how we listen. As I have faced criticism and conflict, I have allowed three groups of people to speak into my life. My wife will tell me exactly what she thinks is true. I can trust her, because she always seeks my best. My close friends can listen to my heart when I am going through these seasons and offer clear counsel that is biblical and true. Pastors on my team have been helpful for me to sift through what is helpful and true and what is destructive in terms of criticism. In other words, having people who care about you, understand you, and are willing to speak the truth in grace will make sure that their criticism doesn’t leave you deflated, but motivated for God’s best in your life and ministry.
In 24 years of full-time ministry, I have spent many seasons in search of motivation and have felt the sting of trying to do the work without my heart truly in it. Although such seasons can be expected and happen to us all, knowing why it is happening can be the first step to finding our heart again. The good news that called us into this work is the one that gives us hope now. Jesus has the grace available to meet us wherever we are and give us the motivation we need.
Mohan grew up in the Washington, DC area. After coming to faith in Jesus during college, he bean a journey toward full-time ministry, taking him through Philadelphia, India, and finally Chicago. He was called to the role of Lead Pastor of CityLine Bible Church, a multi-ethnic, inter-generational church located just outside of Chicago. He and his wife Susan have three children. He has an MBA in Economic Development and an MA in Biblical Studies from Moody Bible Institute. He loves teaching God’s word and is passionate about seeing people take the call to discipleship seriously in their lives.