You used to absolutely love your job.
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Sunday mornings felt electric. Staff meetings—believe it or not—actually energized you. You couldn't wait to dive into the work God had called you to do.
But now? Now it feels like you're just checking boxes. Proving you're working hard enough. Making sure everyone sees your hours, your sacrifice, your dedication. And somewhere along the way, the actual work lost its joy.
If this sounds painfully familiar, you're not alone. And more importantly, there's a way back to the joy that brought you into ministry in the first place.
I was reading a recent blog post by Chuck Lawless on workaholism (if you're not following him, you should—he offers incredible wisdom on church leadership), and it got me thinking about something we don't talk about nearly enough in ministry circles.
I call it the performance trap, and here's the insidious thing about it:
Working harder to prove yourself actually kills the thing you're trying to prove.
Think about it. You got into ministry because you loved God and you loved people. But now it seems like you're working to prove that you're valuable. That you can earn your keep around the church. That you deserve your role or your title. That you're not lazy, not less-than, not a disappointment.
And when your work becomes about proving instead of loving, all the joy dies.
Here's where it gets especially tricky: you start measuring your worth by your output.
Did I post enough on social media? Did I preach well enough? Did that sermon land? Did I visit enough people? Did I lead the staff meeting well enough?
You're exhausted, but you can't stop because stopping feels like failing. You've turned your calling into a performance review—probably the harshest performance review you've ever experienced because you're giving it to yourself.
And what's even worse? You can't remember the last time you actually enjoyed what you do. Ministry has become a treadmill where you're running faster and faster, but you don't seem to be getting anywhere.
You know you're in the performance trap when:
Now listen—your work ethic is not the problem. Your heart is in the right place. The fix isn't necessarily working less. It's working from a different place.
You've got to separate your identity from your productivity.
Your value is not in how hard you work. It's in whose you are. That might sound like a cliché, but this is the actual shift that has to happen in your soul.
Here's the diagnostic question: Would you still be doing this work if nobody was watching? If you didn't have to justify yourself? If no one posted about it, thanked you for it, or even noticed?
Because that's where joy lives—in the work itself, not in the applause.
"Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ." — Galatians 1:10
Let me give you something practical you can do this week:
Stop rehearsing your justifications. You know what I mean—the mental list of everything you did this week in case somebody asks. We've all heard the old joke that pastors only work on Sundays. Sometimes we take that a little too seriously and feel like we need to constantly justify our existence.
Take just one part of your role and do it just because you love it. You don't have to fix everything at once. If you're in a hole right now, just pick one thing—one thing that used to really satisfy you, that you used to love to do, but that doesn't bring you much joy anymore.
This week, do it just because you love it. Not because you're going to get noticed for it. Not because it necessarily advances everything. Do it with joy just because it's part of why you said yes to the ministry calling in the first place.
Maybe it's a conversation. Maybe it's a prayer, a moment of sermon prep that nobody else will see. That will be enough—enough to start helping you feel more joy again.
Here's what I know about you. Because you're reading this article, you care. You care deeply.
You're afraid that if you stop performing, people will see that you're not enough. But friend, they already know that you're not enough.
None of us are enough. That's why this whole thing is called ministry and not a meritocracy.
The freedom comes when you stop trying to earn what you already have. God is not grading you. He's working with you. And the people you serve? They don't need your perfection. They need your presence.
Joy comes back when you stop auditioning and start serving.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." — Matthew 11:28-30
You cannot work your way into worthiness—and trying to will cost you the joy that made you say yes in the first place.
Think back to when God called you to ministry. When you decided to give your life to serving the church. What gave you joy? What made you feel most alive?
That's the thing I want you to focus on this week. If you don't have joy in that area anymore, try doing it—just that one thing—not for performance, not for perfection, not to check it off your list, not so that anybody else sees.
Do it with joy under the Lord.
You didn't get into this to perform. You got into it to serve. Remember that.
I'd love to hear from you. How are you navigating this tension between calling and performance? What's helping you reconnect with joy? Send your thoughts to podcast@chemistrystaffing.com.
And if you or your team need support in creating a healthier church staff culture, we'd love to help. Visit us at chemistrystaffing.com to learn more about how we come alongside church leaders to build thriving teams.
This article is based on Episode 696 of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Listen to the full episode here.