Some time ago, it was noted in the newspaper that the leading cause of sick leave from the workplace is not the flu, not injuries, and not good fishing weather.  The most common debilitating problem is depression.  Despite the abundance of counsellors, books, articles and medications, this is prolific in the West.  It would be naïve to think it was not also widespread among Christian leaders.

The rigors of leadership can make us negative, bitter, withdrawn or even self-destructive.  It's a dark side of leadership that we tend to deny, while all the time seeing evidence of its reality.

On the top side, leadership can be exhilarating, motivating, inspiring, and satisfying. There can be something profoundly fulfilling about guiding a group of people in a meaningful cause, the mission of the gospel.  Good leadership can touch multiple lives and change whole communities.  Consequently it is natural for many people to want to lead.  But there is a flip side and it's one that can be difficult to admit and more difficult to discuss.  It is, paradoxically, a loss of joy.

This loss of joy is not necessarily the result of failure. It's possible for things to be booming along wonderfully - the times when we expect exhilaration and inspiration to be highest - and yet suffer an absence of true joy.  Have you ever experienced that?  As pressure, stress and demands rise, joy quietly slips out the back door for many of us, quite unnoticed at first.  The cracks start showing - impatience, a hurried feeling, inability to relax, hyper action, longer hours, weaker relationships, and the list goes on.  One thing is for sure, the pressure for leaders to achieve can be like the hot sun drying up a garden bed.  It can be slow and imperceptible, but inevitable.

Over the years I have become increasingly convinced that we have been seduced to think that "being pleased with results" is the same as having an abiding joy.

But joy is a cultivated attitude.  It requires time for reflection - time for in-joy-ment.  It is not the outcome of busyness or achievement, but the result of much larger vision ... the capacity to recognize the work of God in one's own life and in the world around ... in both the large and the small things.  The Apostle Paul realized that it is not self-generated.  He lists it among the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5.22) - "Love, JOY, peace, patience ...".  Later he wrote to the Romans that the kingdom of God is all about "righteousness and peace and JOY through the Holy Spirit" (Rom 14.17).  John wrote various things "so that our joy may be made complete" (1 John 1.4).  And, of course, Jesus' own teaching about abiding in him (John 15) was so that "My joy may be in you, and your joy may be made full."

This "joy" experience is foundational to our lives, our witness and our leadership.  It is more than just having a good time, more than feeling good about what's being achieved, and more than the occasional laugh.  It is the deep satisfaction and peace that comes from recognizing the hand of God in our lives.  It comes when we bask in the knowledge of how much He loves us.

How are you going this week?  If your garden needs some watering, better get to it as a priority.  When the soil gets really baked it's difficult to rejuvenate.  May the joy of the Lord be your strength!

Pastor Mark Wilson

Director of Ministries
Baptist Churches WA