A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original review appears below. Garth B. Wilson is the minister, Wychwood-Davenport Church, Toronto.
Christian Renewal: Living Beyond Burnout. Charles L. Rassieur, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Westminster Press, 1984.
The “fuel” that keeps our lives vital and moving becomes depleted. The “fire” ceases. We experience “burn out”. Excessive demands on our energy, strength, or resources have brought us to this point. Charles L. Rassieur has written a very helpful book on this malady, helpful because he deals with the causes of “burn out”, and helpful because he sees “burn out” as a spiritual matter.
According to Rassieur, “stress plus stress equals burn out.” Stress stems from our obsession with work and success. “Workaholic” describes many of us, and we abuse our mind, body and spirit in feeding our addiction. Our primary goal is to achieve; “burn out” is the high cost of achievement. Devotion to a cause, a way of life, or relationships that have ended in disillusionment and frustrated hopes also occasions “bum out”. Even the most noble and necessary pursuits do not make us immune from “burn out”. It occurs in ministers with the deepest possible commitment to Christ and the Gospel and who would rather serve than succeed. We also “burn out” on account of our seeking to invest our lives with meaning. We think that the greater our achievements, the greater the measure of meaning to life. “Burn out” often occurs on the pinnacle. Indeed, our sense of self-worth is bound up with achievement. We say we are “justified by grace through faith” but we actually believe in “justification by success”. Rassieur rightly urges us to understand self-worth as rooted in God’s loving assessment of us. He loves us apart from our achievements. He loves us in Christ.
Rassieur sees self-care as the antidote to “burn out”. One of strengths of Rassieur’s work is this emphasis. Self-care is not self-centredness or a form of narcissism. It is rather due regard for the greatest asset God has given us: ourselves. Self-care is actually a matter of Christian stewardship. Rassieur argues that “the new priority for Christians is to practice the stewardship of responsible self-care” (p.32). The goal of self-care is the wholeness of mind, body and spirit. The whole person is to be cared for (p.33). Integral to self-care is a distinct sense of priorities:
”… the vital sense of Christ at the center of your life helps you to keep essential priorities clear. Stress and burn out often occur because life is spent for things that matter very little. Christ at the center helps you to see much more readily where the true priorities and the legitimate urgencies really are” (p.37).
A checklist of the requirements of self-care is provided: 1) the first requirement of Christian self-care is “cultivating a vital spiritual center”; 2) “living by grace and not by guilt.” Unnecessary guilt is laid upon us when we live under the tyranny of “shoulds” and “oughts”. Knowing our limitations helps us understand what we should do and ought to do. We cannot do everything we think should be done or ought to be done; 3) we should learn to say “yes” or “no” clearly without reluctance or guilt – “yes” to our highest priorities and “no” to lesser things; 4) being attentive to the physical needs of our body.
The recovery of “simplicity” is placed high on the list of ways we overcome or avoid “burn out” (pp. 53ff). A few lines from this section are worth quoting. Rassieur cites Richard Foster:
“We feel strained, hurried, breathless. The complexity of rushing to achieve and accumulate more and more frequently threatens to overwhelm us; it seems there is no escape from the rat race … Christian simplicity frees us from this modern mania. It brings sanity to our compulsive extravagance, and peace to our frantic spirit…. It allows us to see material things for what they are – goods to enhance life, not to oppress life” (pp. 53-54).
Rassieur himself writes:
“The purpose of the gospel is to announce the good news that Jesus Christ is the Lord of life. Where he does reign as Lord, most of life’s priorities become wonderfully ordered in such a way that there is an unprecedented peace and simplicity at the center. If you are going to recover a Christian simplicity, it will require a new agenda and a new set of values . . . Christian renewal that lives beyond burn out is based on a total change of heart and mind. That is where you shall find Christian simplicity and peace and serenity!” (p. 56).
I commend Rassieur’s work. It is readable and to the point. Very little on the causes and answer to “burn out” is left unsaid. There are, however, three areas that might have been more fully explored. Firstly, the relationship of bitterness to “burn out” was scarcely considered. In my estimation, spiritual “burn out” often occurs in Christians because they have become wounded through some experience they have had in the church. They become listless and the healing experience of forgiving others evades them. Bitterness is one reason why people “fall away”. Secondly, one source of “burn out” among ministers in particular is our propensity to assume for ourselves responsibilities that God has already assumed. We are inclined to “play God”. I wonder whether Rassieur has dealt adequately with this inclination as a source of “burn out”. Paul’s words need to be heard:
“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our sufficiency is from God” (2 Cor. 3:5).
God has not asked us to do what he alone can do – bring the Gospel home to human hearts. Thirdly, what is called “brown out” requires analysis. “Brown out” has occurred when our “lights” become dim. There remains just enough energy to function in what appears to be a fairly normal way. But we are only functioning and are no longer vitally related. The cutting-edge has been lost. It is difficult to help someone in this situation – even help ourselves – for the signs are not as overt as they are in the case of “burn out’. I am inclined to think that it would be at least equally profitable to analyse “brown out” – more of us experience “brown out” than we do “burn out”.
Finally, read Rassieur’s contribution. We do not have to be on the verge of “burn out” or “brown out” to profit from his keen awareness that spirituality involves the whole person and the several places where we live our lives.