Boredom: The Medicine Your Soul Needs

“Growing my church was like a drug,” a pastor confessed to me.

This was after he got too busy, refused to slow down, blew out, and lost the church where he served. It was sad to hear the pain in his voice and feel his deep grief with him.

He got even more honest and let me into the state of his soul: “I miss being the one in charge. I miss being center stage. I miss leading other people. I’m bored.”

It might be hard for us to relate to my friend. Most of us spend our time, energy, and money trying to avoid the vast abyss of boredom.

But boredom was the prescription required to start soul therapy. It’s also the medicine many of us don’t know we need.

My friend never let himself get bored when pastoring. He filled his schedule with preaching, meetings, small groups, and outreaches. These types of activities boost our ego and excite our emotions. They make us feel important and like we’re making a difference.

All of this busyness—much of it being meaningful and purposeful ministry—kept him stimulated. But too much activity for too long will overstimulate your nervous system and wear down your soul.

My friend worked himself to exhaustion and then collapsed on the couch, binged Netflix, and drank beer. This lack of margin and unhealthy pattern of escapism kept him from acknowledging the rumblings underneath the surface.

It’s by making space for boredom (and meeting Jesus there) that we can face the reality of our ministry motivations. 

Let’s get brutally honest: Ministry can make us feel like all God wants is our performance—this leads us to trade intimacy with him for working hard to earn his approval from a distance.

Ministry can make it seem like we’re more capable and mature than we actually are. All the while, we’re trapped—unable to honestly acknowledge we feel alone and insignificant inside.

Ministry can make us afraid to be human or experience brokenness. This means we suppress our hurts and the needs of our families for the sake of looking and acting “put together.”

Of course, this doesn’t paint the whole picture. Our desires include the noble aspiration of loving and serving Jesus. But often, our motives are mixed due to trauma, wounds, and unmet needs unconsciously stuffed away.

Boredom is like a magnifying glass that lets us see the true state of our hearts. This can feel scary or threatening! But Jesus’ intention for surfacing complex motivations is not to condemn us (Romans 8:1). Instead, he wants us to experience deep healing and freedom in Christ (Romans 7:19-25).

The key is not “getting bored” for the sake of boredom—it’s to “get bored” with Jesus for the sake of apprenticeship to him. Only under the leadership of the Good Shepherd and the care of the Great Physician will you experience deep healing and formation.

So how can you “get bored” with Jesus?

Here are some tips to help you get started:

#1 Spiritual disciplines of abstinence (solitude, silence, secrecy, sabbath) are forms of self-denial that make space for heart work with Jesus.

#2 Set boundaries on the distractions you turn to when bored. For example, you could limit your usage of certain apps and pray a pre-planned breath prayer when you feel the urge to pick up your phone when feeling restless.

#3 Plan a weekend retreat for time alone with Jesus in nature to pay attention to your feelings, listen for God’s voice, and journal. You might also consider coming to a Soul Shepherding Institute retreat to pair times of solitude with soul care training.

The other side of boredom is fruitful ministry and leadership in healthy and whole apprenticeship to Jesus. I am praying for greater formation into Christlikeness as you explore these areas.b

Blessings,

Bill