The Chaos of Our Time

It’s happened to all of us: We mindlessly scroll through social media and almost instantaneously find ourselves bombarded. Endless news of wars, global geopolitical tensions, famines, diseases, culture war chaos, interpersonal strife, and a constant stream of anger, fear, and hatred inundate us, and we shut down. Within a moment, one can come across more news of tragedy and suffering than one can handle. Never before in history has so much news of darkness been available on demand as quickly as it is in our times. We have access to all the bad news, everywhere, all at once! 

In a world of doom scrolling, whatever happened to the idea of becoming transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2)? The good news is that Jesus still offers living water, as the Good Shepherd invites us to green pastures and calm waters. It remains possible to regain a deep inner sense of peace and wholeness, stability and settledness. But our temptation is to immerse ourselves so deeply in the chaos that we lose sight of Jesus, becoming callous to the pain of the world around us. Far too often these days, we experience this tension as compassion fatigue, wondering ‘How can I be the type of person who cares for those around me, when I am constantly overwhelmed by too many local, national, and global problems?’

Frantically trying to fix all the world’s problems burns us out, but ignoring or minimizing the issues causes us to be less caring, compassionate, conduits of love. It is also possible for us to curate our input toward a form of naive positivity, thereby creating our own echo chamber of ignorance. Deep down, we know that this ‘head in the sand’ approach doesn’t ring true with being a faithful carrier of the love of Jesus in this world. 

This struggle is further compounded within our church or missional communities, as most people have a ’cause,’ and this cause is often, in their perspective, the most important cause on the face of the earth! We live in times where people say, “If you aren’t with me, you are against me!” So how can we help out victims of sex trafficking in Asia, simmering racial tensions in the US or South Africa, famine in Sudan, illiteracy in Africa, spiritual abuse in churches, growing ecological disasters, and the endless list of really important problems that need to be addressed? How can we be faithful witnesses of the good news of Jesus in our world in a way that truly gives life and light, bringing about healing? How can we find a way forward in the renewal of our minds, the restoration of our souls, while continuing to actively engage the pain and suffering in the world around us in a sustainable way that actually makes a difference? 

Far too often these days, we feel this tension of compassion fatigue, wondering 'How can I be the type of person who cares for those around me, when I am constantly overwhelmed by too many local, national, and global problems?' Share on X

The Cycle of Grace

Trevor Hudson and Jerry Haas, in their book, The Cycle of Grace, gift us with a powerful four-step paradigm for health and sustainability in ministry. Below is an adaptation of their model:

1. Acceptance: We recognize our belovedness in Christ, seeing we are already loved and accepted. 
2. Sustenance: We find nourishment for our souls as our deepest needs are increasingly fulfilled in Him. 
3. Significance: We discover how we are uniquely equipped to offer something special to the world; our contribution begins to shine.
4. Fruitfulness: Having uncovered our significant ways to make a contribution, real fruit begins to grow from our efforts. 

Unfortunately when people burn out, they often have been reversing this cycle, seeking fruitfulness in order to achieve significance, all so that they might sustain acceptance. But that backwards cycle only brings depletion. 

If we take better care of ourselves, then we actually enable ourselves to take care of others. Think of the common safety instructions in an airplane, “Put on your oxygen mask before helping someone else.” Wisdom dictates that we will do the best for others when we are sustainable for the long haul. 

Discernment of Calling and Assignments

One key solution to compassion fatigue is to remain clear on your calling and assignments. Think of “calling” as the overall trajectory that the Lord is orienting you toward. We find the APEST assessment, developed by missiologist Alan Hirsch and others from the giftings listed in Ephesians 4, to be a deeply helpful starting point for people to think through their calling. By contrast, think of “assignment” as a temporary action the Lord is highlighting for you. You may have many assignments over the course of your life, but your calling may only be one thing. 

For example, one person may say that their calling is youth education in an urban context, but upon hearing of a serious natural disaster somewhere, they may activate into a temporary assignment to help in a tangible way. The natural disaster may have nothing to do with their explicit understanding of their broader calling, but may have everything to do with the leading of the Holy Spirit. Listening to God is a vital practice for discerning these things. 

If someone isn’t sure on their calling, they can too easily be pulled apart by competing causes and crises. But once someone is clear on what they are called to, it enables them to remain focused on directing their energy and resources toward the thing they do best. This sense of calling also springs out of the deeper understanding of one’s significance. To be sure, one must still maintain willingness to put calling on hold when the right assignment comes along. For example, imagine someone with a calling to pioneering missional work that suddenly receives the news that their loved one has an urgent health crisis. It may be entirely appropriate for them to press pause on their calling in order to be the sacrificial person of love that God may be asking them to be for that season. Nevertheless, compassion fatigue is greatly diminished when someone knows what they are called to and learns to live out their calling with self control and a dependence on God to care for the things that are out of their control. 

A solution to compassion fatigue is to remain clear on your calling and assignments. Calling is the overall trajectory that the Lord is orienting you toward, while assignment is a temporary action the Lord is highlighting for you. Share on X

Lament, Surrender, Intercede, Recollect

Even when we are clear on our calling and our assignments, we will still see problems in the world that we are unable to focus on, but that does not leave us in a helpless condition. Rather, it provides the opportunity to lament before the Lord, humbly acknowledge our helplessness, and in faith prayerfully intercede knowing that the Lord is the one who protects and helps (See Psalms 88, 103, and 121 as examples of this). This process allows the Lord to pull all our disparate thoughts into one place as we hand them over to Him in stillness, silence, and solitude. In this place of quietness we identify our longings and surrender them at a deeper level. Here we ask for grace to refocus on the tasks and assignments that God has for us to walk in in this season, while remaining aware that the Lord may actually call us to pick up new assignments along the way.

From Unceasing Distraction to Unceasing Prayer 

Compassion fatigue can be self inflicted when someone overexposes themself to the deluge of crisis and catastrophe in our world. We live in times when distraction may be the single most damaging danger to the inner life with Jesus. One must intentionally choose to release unceasing distraction and re-discover unceasing prayer and abiding in the presence of the Holy Spirit. It is in a posture of unceasing prayer where we experience the fruit of the Spirit that enables us to remain grounded, overflowing with compassion at the appropriate time.

We are invited to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). This biblical invitation carries the implicit promise that it is actually possible to live a life of unceasing abiding in the presence of God. This posture of prayerful gratitude and joy will continually fill us up. It will not lead to depletion of compassion, but overflow from a life deeply centered on Jesus and the things above (Colossians 3:2). Surely if we practice this re-centering on Christ, then we will find ourselves returning to whatever is true, noble, and praiseworthy. We will find that the God of peace will fill us again, empowering us to be the conduits of love that God invites us to be in our world. 

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Compassion fatigue can be self inflicted when someone overexposes themself to the deluge of crisis and catastrophe in our world. We live in times when distraction may be the single most damaging danger to the inner life with Jesus. Share on X