URGENT HEALTH ALERT!

Health officials are worried about the mysterious new epidemic that is sweeping around the world known only as Mad Church Disease (MCD). Symptoms are difficult to recognize in the early stages leading to an alarmingly high causality rate. While typically infecting those in full-time ministry (especially pastors), MCD is not uncommon among youth pastors, children’s workers, worship leaders, musicians and administrative staff. Even volunteers and part-time ministry staff are at risk.

Symptoms include lack of desire for prayer, decreased Bible reading, anxiety, worry, insomnia, headaches, negativity, cynicism, and lack of fulfillment in life.

A Review of Mad Church Disease

Let me preface this review by reminding you that I don’t review a lot of books on my blog. I’ve intentionally only chosen books to review that connected with me personally. Mad Church Disease is one of those books.

While I actually met Anne for the first time in October, I was very familiar with her because of her blog FlowerDust.net. Over the past year as I’ve read her blog and various pieces she’s written, I’ve been amazed at her gut-wrenching honesty about her struggles with pornography, depression and burnout. As a matter of fact, if I didn’t know her I might even find some of the stories in the book hard to believe. Unfortunately, they’re not only true but all too common in churches across America.

If anyone is qualified to speak out on this subject and offer hope it would be Anne. Her journey has taken her through the worst and the ugliest the church world has to offer, but also celebrates the hope of a new and better way to function in ministry.

Her wake-up call came in the form of a question from an associate pastor at her church:

“Does working at this church interfere
with your communion with Christ?”

That question led her to realize that her ministry for God was actually getting in the way between her relationship with God. She quickly learned that she was falling into the trap that so many in ministry fall into. The trap that excuses the extra long hours and ignores the stress and physical warnings. The burnout trap.

We cannot be dependent on ourselves and on God at the same time. When we consider the practice of rest unnecessary, we will also inevitably lose sight of the necessity of God.

Anne Jackson

My Own Struggle With MCD

I think the reason this book resonated so stong with me was because I’ve been down this road. I once thought that I was the one person holding up a shaky house of cards. In my foolishness I would spend extra time focusing on ministry responsibilities at the expense of time with my family. As is the case with many people who struggle with MCD, the extra hours and stress weren’t forced on me – I willingly took them on myself under the guise of “sacrificing for God and the church.”

Lisa kept telling me how my focus on ministry left a gaping hole in our family. I finally began to see how my “sacrifice” for the church was affecting those closest to me. I didn’t change overnight but I began to be more conscious of whether I was cheating my family and, more importantly, my relationship with God.

Who Should Read This Book

Anyone in any type of ministry – full-time, part-time or volunteer – needs to read this book. I completely agree with Jon that everyone graduating from seminary needs a copy of this book along with their diploma.

The funny thing about MCD is that has a funny way of sneaking up on you. You may think you’re doing fine and able to manage your stress level. But it’s important to remember that our enemey specializes in robbing us of our joy and destroying our life (John 10:10).

PLEASE do yourself a favor and pre-order this book. It is well worth the $11.55 you’ll pay on Amazon. You can even get a sneak-peek by downloading a sample chapter here. Buy it for yourself or for those close to you in ministry.