ECFA is grateful for this Knowledge Center resource authored by Dr. Kimberly Alexander, Founder of Deeper Roots SoulCare. Learn more about Dr. Alexander’s work supporting leaders in their journeys to deepen spiritual roots and cultivate more intentional relationships with Christ at deeperrootssoulcare.com. 

Have you ever waded into the ocean and after a while noticed that you were no longer in front of your hotel? Now you need to find a landmark to find your way back to the place where you got in.  

Leaders can begin to drift after being immersed in the ocean of working, serving, and leading.  As ECFA’s eBook, 7 Essentials for Excellence in Leader Care, says, “It can be difficult to maintain spiritual health while constantly pouring out to help others. After years and years of supporting the nourishment of others, a leader can easily end up in a place where he or she is simply going through the motions without true attention to God’s guidance, comfort, or perspective.”  

Are there ways to identify spiritual drifting? While it is difficult, it is not impossible to recognize signs that a leader’s spiritual health is declining.  We are often unaware of the internal pressures that attempt to crowd out the voice of God. But, as the 20th century Trappist monk Thomas Merton, observed, “To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to violence. “ 

We don’t think of overwork as violence, yet our lives are assaulted by our unwillingness to stop, to pause, to take time and breathe. Life continues to present challenges, obstacles, opposition, set-backs, set-ups, daily shifts, and unexpected turns that make us feel like we are in a torrential storm with little cover or shelter. We can become numb and unaware that we are struggling, and we may fail to notice that others are struggling to stay afloat as well because we are so consumed with our own lives.  

So what are some signs of such trouble for leaders—of drifting?  

1) Isolation 

We are designed for community and interaction with others. Withdrawal from people and an attempt to avoid social situations is an indication that something may be wrong. Connections are superficial and there is a lack of authentic deep engagement with others for accountability and fellowship. Loneliness sets in and often there is a feeling like you are the only one struggling.   

2) Outcome Idolatry 

Another sign of spiritual drifting is when the focus for work is solely on outcomes and not on God. The outcome or the answer to a prayer becomes larger than God who has the power to answer that prayer. Building funds, projects, more volunteers, attendance, and other measures eclipse seeking the Lord.  

The outcome becomes the “god” and personal striving begins to take over. Plans are “our plans” with a request for God to bless them rather than reveal them. The focus shifts from what God is doing to what we think needs to be done. We begin to bear all the weight of leading rather than remembering we are working with God.   

In Under the Unpredictable Plant, pastor, scholar, theologian, and author Eugene Peterson says, “The idolatry to which pastors are conspicuously liable is not personal but vocational, the idolatry of a religious career that we can take charge of and manage.” 

3) Transactional vs. Relational Relationships 

Drifting also happens when one’s emphasis shifts to working for God rather than pursuing a growing relationship with God. Completing tasks becomes the focus. Interactions become more about what is needed and what is produced. People are seen as products more than people—tools to accomplish a task or meet a goal.  

This can result in overworking and doing more than we have the capacity to do well. Work and rest boundaries can become blurred, and activity becomes about us. Our work becomes more about accomplishing the task than about what God is forming in us and doing through us both individually and collectively.  

4) Physical and Behavioral Changes  

Our bodies often reflect what is going on with us spiritually. What is your body telling you that you need? Rest? Exercise? Sleep? Healthy food? Often when we are drifting, we neglect to care for our bodies. We don’t perceive that lack of stewardship over our physical bodies has an impact on our spiritual functioning.  

Not making time for regular physical appointments, little to no exercise, sensations such as heart racing and brain going a mile a minute, increased anxiety, restlessness, irritability, mood swings—these are all indicators on the dashboard of your soul. Inappropriate self-medicating behaviors (alcohol, drugs, sex, overeating, excessive shopping, etc.) appear, and anger seeps out in unhealthy ways. This indicates much more is brewing below the surface.  

5) Changes in Spiritual Disciplines and Habits 

When spiritual dryness sets in and the soul becomes parched, often regular practices of prayer and Bible study are atrophied or non-existent. Where we used to be able to pray through challenges, prayer does not happen and is not requested. There is no space or plan for Sabbath, and Scripture study disintegrates into going through the motions to check a box or just to prepare rather than to commune with the Lord. Time with the Lord shrinks and is filled by other things such as social media, work, exercise—perhaps even religious activities rooted in pride rather than a pursuit of intimacy with God. 

These signs are a glimpse at what may lead to spiritual drifting and decline. By recognizing them, leaders can realize their situation and take proactive steps to address their well-being. We can look to Scripture, where there are many who experienced internal battles, including Moses, Hagar, Hannah, Job, Gideon, Paul, Elijah, and Jesus. How might God be revealing himself to us through our challenges? How is He drawing us to Himself through our struggles?   

We can look up and find a landmark to get back on course.