What does Tribe teach about burnout in ministry?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At Tribe, the teaching that touches most directly on hard seasons in ministry and spiritual depletion starts with a simple image: a cyclist on a multi-speed bike. On flat ground, staying in one comfortable gear feels perfectly fine. But Brian makes clear that hills are coming, and the gear that worked on level ground will destroy you on a climb. The point is that walking in the Spirit is not an advanced topic reserved for serious Christians. It is the downshift that makes the climb survivable, and the best time to make that shift is before the hill arrives, not halfway up it.
A second piece of the teaching goes deeper into why the flesh cannot carry us through those seasons. Brian says, "You can't trust your flesh." Anything built out of the flesh, no matter how impressive or religious it looks, burns like wood, hay, and stubble when tested. He also puts it this way: "Crucifixion of your flesh always precedes resurrection of your spirit man." The implication for anyone running on willpower or self-sufficiency in ministry is that the flesh was never designed to sustain the climb. It is meant to die, and the Spirit is what remains.
The teaching also draws a distinction between testing and temptation that matters for anyone in a hard season. Testing, Brian taught from Deuteronomy 13, is aimed at revealing and then rewarding what is eternal in us. God does not bother testing the flesh because the flesh is just meant to die. The floods Jesus describes in Luke 6 come with the word "when," not "if." What the teaching leaves the room with is that those seasons of pressure are not evidence that something has gone wrong. They are the very moments walking in the Spirit was always meant for.
Taught from Galatians 5:16-17 · Deuteronomy 13:1-5 · John 15:1-8 · Luke 6:47-49 · Romans 8:5
“You can't trust your flesh.”
From Why It's Important to Walk in the Spirit
The passage taught · 1 Corinthians 13
1 If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing.
3 If I give away all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud,
World English Bible
Messages that go deeper
- May 20, 2024 Why It's Important to Walk in the Spirit Brian Hunter walks through why walking in the Spirit matters more than religious effort, using Scripture, honest conversation, and a mountain bike analogy to make the case.
- May 19, 2024 Why is it Important to Walk in the Spirit? Brian Hunter walks through why walking in the spirit matters more than religious effort, using Scripture, cycling analogies, and honest conversation with his congregation.