Overwhelming Service

Toxic Characteristic #5

Religious addicts are asked to give overwhelming service. A toxic-faith system does little to counter the compulsive workaholism of career seekers. It refuses to do this because it is so guilty of the same sin. Religious addicts are requested to serve, serve, and serve some more. They respond by becoming involved in numerous groups, committees and meetings. They are badgered into signing up and sacrificing their families and friends to meet the system’s needs. They believe they serve God, but really they serve their own egos as they seek greater notoriety within the system’s hierarchy.

This level of service often becomes overwhelming. People become so drained that they can’t think clearly. Their emotions distort. Overwhelmed religious addicts commonly suffer from deep depression, extreme anxiety and a general numbness. Activity takes precedence and dries their souls leaving many feeling hopeless and some the victims of total breakdowns. Leaders in the system wonder why so many become involved but then fall away from the faith. Why? They burn out from the service demands of the system.

It is hard for addicts to see that activity has become central to their practice of faith. They are caught up in doing things rather than serving God. Not everyone is Mother Theresa; not everyone has her gifts or her support system. Leading lives of overwhelming service does not put addicts in the religious hall of fame. It puts them in the hospital or breaks their relationships. Only when the whirlwind stops can God re-enter as the focus of faith.

(from Toxic Faith, Chapter 6)