Spiritual Drift: Why So Many Christians Feel Spiritually Exhausted
Have you ever sat in church and quietly thought,
“Why does church feel so burdensome?”
You love God. You believe in His Word. You want to be faithful.
And yet, the very thing that once filled you with joy is starting to drain you.
You show up. You serve. You put on the good ole church smile. But inside — you’re tired. You feel like an internal spiritual drift.
You’re not faithless. Your faith in God and his capabilities are still very strong.
You’re just fatigued. You’re over this church stuff. Everything about church, and the spiritual disciplines that you practice feel redundant.
Welcome to what I call The Spiritual Drift — the slow, silent slide that happens inside the Church when faith turns into a routine performance and rest turns into guilt.
This isn’t about leaving the Church.
It’s about learning how to breathe again inside of it.
The Performance Trap During Spiritual Drift: When Serving Becomes Striving
Meet Lisa.
She leads small group, sings on the worship team, helps with kids’ ministry — she’s the one everyone can count on.
But before service, she sits in her car, holding back tears. She shows up to church faithfully, with her bright church smile. She makes sure that she greets everyone before she sits down on her favorite pew.
She’s doing everything right… but she’s not okay.
Somewhere along the way, Lisa — and many of us — started to believe that busyness equals holiness. We have come to believe that the constant grind is sacred. We believe that serving harder means loving deeper. We live in a culture that is obsessed with the constant grind.
When you read the Gospels, Jesus showed us something different.
In Luke 10:38–42, Martha rushes around doing all the “right things” while Mary simply sits at His feet.
And when Martha complains, Jesus says:
“You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed — or indeed only one.”
He wasn’t condemning service. He was correcting focus.
Serving for worth drains you. Serving from rest sustains you.
You can be in the middle of ministry and miles away from God’s presence.
Faith isn’t measured by motion — it’s rooted in abiding.
“Serving for worth means using acts of service — ministry, work, helping others, or performance — as a way to earn identity, love, or validation rather than expressing them from a place of already being loved and secure” -Jay Wilson Jr.
If you’ve been running on empty, maybe God’s not asking you to do more — maybe He’s inviting you to be with Him more.
The Consumerism Trap Proceeds Spiritual Drift: When Church Becomes a Show
Picture this:
The lights dim, music swells, and hands rise across the room.
It feels electric. Holy. Transcendent. You believe that the anointing is really heavy.
But by Monday, the high is gone — and your faith feels flat again. Life feels dull and lifeless.
There’s nothing wrong with excellence in worship.
But when the experience becomes the expectation, we drift into consumer Christianity.
We start reviewing church like Netflix:
“That sermon didn’t hit like the sermon last week.”
“The worship felt off., sister Rachel was a bit off key today”
“The vibe was weird. The Spirit was not moving.”
Without realizing it, we turn from participants into spectators.
If the worship team has to move you for you to move, who are you really worshiping — the music or the Master?
In John 4:23–24, Jesus says,
“True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.”
The early Church didn’t have lights or fog — they had fellowship.
They didn’t attend services; they became the service.
Faith was never meant to be consumed.
It was meant to be cultivated.
“You don’t go to church — you are the church.” When you remember that, the Church stops being a performance — and becomes a presence.“
The Discipleship Gap: When We’re Connected but Not Known
Let’s be real — we live in a world overflowing with Christian content but starving for Christian connection.
We can name five Christian influencers, but not two people who actually know our struggles.
We’re more visible than ever — but less vulnerable than ever.That’s the discipleship gap.
It’s when you’re surrounded but unseen. Present but not pursued.Discipleship was never meant to be a program — it was meant to be proximity.
Jesus didn’t start a ministry. He started relationships.He walked, wept, and shared life with His followers.
In Proverbs 27:17, it says:
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”
You can’t sharpen someone from a distance.
You can’t grow where you hide.Word of Caution
With that being said, I do want to offer a word of caution when it comes to connecting to people. Everyone in the church is not safe for you to connect with. Some people do not have your best interest at heart. Ask God for discernment before you choose to connect with someone. (I will write a blog post on this particular topic soon, so stay tuned.)
“Isolation is the breeding ground for drift; intimacy is the soil for growth.”
If you’ve been drifting silently, here’s your reminder: You don’t have to be okay to be loved.
But you do have to be known to be healed.Redefining Rest — Rediscovering Christ During Spiritual Drift
If church has started to feel like a burden, hear this:
You don’t need to quit it.
You just need to redefine your rhythm within it.
In Matthew 11:28–30, Jesus said:
“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
He was speaking to people exhausted from religion — people doing all the right things and still feeling wrong inside.
And His answer wasn’t, “Try harder.”
It was, “Come closer.”
Rest isn’t rebellion — it’s remembrance.
It’s remembering that you were never meant to earn your worth through doing.
You were meant to receive it through being.
So maybe this week, scale back one obligation.
Skip one meeting.
Say no to one “yes” that’s been draining you — and replace it with rest in God’s presence.
Journal Prompt:
“Where am I confusing busyness with faithfulness?”
“When you serve from rest, not for worth — your faith becomes joy again.“
Final Reflection — Live by Design, Not by Default
You were never designed to drift through faith on autopilot. You were created to live by design — God’s design. That design includes rest, rhythm, and relationship.
It includes laughter, prayer, silence, and community. If church has started to feel heavy, don’t give up.
Drift doesn’t mean distance — it just means direction. And the moment you turn your heart back toward Jesus, you’re already on your way home.Words to Live By
“Don’t just live by default. Live by design — God’s design.”
From Buried Talent To Living By Design – The Truth Be Told Project
Send us a textThe ache you feel when you see others doing what you’re wired to do isn’t weakness—it’s a compass. Today we name gifts drift, that quiet slide from active stewardship to buried potential, and chart a path back to living by design. We talk candidly about why your talent didn’t disappear, how fear and comparison pushed it into the background, and why waiting for perfect conditions keeps you circling the same mountain.We break down five clear signs of drift—downplaying your wiring, one-day promises, low-key jealousy, hiding forever in support roles, and perfectionism that kills drafts before they breathe. Then we trace the deeper roots: early criticism that tied your gift to pain, the “real gifted people” myth fueled by social feeds, confusion about calling that overlooks small faithful steps, and burnout that convinces you to stay smaller than you are. From there, we apply a whole-person lens, showing how drift drains your soul, mind, body, and time, and why life by default delays while life by design stewards.You’ll leave with a practical gift inventory and a single next faithful step for the next 7 to 30 days. Name what keeps showing up in you, identify where you’ve buried it, choose one person or space who could benefit now, and commit to a tiny action that brings your gift into the open. Anchored by 1 Peter 4:10 and Paul’s charge to “fan into flame,” we pursue obedience over optics, faithfulness over fame, and purpose over perfection. If you’re ready to move from one day to day one, this conversation will help you start where you are with what you have, for who is right in front of you.If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs the nudge, and leave a review telling us your next faithful step. Your words help others find the courage to fan their gifts into flame.Study Jesus' Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30Episode Outline• Signs of drift: downplaying, one-day thinking, jealousy, hiding in support, perfectionism• Roots beneath drift: wounds, comparison, confusion about calling, burnout• Whole-person impact across soul, mind, body, and time• Default versus design: passive delay versus faithful stewardship• The gift inventory: name what’s there, where it’s buried, who needs it• Next faithful steps in 7 to 30 days• Reflection questions to surface fear, humility myths, and healing needs• Scriptures: steward grace and fan into flameGrab a notebook, or pull up your notes app, and write: “For the next 7 to 30 days, my next faithful step with my gifts is to do ______.”Design Check-In Reflection Questions1.What have people consistently affirmed in me that I’ve been brushing off?2.When do I feel most “alive” and aligned with who God made me to be?3.What fear is between me and my next step with my gifts?4.Where have I confused staying small with being humble?5.How has past hurt or burnout around my gifts shaped the way I shoTruth Be Told Project Podcast introduction Support the showWebsite: truthbetoldproject.com Catch Us on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@Truthbetold2You Go to the website to sign up for the monthly newsletter coming soon. Follow Us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mrtruthbetold2u
