Thanks for your comment. I think you hit my exact point – there are leaders and staff members that are living in their own world, assuming that leaders have it “all together” but fail to see that their church leaders are hurting. They fail to see that all their volunteers want is someone to understand their daily struggles, to pray with them, and to support them. Instead, what they see are staff and volunteer leaders that push them with more tasks, more progress, more “stuff” – this isn’t healthy.

How do we address this? The first thing is to stop trying to be something you are not. God put together their local church body for a specific reason, but they often fail to see it because it might look different than other churches around them. We need to stop trying to be like the church leaders that get all of the press and start being the leaders we were designed by God to become.

The second is to ensure every leader is a disciple of Jesus first, making disciples second, and being a leader third. They need to demonstrate first hand the need to be on our knees and seeking God’s calling as individuals and as a church. It is through His disciples that Jesus will call out leaders, not programs and “base paths”. We often get it backwards because we focus too much on church operations than on spiritual growth. It is time to change.

Thanks for this post. I have no doubt that there is a great deal of inauthentic leadership in our churches. Unfortunately, there are also a great deal of broken leaders trying to hold things together in their own (failing) strength. We don’t do a good job of holding leaders accountable or helping them care for their souls. We often assume it “just happens”.

As a staff member, I would like to hear you unpack your thoughts a bit. How do you see this lack of authenticity manifesting itself in our leaders? What does it look like? How do you know? What are your thoughts on changing a leadership culture that lifts up infallibility and frowns upon our need for grace?

Thank you for your heart for ministry!