You’re Not All That

Most certainly agree Jonathan. I have no trouble admitting to my struggles. I think we have to be careful that it doesn’t get into a victim mentality and even sometimes being exaggerated, but I readily admit to the church I pastor that I make mistakes, have questions, and struggle in certain areas. I think this needs to be examined even more in our “rock star pastor” era.

So true, Jonathan. I think that’s why I really appreciated Ann Jackson’s “Permission to Speak Freely” because we need to be more honest about these things. Church is for the imperfect and broken, although most people think that they’re perfect and scare away those that really need to be there.

If we didn’t admit that we had struggles then we would be like the Pharisees. The Lord has really been speaking to me that being like a Pharisee is the last thing I ever want to be.

I try to be as open and vulnerable about my struggles as possible. I found very quickly that college students can see through fake, “I have it all together” facades – and they aren’t impressed by it. My struggles have helped many of them face and deal with their own. I definitely didn’t like doing it at first. I think the church as a whole sets up this expectation that leaders have to be perfect, with no struggles, doubt, insecurities, but I found that once I got beyond those expectations (and shocked some people in the process), not only was I able to grow, but those around me were able to grow as well.

I so appreciate your honesty. Life is not always hearts and roses. Life can be challenging and full of disappointments. If more people would admit their failures and shortcomings and not pretend to have it all together the better off we’d all be.