The Ministry Tableნიმუში

Impostor Syndrome

Impostor syndrome. Ever heard of it? Maybe you have it. I know I do. It’s the fear that the other shoe might drop. The anxiety that they (whoever they are) might finally find out you don’t know what they think you know. It’s crippling to our ministry.

I struggle with these feelings. Who am I? Why should anyone listen to me? What if you knew my faults, my shortcomings, how often I can remember the content of a Scripture passage but can’t remember the exact reference? Great, now you know I’m an impostor.

Here’s the secret: All of us are impostors. That’s how God set things up. The beauty of being an impostor is that everything we accomplish in ministry points back to Jesus. Paul says in 1 Corinthians that many of the Corinthians were not wise, influential, or noble by birth. That sounds a lot like me.

Yet, God chose them. He also chose us. The foolish things of the world, the impostors, they shame the world’s wisdom.

Maybe you don’t feel good enough to be in ministry. Great! You’re not. Neither am I. Neither was Billy Graham. We don’t earn our calling with aptitude. We receive it by grace.

When we answer the call, God increases our wisdom and abilities to do what he’s called us to do. Then, God receives the glory he deserves from his army of impostors. Our boast isn’t the size of our ministry; it’s that God can use someone like me to reach a lost world.

Pastor Dwayne Riner
Associate Children’s Minister at The Ark Church
Conroe, TX
https://www.dwayneriner.com/