Sep 25, 2019
By Lance Greene
The Imposter Syndrome is feeling inadequate to do the job we are given and more specifically feeling inadequate to fulfill God’s calling on our life. I want to start by talking about an interview Lisa Bevere had with Risen Magazine. Lisa was asked about the dynamics of her childhood and I’m going to paraphrase her response:
My parents were divorced when I was 12 and then they remarried each other when I was 14, and then they divorced again. So at about 21, I hit my lowest point. I was at the University of Arizona and I did everything that I thought that I could to make me feel happy. I was popular. I was nominated for Homecoming Queen and I kept thinking, “If I get a boyfriend that is in law school, then I’ll feel happy. If I get pinned, or if I’m in a certain sorority, then I’ll be happy.” One of my boyfriends that I thought would make me happy started commenting on my weight. I started to think about the last time I felt happy and that was when I weighed 87 pounds. I started to develop an eating disorder. I ended up in the hospital but did not tell them that my system was starting to shut down. I destroyed myself physically, in my eyes morally, and I did everything that I said I wouldn’t do. At this point, I prayed to God asking him to show Himself to me and saying I don’t know how to find Him. In two weeks, John invited me to a Bible study. I only went for the free food but that night I heard for the first time about the love of God and it completely stole my heart. My first date with John I was born again, filled with the Holy Spirit, and healed. John told me Jesus came to save me and he had no idea how broken I was because I hid it from him. But I felt the Holy Spirit come into my body and untie all the knots that had been in my stomach since I was 15. I was never raised to read the Bible and I began to devour it. I began to say, “Wait, is all of this true? Why did I never know any of this?” I knew then I was called into ministry but had no idea what that meant.
Lisa is now a bestselling author and a renowned speaker. I tell you this story to show that when we don’t let our inadequacies define us, we are able to go and live life the way God is calling us. My favorite example in the Bible is Esther. When I look at the story of Esther there are three aspects that we are going to focus on. She had a great support system in Mordecai, she found comfort in God, and she took action.
Mordecai supported Esther through prayer and fasting because she was terrified to go before the King. But Mordecai also took her in as his own daughter when both of her parents died. Then as she was living as a concubine, he checked in on her daily to see how she was doing. When I look at their story, I try to look at how we can apply their story to our lives today. We can look at Mordecai as the denomination and Esther as the church, or Mordecai as the pastor and Esther as the local church. We can also see Mordecai as the local church and Esther as the pastor, or the local church and the local church. That is what we are going to focus on today. As Mordecai was supporting Esther, he was also taking action himself. He didn’t just sit on the sidelines.
The next thing is to find comfort in God. (I do want to point out that this is not a step-by-step process, but these all happen at the same time.) If you are in a ship, it is easier to steer a ship that is moving than a ship that is sitting still. As long as we are moving and willing to listen to God, He will be able to steer us in the direction that He wants us to go. Esther was scared for her life, she was a woman, and a Jew. She was a concubine turned queen. The previous queen, Vashti, was banished from the kingdom for disobeying an order. Now it was Esther’s turn to disobey an order and to stand up for the Jews to the king. It’s because she knew who she was in God that she was willing to die to save the Jews. See, God helps us overcome our inadequacies. I know that our churches are small. I get that, but how many disciples were there? Twelve. How many Pauls? We cannot use numbers as an excuse. Now think about our local churches in our communities. How much of an impact could we make if just twelve of us went into our community, not our entire nation, but just our community? We could change the culture. We can change our communities just by being willing to let God overcome our inadequacies.
So, the time is now. When we let our inadequacies define us, we settle for complacency. God does not desire complacency. He desires us to chase after His own heart. As I started looking back at all the Bible stories that I was taught as a kid, every single one of them was about somebody taking action. Somebody was stepping out in faith, knowing that God was going to catch him, and that He wasn’t going to forsake him.
I started asking myself, why are we so willing to teach these stories but not act in our own lives? And I’m talking about myself here, too. I’m up here and I feel completely inadequate to be speaking to you guys. I dealt with it for a year, ever since Jane asked me. But I know that Satan is here to kill, steal, and destroy. He is desperate to eliminate us. The image that I see since he cannot plan or coordinate—he cannot see the future. The image I see he is so desperate that he is backed into a corner throwing haymaker after haymaker hoping that something will land. And when he connects, he doesn’t stop—he keeps swinging, hoping that he can take more people down. When we don’t act, when we let our inadequacies define us, he is winning. We need to be willing to step out. We are in the battle right now and it doesn’t start tomorrow or on Monday, it starts today. People we must get ready.
I just look at Esther and Mordecai and how they did not wait, they acted. They found out about the law that was created by Haman casting lots to see when he could execute all the Jews. They all started to freak out, but they didn’t wait. They took action and they prayed about it, and it all happened in God’s perfect timing. So, I just want to talk about John and Lisa Beverie and their story. What if John never invited Lisa to that picnic? What if he didn’t listen to God’s direction to talk to Lisa? One, he wouldn’t have her as his wife, but really, we wouldn’t have this great role model or lady going out and speaking to the nations and spreading God’s word. So, listen to that inner voice and be willing to step out in faith. Know who you are in Christ and that He won’t abandon you. They might say “no” at first but, through prayer, they might eventually come. God will be honored in just that simple action and a seed will be planted, and that is worth it.
Now, I think about the story of Moses and when they are crossing the river, and how terrified I would be to take that first step into the river. I get that you are being chased, but I don’t know. I ask myself would I have the faith to cross that river without knowing when the river is going to come crashing down? Would it be faster to die from them than it would be to drown to death? But they walked through it. They trusted God to get them through it.
I challenge us to be more willing to experience freedom through Christ and not let our inadequacies define who we are. This is really the best time to make the change because we are out of our normal routine—so now we can implement a new routine. I challenge you to find somebody in your church to support, to find your identity in Christ. This process can be quick, or it can take some time, but it will help set you free. And lastly, make a difference in the community. We like to think of the trickle-down philosophy, but this is a trickle-up. It starts with us in our local church and then moves into the denomination. But if we are not willing to make a difference in our local community then we cannot expect to see a difference in the denomination.
