Jamin Bradley

Have you ever seen friends who seem to be the same person? I knew two guys like that once. The younger friend became the older one. Then, when the younger one got to college, they became their roommate. They disappeared when they graduated, and when they resurfaced online, they had new interests and a new best friend who looked so much like them that I almost couldn’t tell which one they were in the picture.

Pastors sometimes do this, too. For example, I once met a support pastor who spoke exactly like their lead pastor—their vocabulary, tone, intonation, and pauses were identical. They had become an echo of the lead pastor, and I couldn’t help but wonder who they actually were underneath it all.

I doubt this happens often in local church leadership, but pastors often try to emulate their favorite celebrity pastor. We might change the way we talk or write to mimic the celebrity. We might even change how we dress to adopt their style. For example, I once scrolled across a video of a pastor online that I could have sworn was Steven Furtick in every way, but it wasn’t him. In other cases, I have been to a couple of ministries where I couldn’t recognize my quiet pastoral friends because they were screaming their messages in the style of their favorite fiery preachers.

We worship leaders do this too, when we mimic famous worship leaders we’ve seen. We might breathe deep into the mic, hold our hearts, smile like we’re in on a joke everyone missed out on, or fling our arms around nonstop. My favorite is when we fan the air on the stage out into the crowd, a movement I assume most of us have copied without knowing why.

There’s nothing wrong with being inspired by the people we think do our jobs best. Indeed, it is natural to want to become like them in some way, shape, or form. My thick black rectangular glasses are grounded in my love for Rob Bell, who first brought the Scriptures to light for me. My block paragraph form of writing is also inspired by him. But sometimes, our interests get the best of us, and we think that if we become our favorite church celebrities, we’ll either make a bigger difference or grow our church. When we do this, we decide that our churches need anyone other than ourselves to lead them.

Some go so far as to grow their churches and gain acceptance by legally purchasing the transcripts of famous preachers and reading them to their congregations. My heart breaks for such pastors because pastors today are expected to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, all wrapped into one. Those who don’t have a strong teaching gift may feel they have to take sermons from others to fit in, even though they may be very gifted at other pastoral roles.

Our congregants are not always helpful with this dynamic, as they often ask us to become someone else. This request comes in many different ways. Sometimes there’s a wink via comparison, such as, “Our previous pastor would have done that differently.” Or they might make us feel small and insignificant by comparing us to their favorite preacher, with whom we don’t seem to compare.

Sometimes we’re told to be someone else through direct confrontation. “Let’s get coffee sometime,” is often a way of saying, “You did or said something recently that I don’t like, and I think you should change.” Other times, we’re told to stay in a lane. “You’re too this,” or “too that,” and “If you didn’t do that, then maybe our church would grow.”

Pastors often feel that they’re given the same advice Weird Al’s mom gives him at the start of the movie, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story: “Honey, I know it’s hard to hear this, but your dad and I had a long talk, and we agreed it would be best for all of us if you just stopped being who you are and doing the things you love.”

You are enough. Ministry is better because you are in it, and you don’t need to completely copy someone else to grow your church or be a good pastor. I’ve been moved by the Holy Spirit during some of the worst messages I’ve ever heard. There are other ways to make up for a lack of skill or to grow than to pretend you’re someone you’re not.

A church that grows by sacrificing the unique image of God in your personhood is not a church that will breathe life into you. Therefore, it’s also not one you can keep up with running. If you can’t be you, you are eventually going to experience an identity crisis and burn out.