The Minister and the Plague of Personal Insecurity

Everyone faces a battle with insecurity to some degree, but insecurity seems widespread among ministers.

By Leslie E. Welk

Consider this all-too-common scenario. I will call it The Fable of the Insecure Leader. A senior pastor developed a reputation for being difficult to work for. People often used the word insecure to describe him. This was ironic because people also described him as gifted. He crafted and delivered excellent sermons. He had a rich singing voice and a healthy knowledge of music. These served him well in ministry. His administrative prowess placed him head and shoulders above many of his peers, a fact clearly evident in his service to his church and denomination.

Associate pastors, however, found it challenging to serve under him. The list of former staff members was long. The list of former church members was multiplied times longer. As a result, the church did not grow; it declined in attendance. Even though he possessed the experience, credentials, and desire to pastor other churches, pulpit committees avoided his résumé once they checked his references. Among his remarkable talents and abilities, he also demonstrated a consistent pattern of insecure behaviors — control, low self-esteem, avoidance, and unhealthy addictions to the work of ministry. He was an insecure leader.

After many years of skirting the issue, circumstances finally brought about an intense conflict. At the end of his emotional rope, he looked to a trusted friend for an objective opinion. His friend honestly communicated the patterns of insecurity he had observed over the years.

The insecure minister began to weep. Through tears he said, “I know it’s true. Ever since I can remember, I have wanted my father to tell me that I am doing a good job. To this day he has never acknowledged anything I have ever done. Throughout my lifetime I have tried to gain my father’s approval and have never received it. This has caused me to become insecure about everything I do.”

This man’s sensitivity to his father had caused him to become so insecure he was dysfunctional. The effects had become severe for him as well as for those who worked and lived around him. This tale is real in too many settings.

Click here to read the rest of this article and obtain a downloadable PDF of the spring 2009 issue of Enrichment journal.