In ministry, business, sports, entertainment, and politics it is common for people who reach the top, to gradually become blinded by success.
Observation has taught me that the more impressive the title—Rev, Senior Pastor, Department Head, Regional Director, Apostle, Bishop, CEO, President—the more difficult it becomes to keep a firm grip on reality.
There are two reasons lofty titles pull leaders toward unreality: 1) very few are willing to speak the truth in love to big shot leaders, and 2) many at the top actually believe their own bio. (I cringed when I was recently introduced as a “best-selling author.” I think they misread the cue card that said “Steve once read a best-selling author.”)
In my own experience, I have noticed that the larger our church (Victory Manila) has grown, the more people tend to exaggerate my importance in the growth. When Victory passed the 20,000 attendance mark after 18 years of teamwork, it was as if I suddenly became an overnight success in the eyes of the church world. I started receiving invitations to teach and speak like never before. In my mind I was the same dude as a few years before, but “somewhere out there” I was somebody important, some kind of discipleship/leadership guru.
The more impressive our title and the bigger our church, the more people who don’t really know us will tend to overestimate us. This is a dangerous thing for successful leaders. And this is why success is often a blinding experience.
Impressed with success and rumors of success, people wrongly project greatness on individual leaders. It would be good for ministry leaders to remember that true success results from teamwork and God’s grace, not individual brilliance.
The moment we believe otherwise, we are in big trouble.
