Fake Leader Syndrome? Check Your Standards First

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Welcome to Equipped for Purpose. I'm your host, Vincent Ream, and this is the podcast

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where discipleship meets impactful leadership. Whether you're new to faith or a seasoned follower

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of Christ, this podcast is designed to help you deepen your relationship with Jesus, grow as a

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leader, and make a difference in every area of your life. Together, we'll explore practical tools,

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biblical insights, and real-life strategies to equip you for the purpose God has called you to.

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Let's dive in.

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If you've ever sat in a church service and thought, everyone here seems to have it together except me, stay here.

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If you've led a small group or a team at work or just your kids at the dinner table and privately wondered if your own faith is too shallow to be leading anyone, this is for you.

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Because what I'm about to say might be the most freeing thing you hear this year.

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It's not your fault.

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You're not a fake Christian.

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You're a real Christian who's been handed a fake measuring stick.

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And once you see it, you can't unsee it.

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Let me describe something you might recognize.

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You know the Bible.

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You can name all the books.

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You've been in church most of your life.

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You know Philippians 4:13, maybe too well at this point.

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People look to you.

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Maybe you're a team lead.

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Maybe you're a leader.

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Maybe your spouse or your kids or your co-workers assume you're the steady one.

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And you carry that weight, but privately when nobody's watching, there's this whisper.

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You're not as far along as they think you are.

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Other people may have a prayer life you've never touched.

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If you were really serious about your faith, you'd feel more.

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You'd want to open your Bible more.

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You'd be different.

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And so you measure yourself against the highlight reel.

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Picture it, the guy with his hands raised during worship,

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eyes closed, like he's the only one in the room.

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Or the testimony that starts with,

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I was addicted to everything and ends with,

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and now I run a ministry.

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The person who posts a verse every morning at 5 a.m.

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like it's breathing.

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And you look at your own life, quiet, faithful, not dramatic, and you think,

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maybe I'm missing something.

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Maybe my faith isn't real.

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Maybe I'm a fraud.

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Here's what nobody told you.

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You've been measuring with the wrong ruler.

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And if you measure yourself with the wrong ruler, you will always, always come up short.

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There are three measures we've been told are proof of spiritual maturity.

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And none of them are. Let me show you. The first is emotional intensity. We walk into

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a worship service and see someone visibly moved, hands up, eyes closed, weeping. And somewhere in

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the back of our mind, we think, that's the real thing. I don't feel like that. Something must be

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wrong with me. But here's the problem. That confuses temperament with devotion. Some of the

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holiest people in church are the quietest. The woman who sits in the back row, hands folded,

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not singing loud enough for you to hear. And she's been praying for her prodigal son for 23 years.

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That's not shallow faith.

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That's deep roots in hard soil.

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You just can't see it from the outside.

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Emotional intensity is not the measure.

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Now, the second is the radical testimony.

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We love a good before and after.

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You hear a testimony that goes something like this.

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I was an atheist drug dealer and Jesus showed up.

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That's a real story.

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God does that, and it's a fantastic thing worth celebrating.

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But when that becomes the gold standard, what happens to the person who grew up in a Christian

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home, never had a dramatic rebellion, and just followed Jesus his whole life?

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We accidentally tell him his story isn't enough.

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Some of the most faithful people in Scripture have the most boring testimonies.

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There's Timothy, raised by a believing mother and grandmother.

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Paul tells him to fan into flame the gift he already has,

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not to go manufacture a crisis first.

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You don't need a dramatic past to have a deep present.

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And the third counterfeit measuring stick is how much Bible you consume.

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Now hear me.

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Scripture is essential.

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It's God's word.

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I'm not saying stop reading your Bible.

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But I am saying this.

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Volume of input is not the measure of transformation.

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Satan knows more scripture than you.

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He quoted it to Jesus in the wilderness.

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Chapter and verse, knowing and doing are not the same thing.

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And we have built a culture where the person who reads the most

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or listens to the most podcasts or takes the most sermon notes,

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is assured to be the most mature.

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But information alone never transformed anyone.

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None of these things are bad.

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They're just not the measure.

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So if feeling isn't the measure and a dramatic story isn't the measure

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and consumption isn't the measure, what is?

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Let's look at what Jesus actually pointed to.

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Obedience.

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not experience. John 14:15 says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments.

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He didn't say, if you love me, you'll feel a certain way during worship. He didn't say,

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if you love me, you'll have a powerful testimony. He said, you'll keep my commandments.

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Obedience. That's the first measure. And here's what's freeing about that. Obedience is observable.

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You can track it. Did I do what he asked today? Yes or no? It's not a feeling you have to chase.

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It's a decision you make. A second is fruit, not fervor. In Galatians 5, we see that the evidence

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of the Spirit isn't goosebumps during the bridge of a song. It's love, joy, peace, kindness,

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patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Notice how ordinary that list is.

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Patience with your kids when they're pushing every button. Self-control when you wanted to snap at

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something small. Gentleness when someone was short with you and you could have fired back.

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Fruit doesn't shout, it just grows quietly over time. And people around you can see it,

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even when you can't. And the third measurement is faithfulness in small things.

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This is the one that undoes me every time. The parable of the talents from Matthew 25.

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The master gives one servant five talents and another two, another one. And when he returns,

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what does he reward? Not the biggest outcome. The two-talent servant got exactly the same words as

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the five-talent servant. Well done, good and faithful servant. Faithful, not successful,

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not impressive, not viral. Faithful. You know what that means? It means the one who shows up every

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day, does the small thing nobody sees and keeps doing it, that one is not a fake Christian.

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That person is exactly what Jesus described as the real thing. You've been chasing a feeling when

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Jesus was measuring a fruit, and the fruit might be sitting right in front of you. You've just been

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looking past it, looking for something louder. So here's what I want you to do. Just one thing,

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Not a program, not a journal you'll buy and never open.

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It's the end of the day inventory.

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Two questions, one minute before you go to sleep.

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Question one, where did I obey God today?

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Not, did I feel close to God?

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Not, did I have a meaningful quiet time?

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Where did I actually do something he asked?

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Maybe it was holding your tongue when you wanted to criticize.

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Maybe it was a decision where you chose integrity over convenience.

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Maybe it was apologizing to your kid when you didn't have to.

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Obedience.

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Observable.

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Trackable.

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A question two, where did I see fruit today?

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Not dramatic results, not breakthrough.

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Just where did the Holy Spirit produce something?

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patience I showed someone when I was tired, kindness to a person who didn't deserve it,

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self-control when nobody was watching and the easy thing was right there, fruit. That's it.

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Two questions. No app, no share back, no posting about it. This is between you and God.

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Do it for one week, and here's what I think will happen. By Wednesday or Thursday,

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you're going to notice something.

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You're going to stop measuring yourself

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against the person with their hands up.

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You're going to stop wishing you had a more dramatic story.

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You're going to start seeing,

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maybe for the first time,

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that your faith isn't fake.

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It's just been quiet.

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And quiet faith that obeys is the real thing.

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Now here's something worth sitting with.

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Once you start noticing your own quiet obedience, once you start tracking that fruit, you're

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going to start wondering something else.

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You're going to start wondering how that quiet faithfulness shapes the way you lead

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the people around you.

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And that's a conversation for another day, but it's coming.

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Now, remember the reason you've felt like a fake isn't because your faith is fake.

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It's because you've been measuring the wrong thing.

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Switch the scorecard.

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Measure obedience.

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Look for fruit.

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Trust that faithfulness in small things is the whole assignment.

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You're not a fraud.

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You're a faithful person who's been handed the wrong ruler.

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If that landed, if something released, here's what I want you to do.

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If you're watching this, drop a comment.

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Just one word, Tuesday.

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If you're listening on the podcast, text the same word Tuesday to one person in your life right now.

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And this is because Sunday is not the measure.

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Tuesday is.

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And I want you to see how many of us are ready to start measuring by Tuesday.

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Thank you for tuning in to Equipped for Purpose.

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I hope today's episode gave you tools and inspiration to deepen your discipleship and strengthen your leadership.

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Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode.

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And if you found value in today's content, share it with someone who could benefit.

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Let's connect on social media and through my website.

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and remember, you are being equipped for a purpose.

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Go make an impact.

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