Impastor syndrome

February 13, 2025

GRANTED, WE ALL have our blind spots. Still, sometimes I’m left at a loss for words by the television talent show auditions featuring people whose confidence (let’s put this kindly) far outweighs their competence. Has nobody ever taken them to one side and gently suggested that their ambition might outstrip their ability? Like, “Hey, you really killed that song; RIP.”

And then there are those folks who need to be told, “You’ve got it. Go for it!” I suspect that imposter syndrome has kept many people from following God’s prompting. Mainly because they have listened to an accusing voice telling them they are just being presumptuous. Even  preening.

If that’s you, hesitant to step out in some faith effort, take some encouragement from Luke. If anyone had reason to doubt themselves, surely it was him. After all, he was a doctor, not primarily a writer. And, as he acknowledges in the introduction to his Gospel (which offers a wonderful primer for would-be writers), many had already undertaken to record Jesus’s story.

Surely, he’s the poster boy for “impastor syndrome”: feeling inadequate for ministry.

But whose account is still being read and impacting lives 2,000 years later? Yes, the one by the late-to-the-party, part-time writer. The lesson: it’s not just about talent and timing, it’s also about following the nudge of the Holy Spirit.

Now, this may not be an undeniable, bolt-from-the-blue experience. Notice that Luke doesn’t claim absolute certainty he was directed by God, just that “it seemed good to [him]” to offer his own account (Luke 1:3).

Another factor is motivation. Luke doesn’t seem to have been interested in making a name for himself. He felt he should pen his Gospel so that Theophilus “may have certainty concerning the things [he had been] been taught” (Luke 1:3). He was more concerned about shining a spotlight for someone else than standing in one.

Luke’s not the only biblical example of someone having to overcome their sense of inadequacy. In fact, that seems to be something God often looks for, maybe because He knows it means those He chooses are going to have to rely on Him.

When the angel of the Lord came to timid Gideon, who was hiding from the feared Midianites, he addressed Gideon as “mighty man of valor” (Judges 6:12). Gideon probably swiveled round to look for whomever the visitor was addressing; certainly not him!

Or what about Moses? Even after a burning bush encounter with the living God, he demurs, contending that he doesn’t have the speaking chops to do what God is asking.

Bottom line: if you’re hesitant to do something you feel God has called you to do because you feel inadequate, that may be your confirmation. That negative voice may well be the enemy of your soul, who comes to “steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10).