{"id":31686,"date":"2022-09-10T15:40:08","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/4-traits-of-an-emotionally-unhealthy-leader\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:40:08","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:40:08","slug":"4-traits-of-an-emotionally-unhealthy-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/4-traits-of-an-emotionally-unhealthy-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Traits of an Emotionally Unhealthy Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"
Tom Pumford photo – Unsplash <\/p>\n

By Pete Scazzero<\/em><\/p>\n

I became a leader within one year of coming to Christ.<\/p>\n

My first formal leadership role was on the staff of a parachurch ministry. Within a few years after that, I became an elder in the church, went to seminary, and began preaching.<\/p>\n

In just a little over a decade\u2019s time, I planted a church.<\/p>\n

Sometimes as I look back, I say to myself, What was I thinking? I was gifted, had knowledge, and was leading people to Christ. I even went on to lead four church plants in seven years.<\/p>\n

But the foundation of my inner life couldn\u2019t support the ministry that was being built. I began to crumble.<\/p>\n

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A Manhattan skyscraper is the best analogy I can think of to paint the picture of the importance to a healthy foundation. These buildings require a foundation of steel pilings deep into the ground\u2014as deep as 25 stories.<\/p>\n

If the pilings aren\u2019t put in properly, the skyscraper will eventually lean or have cracks in the walls.<\/p>\n

In the occasions these foundations are installed sloppily\u2014whether due to being in a rush or trying to save money\u2014construction crews have had to lift the building and do the foundation all over again or even go as far as tearing the skyscraper down and rebuilding it.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s such a fitting analogy for leadership. If we don\u2019t have the right foundation\u2014the \u201cspiritual pilings\u201d\u2014in place, our outer life isn’t going to support it.<\/p>\n

I define an emotionally unhealthy leader as one who operates in a continuous state of emotional and spiritual deficit. Their being<\/em> for God isn\u2019t sufficient for sustaining their doing<\/em> for God.<\/p>\n

This describes me at one point in my ministry and life. I was growing in skills of leadership and preaching, but not growing spiritually or emotionally. I didn\u2019t seem to have time for it.<\/p>\n

Leaders are emotionally unhealthy when we\u2019re giving out more than we have inside of us. And bad emotional health can\u2019t support our most earnest kingdom-building efforts.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve identified four traits of an emotionally unhealthy leader. Do you see any of these in yourself?<\/p>\n

1. They aren\u2019t self-aware.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This is simply being unaware of what\u2019s going on inside of us, unable to process why we do what we do or why we feel what we feel.<\/p>\n

When we lack self-awareness, we\u2019re out touch with our own bodies\u2014we\u2019re tired, stressed, gaining weight, and maybe experience depression or illness or headaches.<\/p>\n

A leader who lacks self-awareness doesn\u2019t make the connection between what\u2019s happening physically with what\u2019s happening emotionally.<\/p>\n

Is God trying to speak to you through sadness or fear? Why are you overreacting about certain things?<\/p>\n

For myself, the business and pace of activity made it almost impossible for me to carve out the time to wrestle with what was going on inside of me. Take time to understand.<\/p>\n

2. They prioritize ministry over marriage or singleness.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Most of us fail to view marriage or singleness status as solid foundation, and instead, do whatever else we feel is most important\u2014building a effective ministry, church, non-profit, or company.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t put time and energy in cultivating a great marriage or singleness that can reveal Christ\u2019s love to the world.<\/p>\n

I had an insufficient theology of this for years. Like most leaders, I compartmentalized marriage and singleness over to the side. I made large leadership decisions without wrestling with the impact it might have on the integrity of my marriage.<\/p>\n

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Yes\u2014invest in your ministry. But give your best energy, thought, and creativity to your marriage or singleness.<\/p>\n

3. They do more activity for God than their relationship with Him can sustain.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I often say it\u2019s inhuman to be a pastor, since we aim to give out so much to other people that we don\u2019t possess ourselves. It can sometimes even feel violent to our souls.<\/p>\n

As church leaders we\u2019re chronically, repeatedly overextended. We have too much to do and too little time to do it.<\/p>\n

I trust you know what I\u2019m talking about.<\/p>\n

An emotionally unhealthy leader says yes to things before prayerfully, thoughtfully, and prudently considering and discerning whether what\u2019s being asked of us is God\u2019s will.<\/p>\n

The notion of a slowed-down spirituality of being with Jesus to sustain doing for Him is a foreign concept to many of us. It preaches well, but it\u2019s much more difficult to put this into practice.<\/p>\n

4. They don\u2019t have a Sabbath\/work rhythm.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Emotionally unhealthy leaders don\u2019t see Sabbath as a weekly, 24-hour period in which they stop, rest, and enjoy the gift of God and His grace.<\/p>\n

They have days off, but not something that\u2019s an anchor or boundary that enables them to lead well.<\/p>\n

Why do we persist in these unhealthy patterns?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a culture in the world, but also in the church. These damaging behaviors aren\u2019t bound by denominations or even countries.<\/p>\n

And it pervades the evangelical church. It\u2019s something that\u2019s become part of church life and church culture.<\/p>\n

If we\u2019re to live in health and vibrancy, leading out of an overflowing cup for Jesus, we need to be aware of these behaviors.<\/p>\n

And most people learn the hard way\u2014when things have gotten so out of hand they have no choice but to change them around.<\/p>\n

Take inventory of your life by paying attention to your thought patterns and physical manifestations. Slow down. Enjoy the Lord. Prioritize your marriage or singleness.<\/p>\n

Everything rises and falls on our own discipleship. I invite you to a life of serious discipleship. Growing into an emotionally healthy, godly leader\u2014a mother or father in the faith\u2014takes years.<\/p>\n

Get on the path now to emotionally healthy leadership.<\/p>\n

PETE SCAZZERO (@petescazzero) is the founder of New Life Fellowship Church in Queens, New York City. After serving as senior pastor for 26 years, Pete now leads Emotionally Healthy Discipleship, a global ministry transforming church culture through the multiplication of deeply changed leaders and disciples.<\/p>\n

He is the author of a number of best-selling books, including Emotionally Healthy Spirituality and The Emotionally Healthy Leader.<\/p>\n

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Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n
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The Emotionally Healthy Leader: How Transforming Your Inner Life Will Deeply Transform Your Church, Team, and the World<\/h2>\n

Peter Scazzero<\/p>\n

FIND OUT MORE <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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What Do Pastors Believe About the End Times? What Do Pastors Believe About the Book of Revelation? 5 Relationships That Suffer When a Leader is Emotionally Unhealthy 5 Signs a Pastor Is Emotionally Unhealthy <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tom Pumford photo – Unsplash By Pete Scazzero I became a leader within one year of coming to Christ. My first formal leadership role was on the staff of a parachurch ministry. Within a few years after that, I became an elder in the church, went to seminary, and began preaching. In just a little … Continue reading “4 Traits of an Emotionally Unhealthy Leader”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31686\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}