The Real Ones
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."
—2 Corinthians 4:7
I’m sitting across the table from someone who has given their life to God, and the experience is both humbling and inspiring. This person makes daily sacrifices in pursuit of what they discern to be God’s calling on their life. They are filled with love and compassion—not just for their family and neighbors, but also for strangers, both near and far. They have weathered many storms, endured great pain with perseverance, and grieved with hope and faith.
With tears, this person shares authentic and vulnerable stories of God at work in the world, even through their own life and ministry. Within themselves, through the love of Christ, they hold tensions that presently divide the world into warring factions. They love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them. This person knows the Word of God from countless hours of study and meditation, yet still hungers for greater intimacy with Christ and a deeper understanding of Scripture.
They are confident enough to teach others, yet humble and always desiring continued growth. This person is a believer, actively pursuing a life and ministry defined by Wildfire Values. I am sitting across from a Wildfire Network Mission Leader.
And what do I hear them tell me?
“To be honest, sometimes I feel like a fraud.” —Anonymous Mission Leader
More often than I can remember, I have sat opposite such a sacred person and heard a similar refrain. As the saying goes, “The cobbler’s children have no shoes, and the roofer’s house springs a leak.” This is the marriage mentor with a struggling marriage. The leader who doesn’t know where to go. The mental health counselor battling encroaching anxiety and depression. The educator unsure of their next step. The giver with nothing left to give. The inspiring artist without inspiration. The disciple-maker whose children are running away from God instead of toward Him. The fundraiser who hasn’t raised any funds. And the list goes on.
As it turns out, “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). It’s a plain fact: you and I don’t have it all together.
In fact, in my experience, the real ones often feel like frauds. If someone is genuinely pursuing the righteousness of God in any area, they are often the most keenly aware of the gap between their own life and the full expression of righteousness in that area. The enemy, the accuser, quickly points out that gap and uses it in an attempt to discredit and disarm God’s warriors. The same deceiver tried to use Jesus' hunger, His apparent lack of worldly power, and the fragility of His body to turn Him away from the path of righteousness that God had set before Him (Matthew 4).
You can point to the very things that make you feel like a fraud, though, and offer them to the Lord, as a reminder to remain humble and ever hungry for more of His presence to be revealed in and through your life.
*At this point, it’s important to say that it is not good or normal for a believer to willfully continue in sinful practices. If you feel like a fraud because you are knowingly deceiving others or nurturing ongoing sin, then confession, repentance, and leaning into a community for recovery and transformation is the path to take. There is hope and freedom for you—you're not trapped or hopeless. Reach out personally to someone in the Wildfire Network, or begin your healing journey anonymously through a counseling agency like the Ecumenical Center of San Antonio or a Christian counseling group. Sometimes, the Spirit of God convicts and draws attention to a gap, accompanied by a desire for confession and freedom. When the enemy uses it, that gap leads to hiddenness, enslavement, and despair. "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7).*
God often calls people back into the very mess He saved them from, knowing they still bear the scars and weaknesses of that battle. Sometimes the most qualified mission leaders feel genuinely unqualified because of their lack of formal education, their past failures, or perceived weaknesses. Friends, "In our weakness, He is strong" (2 Corinthians 12:9). God calls people into the battle sometimes while they are still bleeding—not so they will fall and fail, but so that, with eyes set like stone, bleeding with tears of conviction, they can truthfully declare: “I was blind, but now I see. It was Jesus. Only Jesus!” Blindness cannot prevail against the testimony of Jesus. When you’ve learned what it means for the Spirit of God to cast out a demonic presence, you walk with greater awareness of its influence and can speak and act with greater authority and faith.
It’s not just that the real ones sometimes doubt themselves. If someone is so sure of themselves that they present without fault, like an impenetrable fortress, I’m often suspicious that cracks in the foundation may eventually appear. So, when someone admits they don’t have it all together—even when it’s tinged with doubt because of real failures or obstacles—I take it as a sign of authenticity and am more willing to trust them. In fact, this authentic vulnerability stirs in me a desire to help them. Chances are, you respond similarly, and chances are great that God does too.
“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).
Lastly, I think of Peter, the one who experienced the whiplash of denying Christ, only to have a patient conversation with the risen Jesus in John 21:
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep."
—John 21:15-17
At the end of the day, Jesus knows if you are for real. For Peter in that conversation, the chief criterion, the primary qualification for mission, was simple: “Do you love me?”
So, the next time you feel like a fraud, begin a conversation with Christ. Then, share that feeling with a friend, mentor, brother, sister, another Mission Leader, or any trusted believer in your life. And remember, the real ones sometimes feel like frauds.
Resource:
Read all of 2 Corinthians 4
Written by Taylor Rogers, executive director of Wildfire.