Editor’s Note:  Everyone hates a fake.  And there’s hardly a profession that has more pressure to be fake than that of a pastor.  Craig Groeschel is a pastor (at LifeChurch.tv) and he’s discovered the freedom that comes from “dropping the pose.”  In his book, Confessions of a Pastor: Adventures in Dropping the Pose and Getting Real with God, Groeschel offers insight into how, why, and when (and when not) to drop the pose and get real with God and your congregation.  Here is a taste of this potent message for pastors, prepared especially for the SermonCentral audience.  God give us wisdom in authentic leadership!

Living a Lie—and Confessing the Truth
By Craig Groeschel

One Sunday, I stood before my church, filled with fear. Fear that they would think I had failed them as their pastor, that I had let them down. But I was finally ready to tell the truth—I was sure it was what God wanted me to do.

I hadn’t had an affair or stolen from the church funds. In fact, my sins were small, everyday things; they were all just hidden from view. From the pews, it looked as if I had become everything and done everything a pastor should—and I worked very hard to keep it that way. I had played the part to perfection.

And that was the problem.

My story is one of an impostor exposed. It’s more than the story of one Sunday morning, though. It’s about how, over a lifetime, a reasonably well-intentioned follower of Jesus can succeed at building an impressive exterior but fail miserably at being the real thing—the person God so lovingly created in the first place.

Factors That Made the Actor

From my earliest childhood memories, I remember “playing the game.” Maybe you played it, too. I’d try to say the right things at the right times to the right people. When the people or circumstances changed, so did I.

As a young child, I tried my best to please my parents. In school I made sure my teachers got my grandest act. There’s nothing terribly wrong with that, but looking back, I see that those were just practice runs for what would come later. As a teenager I did almost anything for acceptance from my buddies. I partied, swore, lied, cheated, and stole. I thought these things would