Impressions, Validations, and Overcompensation
When our leadership and ministry calling becomes a stage for impressions, validation, or overcompensation, we risk losing not only true rest but the very gospel identity we were called to proclaim.
Behind the calling of preaching sermons, planting churches, building businesses, hiring staff, developing leaders, caring for many people, and implementing strategies, lies a quiet internal crisis: a battle for identity. An identity that secretly craves love, affirmation, validation, and association.
It’s a resonant battle whether new, in between, or seasoned. Line up any person in a leading capacity and assess them through what philosophers call the “Examined Life,” and you will witness the evidence. Leaders are not immune to the pull of performance, living for the approval of others, building an impressive image, or compensating for inadequacy with overwork.
The intersections of impressions, validation, and overcompensation are not unique to marketplace or ministry calling; they are universal in our humanity. However, when they remain unaddressed in the minister specifically, there is a distorted calling and drain on spiritual vitality, turning soul-caring shepherds into stage performers, which leads to burnout, comparison, and, in some cases, collapse.
The way forward is not to abandon our leadership but to reclaim our God-designed identity in Christ. I believe the gospel message we hold fast to offers multiple layers of transformation. One layer of transformation is freedom from the exhausting need to prove ourselves.
Paul the Apostle addressed the Galatians on this. It’s more than a statement; it’s a true learning that Paul had done deep work to overcome.
“For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10)
At some point in Paul’s life, he was a people pleaser. As he testifies, he reveals that the power of the gospel had changed that appetite. A prerequisite to serve the Lord fully. This is our hope as well.
Honest moment: I was excited that people would call me pastor during my first pastorate. In retrospect, I carried the wrong intentions of thinking of the divine position in a modicum of ways. It spoke to my desire and identity as a younger man with the ambition to work for the position rather than for the Lord.
It was not an intentional choice, but a pull I did not recognize until a deep assessment years later. It’s a tricky spike strip because outsiders seem to take the minister's life more seriously than the minister at times. So, calling ourselves ministers alone can subconsciously hype up our position and roll the spike strip across the journey’s road if we are not careful.
The Trap of Impressions
Impressions are about optics, determined by how we’re perceived, packaged, and positioned. This matters, but not to the degree most believe. A spirit of excellence and clarity in the mission has its proper place, but danger emerges when our internal disposition needs to appear spiritual, competent, or “anointed” while going unchecked.
Jesus made a cold warning in Matthew 6:1:
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before others to be seen by them”
Jesus knew how deeply the demands of the heart would reach, starting with your impressionable right deeds. Ministers and leaders obsessed with impression management will inevitably neglect soul care and rely more on persona than on God alone to complete the work. Think of it this way: our calling becomes a performance for others while the heart grows hollow beneath the surface, simultaneously.
The Addiction to Validation
I'd like you to hear me and read this well. Validation is not wrong. We were made for relational affirmation. It happens within the sustenance of the beloved community. But when validation becomes the fuel for ministry, platforms, and influence, we are trapped in spiritual quicksand. Look, the temptation to derive validation from growing numbers, social media praise, intentionally constructed “Yes People" teams, or constant affirmation is real.
Jesus rebuked this tendency in John 5:44:
“How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from only God?”
The implications of this verse are about raising your gaze to receive the glory only God can give. My favorite movie is Gladiator. Maximus has been sold into slavery and now has to fight for freedom. There is a scene where Maximus has been summoned to the quarters of Proximo. Proximo asks Maximus what he wants. Maximus replies, “I want my freedom.” Proximo responds, “Win the crowd, win your freedom.”
For Maximus, it meant that he needed to bring Rome’s general out, perform, and give the crowd what they wanted. I often think about how deeply this action is embedded in many leaders.
Overcompensating for inadequacy
Overcompensation is often rooted in a fear of failure and feelings of inadequacy. Insecure leaders frequently become high-capacity performers, covering inner doubts with outward excellence. Hiding insecurity with hyper-competence is unsustainable and must be desperately healed with a soul-care resting system.
Recently, my wife and I finished the “House of David” on Amazon Prime. Afterward, I wanted to reacquaint myself with the biblical narrative to extract leadership principles that I could apply and teach for discipleship development. I considered overcompensation while asking if it was evident in my life.
The example of King Saul is telling. In 1 Samuel 13-15, under pressure, Saul disobeys God and offers unauthorized sacrifices. His fear of public opinion and insecurity led him to overreach. Samuel confronts him:
“Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel?” (1 Sam. 15:17)
The irony of overcompensation is that it increases anxiety, not peace. Rarely do we want to be viewed as weak. However, God has determined it to be a good thing, as it is the place where He will do His best work through us.
Paul writes,
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9)
To be comfortable in your weakness is to be secure in the grace of God. This ought to spill over into our calling. We do not have to impress, seek validation, and overcompensate for what Jesus has freely endowed us with because of His work on the cross.
Before we are ministers and leaders, we are sons and daughters. Before we lead others, we must let Christ lead us. If we do not confront our need for false identity, we produce an output that is externally fruitful but internally rotten.
Paul reminds us:
“It is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.” (2 Cor. 10:18)
Here it is…
God has affirmed and commended us. He has not bestowed upon us the power to commend ourselves. We need to realize our true position.
Let me give you a few soul care practices:
Silence before calling – to reset approval from God, not people.
Prayer of renunciation – rejecting identity rooted in praise, platform, influence, or productivity.
Confession with trusted leaders – naming where false identity and insecurity are driving behavior for you.
Scripture meditation – focus on passages about being chosen, hidden, and secure in Christ.
May the grace of our Lord strengthen you immeasurably and free you from being caught in the traps of impressions, validations, and overcompensating for people.
-BW