The Danger of Borrowed Spirituality

A person’s spiritual diet reveals a lot that their CV and resume might not.

A few years ago, I was interviewing a young lady for a ministry position. As was my habit, I asked which pastors or ministries she listened to, why she listened to them, and what difference those teachings had made in her life.

She named a popular Nigerian pastor and began speaking glowingly about him. Her admiration was so intense that, somewhere along the way, I mistook the person she was describing for Jesus. Then she explained what she particularly admired, at which point the distinction became considerably clearer.

Apparently, someone at one point had stolen something from this pastor. According to her account, the pastor stood in his pulpit on a Sunday morning and announced that unless the person returned the stolen items within three days, a terrible curse would fall upon them. The pastor subsequently claimed that the terrified offender returned everything within forty-eight hours. As she told the story, you could hear the unmistakable delight of someone describing a magnificent demonstration of godliness in her pastor’s life.

Now, I have lived in Nigeria long enough that such accounts of said “men of God” no longer surprise me. What disturbed me, however, was her deep admiration for his approach to ministry. Here was a young woman seeking a position in our pastoral care ministry whose spiritual hero had taught her to associate godliness with the ability to frighten people into submission.

I thanked her for coming, and within five minutes of her leaving my office, I tossed her CV in the trash before she decided to practice her pastor’s anointing on me.

That conversation exposes something serious about the spiritual condition of many believers today. We run the risk of living off borrowed spirituality when we evaluate Christianity through the man or woman of God we look up to rather than through the Christ they claim to represent. Frighteningly, that reversal can happen so gradually that we barely notice when our spiritual foundation changes address.

WHEN ANOTHER PERSON’S FAITH BECOMES YOUR FOUNDATION

Consider this possibility: You can be very close to someone who walks with God without really walking with God yourself. I have known believers who have memorized most of their favorite pastor’s core teachings and can explain the difference between the pastor’s morning anointing and their evening anointing, while remaining strangely unfamiliar with Jesus.

This is what I am calling the danger of borrowed spirituality: allowing another person’s relationship with God to substitute for your own.

To be clear, Christianity is wonderfully communal. God gives us pastors, teachers, spiritual parents, and friends whose faith strengthens ours. Some of us would be in terrible places without people who prayed for us, mentored us, and patiently explained Scripture. Gratitude for such people is appropriate. However, when your confidence before God depends on remaining attached to one particular person, then that gratitude has developed into something that deserves examination.

John the Baptist understood this distinction. When he identified Jesus to two of his disciples in John 1, they began following Jesus. Please note that their departure was consistent with the purpose of John’s ministry, which was to prepare people to recognize the One who was coming.

Imagine John protesting that they were ungrateful after everything he had invested in them. Imagine him in the Jordan River giving a two-hour sermon on The Woes of Those Who Don’t Honor their Baptizing Father in the Faith. The irony is that the very outcome that might threaten an insecure leader today was evidence that John had done his work well! 

So, let me share with you three indicators that will help you recognize when you have drifted into that dangerous territory of borrowed spirituality.

1.   YOU TALK MORE ABOUT YOUR PASTOR THAN ABOUT CHRIST

If you ask some Christians about their spiritual lives, you will receive a detailed presentation about their church and pastor. They can tell you the seating capacity, the number of branches, the prophetic accuracy of the founder, and how difficult it is to secure an appointment with him. By the time they finish, you’ll know everything except what Jesus is doing in their hearts.

I already stated earlier that there is nothing wrong with having a church you love or a pastor whose teaching has helped you. The revealing question, however, is whether you can move beyond that introduction. Can you describe something Scripture has exposed in you recently? Can you speak about an area where you are learning obedience, a sin you are confronting, or an aspect of Christ’s character that is reshaping your life?

Truth is, sometimes we hide behind impressive associations because honest answers would expose an uncomfortable emptiness in us. Saying that your beloved pastor teaches powerfully on forgiveness is way easier than admitting you have refused to speak to your brother for the past eighteen months. You can listen to a lengthy sermon on My Season of Divine Favor, yet keep an offense carefully refrigerated for future use.

Fortunately for us, in John 10:27, Jesus describes a relationship in which His sheep hear His voice and follow Him. So, the real question here is: does your pastor’s teaching help you recognize and obey Christ? Or does every conversation about Jesus somehow end as a testimonial about the preacher himself?

2. YOU DEFEND YOUR SPIRITUAL FATHER MORE PASSIONATELY THAN SCRIPTURE

The second indicator often appears when someone raises a concern about your favorite pastor’s preaching. This often plays out when you find a normally gentle believer suddenly becoming the head of a defense team nobody formally appointed. Before examining what happened, they are already questioning the critic’s motives, declaring the matter persecution, and explaining that ordinary people cannot understand the ways of anointed men.

Listen, if your first response to a troubling teaching is, “Daddy must have a revelation,” ask why you find that more reassuring than opening your Bible. The fact of the matter is that revelation is a serious word, and it should not function as spiritual correction fluid, covering anything inconvenient until the page looks clean again. A faithful leader’s teaching should withstand examination, and a faithful leader should welcome the opportunity to be understood accurately.

Now, in all fairness, as a pastor myself whose ministry is built around care for pastors, I have experienced and witnessed firsthand how a pastor’s words can be misrepresented, how he himself can be falsely accused and cruelly attacked. So, I must reiterate first that an accusation against a pastor is not to be entertained unless there are two or three independent witnesses (1 Timothy 5:19).

Secondly, concerning a teaching we consider to be in error, the Berean Christians in Acts 17:11 offer us a healthier approach. In that account, they received Paul’s message eagerly and examined the Scriptures daily to see whether his teaching was true. Please note that their openness and their scrutiny belonged together.

Paul was a big-time apostle, yet examining his message was commended. I can’t help but wonder how many in the church today would have accused the Bereans of dishonoring grace and organized an online petition to have them removed from the church.

3. YOU CONFUSE PROXIMITY TO SPIRITUALLY POWERFUL PEOPLE WITH PERSONAL SPIRITUAL MATURITY

Earlier in my ministry, a young man who looked up to me would often say he wanted to, “tap into my anointing.” I understood his intention. He saw something of God’s grace in my life and wanted to experience that grace himself. Still, part of me wanted to say, “Go and get your own from the Father. He has plenty in storage, and there is no shortage.”

Of course, I was being facetious. God’s grace is not a commodity we collect from a heavenly warehouse, nor is His anointing mine to distribute at my discretion. What I wanted this young man to understand was that, through Jesus Christ, he already had access to the same heavenly Father I approached.

He could receive encouragement, connections, and guidance from me, but he did not need to become a smaller version of Reverend Segun to become an anointed follower of Jesus Christ.

Here is what I am cautioning against: We can too easily believe our spiritual safety and material well-being depend on access to a powerful intermediary, namely, our pastor. So then, Jesus becomes the name spoken during the transaction, but the person we actually trust is the man holding the microphone.

You can even test yourself right now: When you speak of what God is doing in your life, does your testimony start and end with “My pastor” or “Jesus”? Can people clearly hear the faithfulness of Jesus when you speak, or do they leave primarily impressed with the greatness of your pastor?

Dare I mention the number of testimonies I have heard from Nigerian Christians celebrating how their pastor appeared in a dream to deliver them from evil? Sometimes, by the end of those testimonies, you almost want to ask whether Jesus was available that evening.

The more I reflect on this fascination with spiritually powerful personalities, the more I see two underlying realities. The first one is fear rooted in the spiritual realities surrounding our culture here in Nigeria.

Unlike Western culture, we live with an acute awareness of spiritual danger all around us. Some of us come from neighborhoods and households where curses and witchcraft were a real and present danger we had to battle daily. It’s why we sometimes joke (but not really) when faced with difficult trials that, “your village people are after you again.”

As you can imagine, in such a culture, the appeal of a preacher who appears capable of confronting those dangers is appealing. He offers the reassuring sense that somebody stronger is on your side. When fear has shaped your understanding of life, access to a visibly powerful person can feel more comforting than a biblical promise you are still learning to trust.

Of course, this all neatly ignores the fact that 1 John 4:4 assures God’s people that the One in them is greater than the one in the world, and that the believer himself has divine weapons, not of this world, to demolish spiritual strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4).

The second reality is less flattering: sometimes, we want the benefits of spiritual maturity without submitting to the process through which God develops it. Growing in Christ involves time, daily surrender, and obedience that often costs us something.

It is a whole lot easier to tune in to someone else’s online prayer service where he declares you are favored than to diligently tarry in a place of prayer on our own till we hear from God. A special deliverance service feels more convenient than the ordinary discipline of forgiving people, telling the truth, and meeting God in the Scriptures when nobody is watching.

So, let me say it plainly: Your pastor is not Jesus!

Let’s stop behaving as though heaven receives our prayers only after a recognized minister endorses them. 1 Timothy 2:5 identifies Jesus Christ as the only mediator between God and humanity, and that truth has enormous pastoral consequences. It means your pastor can intercede for you, but your welcome before the Father does not depend on his availability.

It means you and the mighty man of God you greatly admire are together a royal and holy priesthood of believers who have the exact same access to God’s throne of grace (1 Peter 2:, 9; Hebrews 4:14-16).   

So, when a good pastor points you to Christ, follow his direction all the way, but do not stop at his finger because you admire his ring. Your pastor needs the same Savior you need, and the best gift his ministry can give you is help in knowing the Savior, Jesus Christ for yourself.

Thank God for the people who have helped you walk, then keep walking with Jesus.

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 BONUS POP QUIZ: IS YOUR FAITH YOUR OWN?

If you are wondering whether your admiration for your pastor has become unhealthy, or whether your church encourages the kind of dependence associated with spiritual control, take this quick quiz. Answer honestly, including the answers you would hesitate to say out loud in church. 

Give yourself one point for each YES.

1. Does questioning your pastor feel like questioning God? Even a respectful concern makes you feel guilty, disloyal, or afraid of divine punishment.

2. Do you defend your pastor before examining the facts? Your instinct is to protect his reputation, even when someone raises a legitimate biblical concern.

3. Do you trust your pastor’s interpretation so completely that you rarely examine Scripture yourself? “My pastor said it” has become enough to settle the matter.

4. Would your relationship with Jesus feel almost impossible without this particular pastor? You struggle to imagine growing spiritually under anyone else’s care.

5. Are sincere questions treated as rebellion? Members who disagree respectfully are shamed, threatened, or accused of resisting God.

6. Is your pastor treated as though he is beyond correction? Accountability applies to everyone else, while his conduct receives special explanations.

7. Do you feel unable to say no to requests for your money, time, or service? Setting reasonable boundaries brings accusations of selfishness, disloyalty, or a lack of faith.

8. Are you afraid that leaving the church would expose you to curses or the loss of God’s protection? Your security seems tied to remaining under this particular leader.

WHAT YOUR SCORE MAY BE TELLING YOU

• 0 points: Your answers suggest you can think for yourself, ask questions, and accept correction. Keep growing in your own relationship with Jesus.

• 1–2 points: Take a closer look at your “yes” answers. You may be depending too much on your pastor or accepting behavior that needs to be questioned.

• 3–5 points: There are several warning signs. Talk with a mature, trustworthy Christian outside your church who can help you see the situation clearly.

• 6–8 points: You may be relying too heavily on your pastor, experiencing spiritual control, or both. Seek help from a trustworthy pastor outside your church as you consider what needs to change.

2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?”

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