I’ve always loved a good underdog story. Maybe that’s why I gravitate toward action & adventure movies. There’s something deeply compelling about someone ordinary being thrust into something impossibly hard and somehow, they come out of it transformed. There’s a moment where it all seems like too much, and yet… they push through. It’s not always pretty, but it’s powerful. We tend to see faith and history through that same lens. We look at heroes of the faith. Ordinary people who walked through extreme hardship and came out on the other side having changed the world.

Sometimes we treat their stories like a highlight reel: person struggles > finds strength > impacts the world > gets a peaceful meaningful result.

But that’s not the whole truth Because even in the most impactful lives, pain didn’t stop when purpose began or even succeeds. Many of our faith heroes didn’t live in retirement or comfort after their big moments. Many died poor, some martyred, persecuted, or worn down. And even those who experienced great “success” still lived through difficulty in every chapter of their journey. The truth? Life was hard before, during, and after their calling played out.

Today, we live in a culture of extremes. Everything’s either amazing or awful. Just scroll social media for five seconds. You’ll find tragedy or triumph and rarely the ordinary, rarely the process. And in that, something gets lost: the daily grind. The middle. The not-so-spectacular moments where real transformation happens.

So… where do we go from here?

Here’s the thing: we carry this same mentality into the way we do ministry. We craft messaging around pain points and miracles. We pull out the extremes: “here’s how bad it is” and “here’s how good it could be.” And while there’s nothing wrong with showing contrast or casting vision, we sometimes paint a picture that isn’t fully true or fully human. In churches, we simplify things: “All you need is Jesus.” Which is very true. But sometimes people hear that as, “Follow Jesus, and life will be easy.” That’s not the gospel. In our nonprofits, we sometimes rely on fear, guilt, or urgency to move people. And while that may get clicks, it doesn’t build lasting trust. We even start to believe our own press. We believe our title means something. We assume we know our audience, but we don’t always see the skepticism, the pain, the baggage, or the questions people are carrying into the room. Or the fact that they might be deeply shaped by disappointments they’ve had with faith, leadership, or ministry. We gather data. We build personas. We chase more stats, thinking that more information will help us break through. And while research is important, in an information (over-saturated) world, more data often just adds to the noise.

What people are desperate for isn’t just better information… it’s authenticity.

Authenticity is the real superpower.

We try to tell stories that feel cinematic, like the action movies we love. They are big, dramatic, and epic. And while there’s beauty in storytelling, what people are actually craving is truth that feels like real life. Raw. Honest. Human. Hopeful. Not polished beyond recognition. Not emotionally manipulated. But rooted in something real.

We live in a skeptical world. That skepticism has walked through the doors of our churches, our schools, our nonprofit events. It’s sitting quietly in the pews. It’s sipping coffee at the café across the street. It’s scrolling your social feed. And more often than we like to admit, that skepticism is justified. Why? Because people have been sold things that weren’t real. They’ve been given promises that didn’t hold up. And they’ve been handed faith stories that didn’t make room for pain, doubt, or disappointment.

So what do we do?

We want people to come to church. We want students in our Christian schools. We want donors to support the work of our nonprofits. But we can’t just “want” better engagement… we have to earn it. And that starts with how we communicate.

Better Ministry Starts with a Better Perspective and Better Communication

I’m not saying we stop telling stories. Far from it. We need more meaningful stories, not less. But we also need a better understanding of how authenticity and honesty can work together in a way that builds trust, connection, and transformation. We need to tell the truth about pain, challenge, and hardship. We also need to tell the truth about hope, joy, and what’s possible. But in the middle of that, we have to stay rooted in the reality of where people actually are and not just where we hope they’ll end up.

 

What You Can Do Right Now as a Ministry Leader

Whether you’re a pastor, a Christian school leader, or a nonprofit director, or even a faith based business owner, here are 4 practical things you can do this week:

1. Audit your message for authenticity.
   Look at your website, your emails, your next presentation. Are you telling the truth about the journey or just the highlight reel? Real stories resonate. Glossy ones fade.
2. Connect with someone who’s skeptical.
   Ask them what feels “off” about faith or ministry communication. Don’t defend. Just listen. Let their experience shape your understanding.
3. Stop leading with hype. Start leading with heart.
   If your communication relies on extremes (everything’s urgent! everything’s broken! everything’s perfect! we’re better than our competition, etc), take a breath. Let your message breathe, too.
4. Talk about the tension.
   Name it. Life is beautiful and brutal. Ministry is both joy and struggle. People feel seen when they hear someone admit that both can be true.

 

Let me wrap it up with this: Clarity + Authenticity = Impact

Better ministry doesn’t come from bigger marketing. It starts with a better perspective and better communication that reflects that.

Want help finding your voice again? We’re here for that.