An effective leader needs to be able to retain the respect of the people that he or she leads, but in churches this often leads to church members expecting each other to behave in an impossibly saintly manner. To live up to expectations, people feel pressured to play along and avoid displaying any vulnerability. In his book Dare to Drop the Pose: Ten Things Christians Think but Are Afraid to Say, Craig Groeschel encourages us to drop our fake facades and confess our failings.
The book deals with a number of failings that Christians find embarrassing to confess, including failure to love other Christians, struggling to stay sexually pure, fighting feelings of loneliness, not enjoying to pray, worrying too much, doubting God, feeling inadequate, reacting poorly to criticism, and fearing failure. This is not one of those books in which the preacher merely points out other people’s sins; Craig confesses to being guilty of each of them himself.
Most Christians even fear confessing to themselves that they are guilty of particular sins, perhaps because this would make them feel they have to do something about it. This is a very helpful book because it shows people their failings in a non-judgmental manner that avoids provoking a defensive response, while making it very clear that remedial action is required. The book is also easy and entertaining to read, and I highly recommend it. Note: This is the same book as the one previously published under the name Confessions of a Pastor.