Redefining Greatness: What We Got Wrong

Over the past 2 years, I have seen some of the most respected, beloved, and anointed men of God have major failures in morality and/or integrity. Some of the big names that have countless YouTube videos made about them include Mike Bickle, Michael Brown, Chris Reed, Sean Boltz, Todd White, Robert Morris, Tony Evans, Michael Tait, Joni Lamb/Daystar TV, and recently Sean Feucht.

Some of these individuals were committing sexual and spiritual abuse for decades, all the while leading their respective ministries. We thought they were great men of God, but actually they were sick men, lost and depraved in their souls. We thought they had a special relationship with God but instead they were having relationships with young girls they weren’t married to.

We thought they were great, but they weren’t even good – they were bad. Really, really bad.

The longer I am a Christian and continue to see inside the modern day church, the more I realize how lost we really are. We can’t tell the difference between a great man of God and a sexual predator – how bad is that?

The False Metrics of Greatness

I think what has to be done is we have to redefine what greatness is. Most people think that a great man of God has millions of followers, a megachurch, best selling books, large crusades, TV shows, traveling the world as a guest speaker. If a preacher has done all of that we would think he is “great”. Or perhaps he or she has a great anointing and very gifted. Everywhere they go people get saved and healed. Their prophetic words are amazingly accurate. Their preaching is full of power. Surely if they can do all that they must be great.

Over the decades of being a Christian, I have noticed that the majority of what we consider great is to be charismatic, very gifted, well funded, and great at marketing. They are AMAZING at marketing. They know how to promote that next book, event, etc.

The truth is, often they are not much greater than many other pastors and ministers. They are just willing to do anything it takes to grow their ministry. They are willing to neglect their families, sell “miracle cloths”, charge for prophetic words, data mine for prophetic words, form business relationships with ungodly people… They are literally willing to sell their souls so they can be known as great. But even a fool knows that there is nothing great about selling your soul.

It’s interesting that we rarely ever know much about their families. What kind of husband they are. What kind of father they are. We don’t know because we don’t care. We just want to be entertained and amazed. We want somebody to be our hero, no matter the cost. The church has been a cover up culture for decades. We slap a nice scripture on it “Love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). That scripture doesn’t say love covers up, it says love covers. Love doesn’t hide sin, it forgives sin once it has been exposed.

What Biblical Greatness Actually Looks Like

So what does true greatness look like in God’s eyes?

Jesus himself gave us the answer: “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all” (Mark 10:43-44). Biblical greatness isn’t measured by platform size or miracle count – it’s measured by faithfulness, humility, and character.

A truly great man or woman of God is faithful in their marriage. They love their spouse well and their children know them as more than just a ministry leader – they know them as a present, loving parent. Their private life matches their public persona because they understand that integrity means wholeness, not performance.

A great servant of God builds others up instead of building their own empire. They raise up leaders instead of creating dependencies. They point people to Jesus, not to themselves. They’re quick to give credit and slow to take it.

True greatness is found in the pastor who faithfully serves a congregation of 50 for 30 years, loving them through every season. It’s the missionary who labors in obscurity, seeing few converts but remaining faithful. It’s the stay-at-home mom who raises her children with love and discipline, pouring into them daily without recognition or applause. It’s the Sunday school teacher who faithfully shows up week after week to teach eight kids about Jesus. It’s the janitor who serves his church building with excellence, understanding that cleaning God’s house is holy work. It’s the Christian business owner who treats employees with dignity and refuses to compromise their values for profit.

These people may never trend on social media or fill stadiums, but they’re building the kind of legacy that matters to God – lives transformed by authentic love and unwavering faithfulness.

Moving Forward

It’s time we redefine what it means to be a great man or woman of God because for so long, we have had it so, so very twisted.

Let’s stop elevating charisma over character. Let’s start asking harder questions about the leaders we follow. How do they treat their families? Are they accountable to others? Do they handle money with integrity? Are they quick to admit when they’re wrong?

The church doesn’t need more celebrities. We need more servants. We need leaders who understand that true greatness in God’s kingdom looks nothing like greatness in the world’s system.

Because when we get this right – when we honor the right things and celebrate authentic godliness – we won’t be shocked by the next fall from grace. We’ll be too busy following leaders worth following.

When we get this right, we will be leaders worth following. But even that won’t matter because we will be more focused on Jesus than how many followers we have.