Chapter 1 The Superman Syndrome

As a little boy, I practically idolized him. 

Who didn’t? Who wouldn’t want to be 

Superman? He is an American cultural 

icon that has fascinated scholars and 

critics alike as they explore the char- 

acter’s impact on individuals and society 

as a whole. When I was a kid, my 

Saturday mornings were booked solid— 

you got it!—right in my living room in front of the television 

set, living my life and my dreams of glory through cartoon after 

cartoon. Superman was one of my favorites. 

One memorable Saturday, I had an epiphany—I decided I 

could BE Superman! I ran to my room and donned my 

Superman cape, which I was sure possessed superpowers. I 

climbed to the highest point of our living room couch, ready to 

make my debut. I was going to fly like Superman. With knees 

trembling in fear, I trusted my powers and heroically jumped. 

Up and away! (Okay, so I wasn’t always the brightest crayon in 

the box!) 

In midair, I realized my Superman cape was no contest for 

gravity. In a blink of an eye, I was lying facedown on the floor in 

terrible pain. The cartoon echoed in the background, “It’s a bird! 

It’s a plane! It’s SUPERMAN!” and I tragically realized that he 

wasn’t me! Hours later when I finally admitted to my parents 

how badly I was hurt, we discovered I had a broken collarbone. I 

learned a hard lesson that day: there was only one Superman, 

and I wasn’t him! I simply needed to be who I was supposed to 

be and not someone else. 

Sadly enough, this is the same reality for many church 

leaders. We read, we observe, and we research what is fueling 

other leaders and their churches—the reasons why they are 

growing. Then we try to mass-produce the formula that worked 

for them. We become generic plastic clones of someone else’s 

convictions and inspirations. It took me a while but I finally re- 

alized that there is only one Billy Graham and I wasn’t him. 

There is only one Martin Luther King, Jr. and I’m obviously not 

him either. I am and only can be Chad Mitchell, but I wasn’t 

becoming the Chad Mitchell that Christ created me to be. 

Please don’t misunderstand me; I wholeheartedly believe 

that every Christian should have role models to inspire and en- 

courage them—that “cloud of witnesses” spoken about in 

Hebrews. But if all I do is copycat another person or idea, I my- 

self will become purposeless—empty and burned out as a result 

of not pursuing my own unique gifts. I can’t do another person’s 

job. I can only do what God has uniquely called me to do. No 

matter what role we carry in ministry, we are all designed and 

created for a special purpose—a purpose no one else can fulfill. 

One is no less and no greater than the other because it takes all 

of us to fulfill God’s plan. Through nothing less than the inspi- 

ration of the Holy Spirit, Paul clarifies God’s plan in practical 

terms to which we can all relate: 

But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part 

just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it 

had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one 

body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” 

The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you” (1 Cor. 

12:18-21 NLT). 

In the verses above, Paul vividly confirms that each one of 

us has an exclusive part to play in the greatest story ever written: 

the redemption of man through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. As 

pastors, leaders, and even laymen, we make up the church: the 

body of Christ. A pastor alone is not the whole church. Just as 

the eye cannot do the hand’s job, I cannot do Francis Chan’s job. 

God has placed him in Simi Valley, California, to minister and 

serve in ways that I can’t serve in Abilene, Texas. I respect and 

admire his ministry and outreach. I can gain insight into min- 

istry by learning from him, but I can’t be him. My church can’t 

and shouldn’t be his church. God’s purpose for me within my 

church is exclusive only to me, and if I try to be Chan or 

Graham or Osteen, I will fall to the ground broken just as I did 

when I tried to be Superman. 

As I’ve studied spiritual growth both individually and within 

the church over the years, one very glaring and apparent truth 

proves itself time and time again—churches grow and thrive 

simply because God is alive and present working in the lives of 

the leaders and the church body. The methods and formulas 

only work when we let God use us as leaders and pastors to 

meet specific needs and goals within our individual ministries. 

We are uniquely created, each one of us designed for a special 

purpose. 

When I first became a pastor, I would read everything I 

could concerning church growth, the new worship trends, fail- 

safe outreach methods, as well as all of the megachurch/super star 

pastor success stories. Wouldn’t it be so much easier if there were 

a guaranteed method to make our churches grow? Wouldn’t we 

all want our church to grow like Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church 

in Houston? Or do we really? Over time, I finally realized that 

there is no single growth prescription that works in all cases and 

cultures. I was quickly becoming so consumed with modeling 

other pastors and churches, I began to morph into someone who 

was not genuine—a cheap imitation of whom God intended. I 

had to come to the realization that the assembly line of mass 

production had to cease, that God created me with unique abili- 

ties to impact my sphere of influence. I finally realized that for 

me to be the pastor and the man God wants me to be, I have to 

empty myself of all my superhero notions and megachurch ideas 

so the Holy Spirit can work in me and through me fulfilling the 

unique purpose God has for me. 

How often we look at someone else’s success and fame and 

we become less content with our own ministry. If I forget even 

for a season that my church is the Body of Christ, not the body 

of Chad or the coolest pastor I most recently read about, I will 

get trapped in the “Superman Syndrome,” trying to do ministry 

on my terms, not His. Have you found yourself in that position 

yet? We want so much to be effective in ministry that we be- 

come so full of ideas and visions—our own as well as the latest 

greatest church leaders—that we lose sight of the fact that we 

are His servants, not His superstars. All that we do must point 

to Him and only Him. Many of us remember one of the contes- 

tants from the sixth season of American Idol, Chris Sligh. He 

risked his fame and fortune as the next American Idol to fulfill 

God’s unique purpose, and though he came in tenth place that 

season, he shared the message of grace and salvation through his 

performances. While on tour with the American Idol, he wrote 

a hit single, “Empty Me” that exemplifies the need to get rid of 

ambitions and foolishness that we often disguise as ministry. 

God has called us to share the gospel of Christ, not the 

gospel of the next best thing. All the greatest schemes and lofty 

visions of other pastors and other churches will not make my 

church, Mission Abilene, just like Lakewood Church nor 

should I want that for my church. My calling is to be right 

where I am, sharing the love and grace of Jesus Christ through 

exercising my own unique God-given abilities. No one else’s 

step-by-step ministry plan can embellish what God has called 

me to do. He gave me only one model to follow that doesn’t re- 

ally have anything to do with worship style, the size of the 

church building, or the clothes we wear. There is only one true 

way to be Christian—to live out the name and to be like Jesus 

Christ. I don’t need a secret formula or superhuman powers; I 

just have to commit to love and to live as He did—an extraordi- 

nary life. 

As each one of us begins to contemplate God’s inimitable 

purpose for ourselves as individuals and leaders, I pray that we 

first of all set aside all our ambitions. Let’s rid ourselves of what 

we want and let the Spirit fill us with the desire and the deter- 

mination to fulfill His plan. As I share my story and insights, 

our goal is not that you would copy my ministry style or for me 

to lay out step-by-step explicit instructions for you to follow to 

the letter, but rather for you to use my experiences to discover 

how to make your lives and your ministry fulfilled according to 

God’s divine design. As we lead and minister in our churches, 

our families, and our communities, I hope that each one of us 

can daily pray the same words that Chris prayed and sang in his 

fifteen minutes of fame. Isn’t it funny that although he lost and 

didn’t live out his own dream as the next “American Idol,” he 

still won in God’s purpose and plan? The echoes of his heart 

and his ministry still ring true. As I share my heart with you, my 

prayer is that I will allow God to do the same for me, “Lord, 

please empty me.”