The Power of Showing Up: Rehumanizing Ministry Through Vulnerability and Weakness - with Dr. Nijay Gupta
Voxology
The End of the Halo Era
I didn't go to football games, actually. I came after the Ron Harper era and before the Zirbyak, Rafflisberger era. And so I was more of a hockey person, broomball, hockey. We had a Christian house called the rock that was passed down through the ages. So we were part of the rock. But other than that, now I just played a whole lot of video games.
A soul-stirring conversation recorded live at the 2024 Voxology Nonference in Brentwood, Tennessee, brings together Mike Erre, Tim Stafford, Susie P. Lind, and Timothy Gombis for a powerful exploration into what it truly means to rehumanize ministry and Christian life. Gathering in person for the first time as a group, these longtime friends and spiritual voices reflect on emotional health, identity, shame, self-talk, cruciformity, and how power is expressed through weakness, drawing inspiration from Gombis’s book, Power in Weakness.
This episode is both deeply personal and broadly communal—raw, hilarious, sobering, and healing—as the guests share authentic stories from their own spiritual formation, vocational ministry, therapy, and transformation in Christ. Together, they ask some of the biggest questions followers of Jesus are facing today: Can discipleship be healing instead of dehumanizing? What does it look like to show up fully as ourselves… and still be loved?
Key Takeaways: • Reimagining Discipleship – Discipleship isn’t losing yourself—it’s rediscovering your true self through the cruciform (cross-shaped) way of Jesus, where weakness becomes a pathway to healing. • Guarding Against Depletion – Ministry and life can be exhausting. Learning how to engage interchanges (aka conversations!) while protecting emotional margins is part of healthy spiritual formation. • Unmasking Shame and False Guilt – Recognizing the lies we tell ourselves and placing them on the cross opens up space for truth, kindness, and reorientation toward belovedness. • Faithful Self-Talk and Mantras – Affirming God’s love and grounding in truth helps overcome the internal resistance sparked by impostor syndrome, shame, or performance-driven theology. • Gender, Power, and Worth – Susie shares the challenges of being a woman in ministry and how her freedom is found not in pretending to be less but embracing her voice and gifting. • Celebrating the Ordinary Sacred – Whether teaching third-grade gym class or leading a church team, Gombis and the crew remind us that showing up with openness and authenticity is ministry.
Guest Highlights: • Timothy Gombis – New Testament scholar and author of Power in Weakness, Gombis shares personal stories of vocational change, therapy, and learning to embrace weakness as the strength of Christ. • Susie P. Lind – Executive pastor and spiritual director, Susie brings clarity and honesty to the conversation about identity, ego, vocational fear, and finding peace through failure and faithfulness. • Mike Erre & Tim Stafford – Longtime hosts of Voxology, they courageously share how navigating shame, therapy, and the demands of ministry has reshaped their understanding of discipleship as healing.
Resources Mentioned: • Power in Weakness by Timothy Gombis – [Link] • Journey Church – Host of the 2024 Voxology Nonference in Brentwood, TN • Voxology TV on YouTube – youtube.com/@voxology
Join us as we move beyond performative spirituality and step into a rehumanized faith embodied in community, grace, humor, and vulnerability. Subscribe, leave a review, and follow the Voxology Podcast to continue the journey toward the true mission of Jesus.
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Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford
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