When a Wounded Prophet Has a Platform

Having a platform and influence to speak into the body of Christ is a huge responsibility and should never be taken lightly. Leaders have been trusted to teach the Word of God from the Father’s heart to His bride.

As a result, growth, transformation and salvation should come to those who hear the pure teaching of the Word of God. 

But what happens when a leader in the body of Christ has a platform and is wounded? How do leaders who are supposed to be healed in their heart, mind and soul even get to have a platform to speak into the body of Christ with such influence? This is a question I have pondered for some time and hope to give some answers in this article. 

First of all, not every leader has been given a platform by God. Saul was a wounded individual and as a result had a very difficult time walking in obedience to the Father. Because of this, God removed the anointing off of Saul. However, Saul still remained king and had positional influence. Saul’s life is an example to us that God can fire you from your job but still let you work. I believe this is because God uses other people’s pain and wounds to help shape us. This is exactly what He did with David. 

This isn’t an excuse to write off leaders’ wounds or just excuse them. I think it is very important to hold accountable those who speak to the bride of Christ as a mouthpiece, and if they are projecting their wounded hearts and tainting the Word, they should be corrected in love. That statement isn’t a license to slander, as we see David never did against Saul, but I believe it is important to speak one on one about the issues to the wounded leader.

In my experience, the most common wound in leaders is an orphan heart. An orphan heart is very insecure and is easily rejected. It also manifests in control, intimidation and bullying tactics to get people to listen to them. In essence, an orphan-hearted leader is an insecure leader who feeds off of codependent people. Christians who are whole in their heart usually see this type of leadership and can easily avoid falling into the trap of following them. People who are codependent because of their own wounds usually can’t and get stuck under the trap of this type of unhealthy leadership. 

Here are some signs of a wounded leader:

1. Craves the praise of man. A wounded leader constantly needs the praise of man to feel validated. They show this by always talking about how much their ministry is accomplishing not to bring glory to God but to draw attention to themselves.

2. Uses fear tactics to manipulate his or her followers. A wounded leader will usually use certain fear tactics on people to manipulate loyalty. They fear people leaving them so as a result will say things like “your stepping out of God’s will by leaving” or “God’s hand can’t bless you now that you’re leaving.” It is normally very easy to join this type of ministry but very difficult to leave. 

3. Refuses to receive correction. A wounded leader usually demands submission to their leadership but refuses to yield to anyone else’s counsel. They make excuses such as “Other leaders can’t be trusted” or “My call is too big to submit to someone else.” This is major deception and all rooted in pride. Their wound blinds them to be able to receive from other legitimate leadership.

4. Slanders other ministries. A wounded leader fears someone else’s ministry being successful or what appears to be more successful than theirs. They don’t have a kingdom approach that we are all on the same team and will slander other ministers and ministries to get their people to only trust them. Again this all goes back to insecurity feeding off of codependency in others.

A healthy and whole leader will always uplift and point people toward Jesus and not themselves. They will use their platform as a tool given to them by God so that they can draw in the lost and Jesus can get the glory. They will empower other believers to dream and run toward God’s plan and destiny for them instead of seeing people as pawns to use for their own gain.

Healthy leaders also bless other ministries and try to work with them and not against them. They don’t isolate themselves but instead see other ministries and ministers as a blessing and not a threat. My prayer is “God, give the body of Christ healthy, mature and seasoned leaders with your heart!” 

Pastor Chris Mathis is the lead pastor of the Summit Church in Crestview, Florida, and oversees several churches, ministries and serves on the leadership team of New Breed Revival Network. Chris travels extensively around the world teaching, training and equipping the church in conferences, revivals and church services and is the author of Thy Kingdom Come. He is married to Nikki Mathis, an internationally respected worship leader.