Feel Like a Fraud? Meet Imposter Syndrome with Grace

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My doctorate came with a diploma—and imposter syndrome.

Imposter syndrome is the feeling of being a fraud, undeserving of your achievements. At any given moment the shoe is going to drop, and you’ll be exposed. It doesn’t help that you have an advanced degree, have produced research, or hold a role in an academic setting. Your self-talk has you convinced that this is all illegitimate: Your doctoral supervisors let you slip by, your research was fraught with mistakes, and your university hired you unaware of all of this. Everyone seems to have the wrong idea, an exaggerated idea, of your skills and accomplishments. You may even get to the point of resenting those who have offered you opportunity along the way. How could they hire such a phony as yourself!

Here’s the punchline: Another achievement doesn’t make it go away. If anything, you’re bound to feel worse as they grow. The agony of carrying this “secret” is you end up putting in twice the work so no one finds out!

Imposter syndrome isn’t just limited to those at the height of their craft. Imposter syndrome affects around 25–30 percent of high achievers.¹ Studies have shown that around 70 percent of adults will be affected by imposter syndrome at some point in their lives.² I’ve hired my fair share of adjuncts, even full-time professors, and it is more common than not to hear insecurity from the individual over their capabilities.

I’m no different. When I first started off in the classroom, I was given a Greek III course to teach. It didn’t matter that my graduate degree was in exegetical theology or that I had produced three devotionals from the Greek. I kept thinking, “The students will not get their money’s worth so long as I am the professor!” That led to concern over what the accreditors would do if they found out that I was the professor. It was all irrational, but that is the nature of imposter syndrome.

What causes imposter syndrome?

Imposter syndrome is not in the DSM. It is a shorthand term that refers to a pattern of thinking. It is not a clinical mental disorder. There is no one cause for imposter syndrome, though there are key factors which contribute toward it.

1. You face new challenges

For a seminary student, this often occurs at the entrance and outset of the program. The thought of actually learning what all those squiggly lines known as Hebrew are, or marching through the prose of the Desert Fathers, seems good and great for everyone else except themselves. Or perhaps the thought of a doctor of ministry degree seems overwhelming. Everyone has heard nightmare stories about dissertation writing. It just doesn’t seem to be in the cards for them, even though those who have completed doctorates before were no different.

2. Your social world shifts

Imposter syndrome can develop as your sphere of relationships changes, as such change can make you feel as though you’ve gone from being the big fish in the small pond to the small fish in the big pond. Nothing has this effect quite like seminary. With seminary come people who think about the same thing you have been thinking about (i.e., the Bible), but differently. Much is unfamiliar, from different traditions to fresh lenses to new terminology.

I’ll never forget a discouraged pastor who decided to restart his education saying to me, “How come everyone here knows what filioque means except for me?” It can be daunting to think you’ve missed something important along the way, and for high achievers this can call everything into question, including one’s own competence and skill.

3. Your standards work against you

If you hold yourself to a particular standard and a change or transition alters your ability to meet that standard, you could certainly develop imposter syndrome.

As an exacting person, I need all the details. I am a Fact Finder on the Kolbe Exam, and for me to meet my own standards of satisfaction, I need to understand all the details. No wonder I felt inadequate to teach Greek when my own understanding of constative vs. ingressive vs. culminative aorist was a bit hazy. If I don’t have that down pat, well, I certainly should not be teaching the present active indicative!

If imposter syndrome goes unchecked, it can lead to perfectionism, people-pleasing, low self-esteem, and self-deprecation beyond humor. After my thesis was published and people began to purchase it, I quickly let them know where the research still made me hesitant and even went so far as to tell someone I wouldn’t blame them if they used it as a doorstop. Six years of work as a doorstop. Needless to say, imposter syndrome is an ugly complex.

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How does the Bible speak to imposter syndrome?

Obviously, Paul did not write to the churches to address imposter syndrome, and the narratives in the Old Testament weren’t intended to make us all feel better about going to seminary. But I do think Scripture can be applied to the corners of our lives where we need wisdom and encouragement from the Holy Spirit.

For those of us with imposter syndrome, Matthew’s Gospel is particularly reassuring. Matthew shows us that none of us have all of our ducks in a row before God starts using us.³

Throughout Matthew’s narrative, Jesus empowers the disciples for service, giving them authority over demons, the ability to heal the sick, and provision for their needs (Matt 10:1, 5–15). In spite of all this, they fail to feed the multitudes on two occasions (Matt 14:16–17; 15:33), they can’t cast out a demon from a possessed boy (Matt 17:16), and they are crippled with fright by a storm (Matt 14:22–33). In addition to all of this, they never quite seem to understand the identity of Jesus (Matt 16:21–23). It appears the only thing they get right is fetching a donkey for Jesus (Matt 21:6–7)!

Matthew shows us that none of us have all of our ducks in a row before God starts using us.

But there’s a thread woven through the entire narrative that we shouldn’t miss. Matthew refers to Jesus’s twelve as “his disciples” twenty-four times. Perhaps this is irony at play. What sustained and upheld the disciples was not their own perfection or skill. It was the grace of the Lord that came through his calling them.

The starting point of working through imposter syndrome is to remember the grace of God. We are where we are because the Lord has called us and has given us grace. Ultimately, where we are has more to do with his abundant faithfulness and mercy than whatever standard we might have set for ourselves. Humbling as that reality is, it is one we must all keep in mind wherever we find ourselves, whether student, faculty member, or administrator. All of this is done unto the Lord and through the Lord.

How can we address imposter syndrome?

As we center the grace of the Lord in our lives, there are other practical steps we can take to overcome imposter syndrome. I have found the following helpful over the years.

1. Be kind to yourself

In his book The Psychology of the Fruit of the Spirit (Zondervan, 2022), Zoltán Dörnyei suggests that kindness is an outworking of love demonstrated through caring actions. Such kindness is a fruit of the Spirit and an active expression of God’s character.

While we express kindness toward others, kindness also applies to how we ought to treat ourselves. This can look like allowing yourself room to make mistakes, or even distrusting the self-talk that attempts to defeat you.

2. Find a mentor

The truth is that all of us, no matter how advanced we are in our craft, still have room to learn. We must find a healthy place for this. Depending on ourselves to fill whatever gaps we perceive in ourselves will lead to frustration.

It serves us well to surround ourselves with those we desire to learn from and allow them to guide us into growth. They will do a better job of pointing out our blind spots and can lend wisdom and experience we don’t yet have. A mentor who can lead us into growth far outweighs being driven to growth by negative self-talk and insecurity.

3. Journal your growth

Prayer includes bringing our petitions before God. Journaling enables us not only to bring our requests to God but to keep track of them so that we can register our growth.

A well-kept journal becomes a testimony of growth over time, and in moments where we feel we lack, we can look back over the journal to see how we have grown and note how God’s grace is sustaining us.

In conclusion

Imposter syndrome is a real phenomenon that much of the population will at some point experience, especially those in seminary. There are no quick fixes to this, but with the grace of God and sustained spiritual discipline we can develop full confidence that God upholds us to fill the role he has placed us in—despite all our imperfections.