Let’s start with a simple, easily forgotten truth: No matter the age, background, or platform, 100% of Christian leaders are human.
I know. Shocking, right?
We can preach with clarity, lead with courage, travel to the ends of the earth to serve the poor, or sit at the head of a boardroom table making decisions that shape lives…and yet, when the lights go out and the doors close, we’re still flesh and blood. Which means leaders carry human problems just like me and you.
Real ones. Persistent ones. Painful ones.
But here’s the trouble: Most leaders don’t know where to take those problems.
Increasingly, there’s a widening generational disconnect around how we deal with transparency and vulnerability.
The Hidden Weight Leaders Carry
- Doubts about God’s goodness.
- A marriage that feels less like covenant and more like coexistence.
- Kids wrestling with identity, faith, or rebellion.
- Financial strain that feels too embarrassing to mention.
- Health concerns. Broken relationships. Old traumas. Fears about the future.
You won’t see these struggles on a Sunday morning stage or in a missionary newsletter. They don’t make it into the annual report or onto Instagram.
What I’ve seen again and again at Oasis Rest is this:
Leaders don’t feel safe with humans about their humanity.
They’ve been burned before. They’ve shared and been judged. They’ve opened up and been mishandled. So they retreat into silence. Or worse, they simply forget they’re human at all.
A Tale of Two Generational Tendencies
For Traditionalists, Boomers, and Gen X: “We don’t talk about the struggle.”
These generations were often formed in environments where vulnerability was treated like weakness. You share your victories publicly and deal with your afflictions privately. You only tell the story once you’ve found a bow to wrap around it.
- Transparency? Low.
- Vulnerability? Surprisingly present but from a distance.
They’ll reach out for advice. They’ll read the books, attend the conferences, and chase the voices of “success.”
But letting someone into the current struggle? That feels too risky.
For Millennials and Gen Z: “I’ll share everything… but I’m not sure I’ll trust anyone.”
These younger generations grew up in a world where everything is public; curated, posted, filtered, shared. They’re often more emotionally aware, more open, more willing to say the quiet parts out loud.
- Transparency? Very high. Sometimes too high.
- But vulnerability, the kind that involves humble trust, a willingness to be shaped, a surrender to wisdom, can be low.
Why?
Because authority has burned them too.
They’ve seen leaders fall. They’ve watched institutions fracture. And the result is a kind of “I’ll tell you what’s wrong, but I won’t trust you to help me change.”
Where Real Growth Actually Happens
At Oasis Rest International, we have front-row seats to the truth:
Exponential spiritual growth happens in safe, intimate environments–
where honesty is welcomed, wisdom is honored, and both transparency and vulnerability are present.
It takes transparency to admit what’s real. It takes vulnerability to let someone help you change.
You need both. This is where the soul breathes again. This is where leaders remember they’re human.
This is where God meets us; not in the staged victory, but in the unfiltered, unpolished, deeply honest spaces where we finally admit:
“I can’t carry this alone.”
And the good news?
You were never meant to.