Diva's

As he sits on his stately perch with the instrument in his hands / the mummering crowd stops, now he is in command / when the last note is struck applause will be expected / for upon this affirmation is his mighty ego erected / amused and condescending to his tiny kingdom he tends / never knowing that he has just lost his last remaining friends

The diva. Yeeechhhhh!!! “It’s all about me, all the time. Think about me. Anticipate me. Applaud me. Appreciate me. Adore me. Plan around me. Need me. Listen to me.” I have had more than a few of these lovely people come across my path. They are users. They are abusers. They usually isolate themselves from the rest of the church. They always think “if I leave this church it will fall apart.”

The myth of Narcissus is interesting: he spurned love by all; none were good enough until that day he stooped over and saw his own reflection in a pond, “finally I have found one worthy of my love.” Narcissus drowned at that pool as he vainly stooped over trying to kiss his own reflection.

In my experience this is a disease that plagues ministry and ministers. Narcissism dogs our trail as we are tempted to overemphasize our own importance and devalue everyone else. We are tempted to fall in love with ourselves. We are tempted to think we are better than others. We are tempted to exaggerate our talents. We are tempted to have a sense of entitlement. We are tempted to believe everyone is envious of us. We are tempted to be arrogant.

In the end the arrogant, the diva, drives away everyone. They end up friendless and ministryless! They suck the life out of people, out of ministry and out of life. When everyone and everything is used up, they move on.

It’s funny how these people operate. They create the illusion of success with a paper trail of mediocrity at best and failure at worst. They become consultants to the rest of us, they advise us, and they always seem to land in high profile positions. Very strange. Their stints are usually short because it doesn’t take long for their shortcomings to alienate everyone.

When talent is bigger than character there is trouble is on the horizon.