When Pastors Preach a Faith They Don’t Fully Experience

Many pastors faithfully proclaim the gospel—yet quietly wrestle with a growing gap between what they believe about God and what they actually experience with God. In this honest and searching highlight from our longer conversation, Steve Cuss joins host Jason Daye to name a tension many ministry leaders feel but rarely articulate: the disconnect between preaching faith and living it from the inside out.

Steve reflects on a season where he began to wonder whether being a pastor itself had complicated his ability to experience God. He explores two powerful dynamics that often shape pastoral life—confusing our identity as God’s beloved children with our role as God’s employees, and neglecting our own inner lives in the name of mission, vision, and service to others. What can look like selfless devotion, Steve suggests, can sometimes mask anxiety, avoidance, and emotional disconnection.

Together, Steve and Jason unpack how pastors can become highly “others-focused” while remaining unaware of what’s happening within themselves. Over time, this pattern can lead leaders to proclaim a gospel they no longer feel—speaking of peace, freedom, and love while living with chronic anxiety, performance pressure, and spiritual dissonance.

Steve vulnerably shares how a moment of “blind spot awareness” revealed this gap in his own life—realizing that while his head affirmed core truths of the faith, his body and daily experience did not. Rather than hiding this struggle, he chose to steward it openly, inviting his congregation into a shared conversation about doubt, freedom, and what it means to actually live the promises of the gospel.

This conversation is a must-watch for:

• Pastors and ministry leaders experiencing spiritual or emotional disconnect
  Leaders carrying anxiety, performance pressure, or inner exhaustion
• Those questioning why faith feels true but not transformative
• Churches longing for honest, embodied discipleship

Key Topics Discussed:

• The hidden disconnect between belief and experience in ministry
• God as Father vs. God as Boss: identity confusion in pastoral work
• How anxiety disguises itself as faithfulness and mission
• Neglecting the self in the name of serving others
• Blind spots, self-awareness, and spiritual awakening
• Why many believers proclaim truths they don’t yet live
• Creating space for honesty, doubt, and real transformation

👉 Watch the full episode for deeper insight into how pastors and ministry leaders can move from merely preaching the gospel to actually experiencing the peace, freedom, and love it promises