LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
“Book Analysis”
Submitted to Dr. Scarlett
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
CLED 325-D01
Critical Issues in Ministry Leadership
by
Nathan Landheer
Summary
From my understanding, Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome was not written
from a place of pomp or a “holier than thou” mindset. Kent and Barbara Hughes wrote this book
form a place of experience with the pain, loneliness, and realities of ministry. The book is
centered on the personal story of Kent and what he now understands success to be in ministry.
His time as pastor of a small church in California brought him to a place that “almost made [him]
quit [his] divine calling.”1 This personal crisis of burnout and depression was based in, what
Kent would discover, what he defined his success in ministry as.
The book is separated into 4 parts: A Dark Night of the Soul, Definitions,
Encouragements, and Helps. Part 1 is Kent’s telling of his story. Part 3 and 4 are pretty self-
explanatory. Part 2 is where the Hughes’ spend a majority of the time and is where most of the
lessons are formed in this book. They walk through how success should be defined, based on
biblical examples. Instead of success being numbers, giving, and engagement, they say that
success is faithfulness, serving, loving, believing, prayer, holiness, and attitude. With each of
these seven definitions of success, they give support from their own life, support from the life of
Biblical characters, and support from the life of others in history. After walking through these
things, they tie them all together into a lesson to be learned on success. Take the end of chapter 6
for example. After talking about how success is believing, they wrap up by saying, “if you are
believing what you believe, you possess a major ingredient of true success, for where faith is,
there is his pleasure, and that is success.”2 The main summary of this book can be found in the
simplicity of the title itself. A ministry that places its success in the wrong things is like a
condition of the heart, and the advice they give is the thing that will bring freedom from the
condition.
1 R. Kent Hughes and Barbara Hughes, Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome (Wheaton, Ill: Crossway
Books, 2008).
2 Ibid.
1
Strength Analysis
There is so much about this book that I could, and want to include in this section. As
someone who is personally going through a “Dark Night of the Soul,” the way that they chose to
open this book with was powerful and meaningful to me in a way that I was not expecting it to
be. The authenticity that the reader feels from the beginning builds the trust that is needed to
grasp and apply the rest of the book. When Kent wrote, “Inside I was embarrassed and fearful. At
night, as I drifted off to sleep, the beneficent faces of my well-wishers would slip in and out of
focus—always smiling. They seemed benignly to watch me sink into a pit of miserable despair,”3
I knew that I wanted to read the rest of what he had to say because I could relate on a vulnerable
level.
Another great strength of this book was the intentionally in which they pieced it together.
It was clear that they lived the life of burnout and the “success syndrome” because their words
and advice seem to be placed in perfect points throughout the book to both encourage and
challenge. When they moved on to another church and started to see numerical growth there,
they wrote, “it meant less to us than some would expect. In our hearts we knew, and we continue
to know, that we may never be more successful than we were that Sunday night in our struggling
church with twenty-five people.”4 The intentionality to place this nugget of a story at the end of
part 2 is the reminder that, even when we see growth in our ministry, your success should not
change. I found myself in multiple instances while reading thinking, “well, I wonder what they
would say about…” and then within the next few minutes they would answer that wondering. I
don’t think this was coincidental, but a great strength of intentionality.
3 Hughes, Liberating Ministry.
4 Ibid.
2
Weakness Analysis
The weaknesses that I have to mention here are very small, nitpicky things that I wished
would’ve been a bit different in this book. The first of which is some more clear applications
from the seven definitions of success. I believe that most of our faith life is just the little steps of
growth that we make. To take steps, we need action. The lessons given in part 2 are truly life-
changing for those in ministry. It frees those who are bound by the success syndrome to step into
their calling in a new way. However, I would have loved to see some application steps, questions,
or just some things to meditate over connected to each definition.
Another weakness I found was Chapter 16: How the Pastor’s Wife Can Help. I have
written about my singleness in ministry in another paper already during this course, which was a
impactful paper to write as it changed my own perspective. I understand and fully agree that the
pastor’s wife should understand the role of supporting a husband that is in this role. However,
there is nothing in this chapter that mentions singleness in ministry. To me, that communicates
that Kent and Barbara believe that to be “complete” I need to be married. I will not have the
greatest level of support in ministry until I have a wife that can support me. This is already the
message that is communicated outside of the western church, but it bleeds through into the way
we view pastors. Now, I have ever bit of trust that they would not actually say this, but that fact
that it was not included in this chapter anywhere was a great miss.
Along with this, I felt like the way Barbara worked through this chapter, her identity was
very much bound in being a wife. She writes, “above everything else, I discovered that a pastor’s
wife is exactly that, a wife.”5 Now, this may just be a differing of complementarianism and
egalitarianism views, but I felt that this chapter would be a huge weakness to a woman who had
a place of leadership in the church.
5 Hughes, Liberating Ministry.
3
Favorite Quotes
There are many great pieces of this book that are quotable and should be taken away from
this course. The first one that caught my eye comes from Chapter 3:
Of course, knowing God's Word isn't enough. Success only comes when his Word is
faithfully obeyed. So the other question we must ask ourselves is: Are we living lives that
are obedient to the Scripture? The question is a valid one for us all because, while
professing to obey God's Word, we inherently possess an amazing capacity to do
otherwise.6
This is one of my favorite quotes from the book because he asks that question of
contemplation in the middle of words of encouragement and words of conviction. This has
always been a point of conviction in my life. It’s so easy to do things for God, but simply being
with God is when the obedience comes into play. God cares about a small acts of obedience done
out of a humble heart much more than he cares about acts of righteousness done out of a prideful
heart.
Another powerful quote found its way into this list of my favorites and into my heart
from Chapter 4:
So here's one secret of successful ministry: When we keep our eyes upon the cross, we
want to serve. Friends and co-workers, if we have been chafing under our ministerial
burdens, possibly wondering if we have followed our own fancies, we need to envision
Christ washing the feet of rough, unlettered fishermen. We need to see Christ on the cross
washing our sins away as the Ultimate Servant. And then we need to whisper, "Lord, you
washed their feet; you washed away my sins. I will serve you and your church. Amen."7
The first sentence of this quote is so powerful. We will want to serve! The picture of
Jesus washing his disciples’ feet, and washing our souls, clean is such a profound picture of
serving and a spur to serve like Jesus served.
6 Ibid.
7 Hughes, Liberating Ministry.
4
Finally, this quote at the end of Chapter 10 is Kent and Barbara’s defense to someone
saying that not quantifying success is a form of promoting mediocrity:
Instead, think of what it would mean if we were faithful, living in profound obedience to
God's Word and working long and hard at our tasks; serving with a foot-washing heart;
loving God with all our heart, soul, and might; believing what we believe; praying with
the dependence and passion of Christ; living pure holy lives in this sensual world;
manifesting a positive, supportive attitude in the midst of difficulties! If that is
mediocrity, then give us more of this blessed mediocrity—for it is success!8
This is such a nice pretty bow on all of part 2, the bulk of their message of success. It
may seem like mediocrity on the outside, but it is a blessed mediocrity! Such a great reminder of
all the centering pieces of what ministry success should be defined as.
Personal Reflection
As I said earlier, this book met me in a place where I didn’t realize how much I needed it.
I had no idea where I was defining success when it came to ministry and I found myself in a
pretty dark place. While there were other significant factors to why I was where I was, ministry
was wearing me down as well. So, the first part of this book latched onto my heart and impacted
me with its vulnerability. So one of the strongest lessons I took from this book was probably one
they did not intend. Freedom starts with the vulnerability with God, yourself, and others with
where you’re actually at.
A second lesson that I learned came from Kent’s thoughts on how one can do so many
“great” things for the church, but not love God (chapter 5). The possibility of working hard, long
hard hours in ministry but not loving God is a strong possibility. A possibility that needs to be
avoided. It was a great reminder that Jesus’ understanding of the greatest commandment was to
8 Ibid.
5
love God with everything (Matthew 22:37). Not only this, but Hughes says that “The realization
that loving God is the ground of all true success is truly liberating.”9
Finally, the lesson that comes at the very end of this book (chapter 17) was one that snuck
up on me. Reading about how a congregation can help a pastor taught me how to ask for. It is
easy for me to do everything by myself while reluctantly wondering why no one is offering to
help. Then when offered help, I say “No thanks, I’m good!” To ask for help is good, but to ask
for help in a way that is going to empower them and help me is great.
Bibliography
Hughes, R. Kent, and Barbara Hughes. Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome.
Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Books, 2008.
9 Hughes, Liberating Ministry.
6
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