“Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed…” — Jesus, John 12:24
The church was always meant to be an ecosystem, a flourishing, interdependent, and life-giving community rooted in the Gospel. But somewhere along the way, we traded the garden for a castle, and the ecosystem became an egosystem.
We didn’t mean to.
Most of us didn’t set out to build ministries that revolved around our charisma, our platform, or our brand. But here we are. And we must tell the truth: we’ve built too many castles and too few gardens. We’ve nurtured egosystems—systems built around a single leader’s talent and personality—and called it Kingdom advancement.
It’s time to repent. It’s time to tear down the castles, dethrone the ego, and plant the kind of Gospel ecosystems that can sustain movement, empower others, and impact the world for Jesus.
What Is an Egosystem?
An egosystem is any system—especially in the church—that is unconsciously (or sometimes consciously) designed to benefit the leader more than the mission.
It’s subtle. It often looks successful on the outside. Big stages. Social media followers. Book deals. Growth metrics that impress. But underneath, it’s fragile, built on performance and personality rather than spiritual power and shared purpose.
Egosystems are not just about arrogance—they’re about architecture. Even the most well-meaning leaders can accidentally design systems that center themselves rather than the Body of Christ.
And here’s the hard truth: egosystems cannot multiply. They can gather, but they can’t go. They can attract, but they can’t send. They become bottlenecks instead of bridges, monuments instead of movements.
The Garden God Had in Mind
Now compare that to an ecosystem—a thriving garden of interdependent life. In nature, ecosystems flourish due to the sharing of nutrients, symbiotic relationships, and the diversity of functions. No one species dominates. Instead, everything flourishes by being deeply connected to the whole.
This is the vision of the church in Scripture. The Body of Christ. Many parts, one body. Mutual submission. Shared gifting. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, teachers—equipping the saints, not entertaining the crowd.
God designed the church as a garden, not a gladiator arena. He called us to cultivate life, not compete for territory. The early church didn’t build platforms; they broke bread. They didn’t chase fame; they planted faith. And through that humble, Spirit-empowered ecosystem, the Gospel spread like wildfire.
Why We Keep Building Egosystems
So why do we do this? Why do pastors, planters, and network leaders keep defaulting to egosystems?
We’ve Believed the Wrong Narrative
We’ve been discipled by individualism more than interdependence. The dominant culture tells us that greatness is solo, that legacy is personal, and that influence is gained by standing out, not linking arms.
So we build ministries, we think we have to carry them alone. We put pressure on ourselves to be exceptional. We tell ourselves, If I don’t lead this, it won’t happen. The result? Exhaustion, isolation, and burnout… all while our teams remain underdeveloped and our churches over-programmed.
We’re Using the Wrong Scorecard
Somewhere along the way, fruit got confused with fame. We started measuring success in attendance, buildings, and likes—external results that validate our leadership, more than reflect God’s movement.
But the metrics of the Kingdom are different. Fruitfulness in the Gospel includes lives transformed, disciples made, churches established, and communities restored. It also involves others being sent out, others preaching, and others leading. It means a loss for the leader but a gain for the Kingdom.
We’ve Inherited the Wrong Theology
We’ve misread Scripture through a lens of hierarchy and heroism. But Jesus didn’t say, “Come, follow me, and I’ll make you famous.” He said, “Take up your cross.” He didn’t build castles; He planted seeds. He didn’t hoard power; He gave it away.
Paul didn’t say, “Imitate me because I’m impressive,” but, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ.” Kingdom leadership is not about accumulation but the distribution of power, of opportunity, of spiritual authority.
The Result: Barriers to Impact
The tragedy of egosystems is not just what they do to leaders—it’s what they prevent in the mission.
Egosystems create:
Bottlenecks instead of pipelines
Control instead of collaboration
Dependency instead of discipleship
Insecurity instead of empowerment
When everything depends on a single voice or vision, there is no room for others to grow, lead, or experiment. We stunt the spiritual potential of the Body by keeping all the nutrients at the top. It’s not sustainable. And it’s not biblical.
A Better Way: Ecosystems of Gospel Flourishing
If we want movement, we must become gardeners, not gatekeepers. Our job is not to control the growth, but to cultivate the environment. That means building ecosystems where others can thrive, multiply, and go.
Shared leadership: Empowering teams over personalities. Every part plays a role.
Distributed discipleship: Leadership development is central, not optional.
Mutuality and humility: We wash feet, not chase platforms.
Apostolic imagination: We dream about the whole field, not just our plot of land.
Multiplication at the margins: We bless new works, even if they don’t bear our name.
In a Gospel ecosystem, we don’t just build churches—we grow movement. We don’t build around us; we build around Jesus.
Kill the Castle. Plant the Garden.
The castle looks impressive from the outside, but it’s empty inside. High walls. Lonely towers. Moats to keep others out. That’s what the egosystem produces.
But Jesus didn’t die so we could live in castles. He died so we could live in communion. And the Spirit didn’t come to crown kings, but to fill every believer with the presence and power of God.
So let’s tear down our castles. Let’s rip up the drawbridges. Let’s compost our pride and use it to fertilize a better future. The future of the church will not be built by celebrities, but by communities, not by egos, but by ecosystems of Gospel flourishing.
A Final Word to Leaders
This starts with you and me.
We need to repent. We must surrender our craving for applause, our fear of being irrelevant, and our hunger to be seen. Because the ego will never nourish you — it will only drain you.
But in the ecosystem of the Kingdom, there is life. Life for your soul. Life for your church. Life for your city.
God is not asking you to be impressive. He’s asking you to be faithful. Faithful to plant, water, and nourish others—and then step back so He can bring the growth.
It’s time to stop building egosystems. Let’s cultivate ecosystems of grace, power, and multiplication.
