Bigger, Stronger, Faster
In school as a child and teen, these were the words I heard the most “bigger, stronger, faster.” This seemed to be the main focus of football players in the program I grew up in. From 6th grade on, we met before school, during school, and after our sport we pumped iron, we ran, we ate. Our focus was to be bigger than the other team, stronger than the other team, faster than the other team. Simply, we were going to be better in every way than the other team.
In Lieberman and Long’s The Molecule of More, we see how many people thrive on dopamine and the need for more.[1] After all, is that not the American dream? If you work hard enough, you can acquire everything. If you work harder than the other person, you will win. But why is winning so important? Why do you see competition between churches and ministers? Why are we continually pushing to out perform other churches and ministries? Why, as a society do we celebrate the success of more? The answer is dopamine.
As we learned in the fall semester through Threshold Concepts, Meyers, and Friedman we see how much ego is effecting leaders or driving leaders.[2] In Thinking Fast, Thinking Slow, have leaders become stuck in system 1 and constantly doing and reacting to events happening around them?[3] Have we become so focused on our pursuit of happiness or our wants that we are trying to fill a bottomless pit?
These are questions as leaders we must ask ourselves. These are things all Christians must come before the Lord with. Is dopamine driving the church today rather than Jesus Christ? As Christian leaders, why are we constantly pushing ourselves to the point of burnout? Why are we always doing more and not resting. Why do we not appreciate and have gratitude for the things we do have? I believe the answer to these questions reside in the chemical in our brain called dopamine.
As I meditate on the book Molecule of More, I am led to these two verses in the bible. I Timothy 6:6 Godliness with contentment is great gain and Romans 12:2 do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. I believe we can combat or identify when dopamine and system 1 thinking is leading us, rather than Jesus. Combined with ego, we can see that a mixture of dopamine, ego, system 1 can make an incredible athlete or leader do great things. Ot they can lead poorly if they have not been tempered or matured by Jesus Christ.
Dopamine can work against leaders, a church, and an organization if we are not careful. As Christian leaders and pastors we are to be yielded to the word of God. It is His Word and Spirit that compels us to do great things. Unfortunately we often see this powerful mixture in the pulpit or leadership in the church as a need for more. A need for more salvations, a need for more people, a bigger sanctuary, a bigger and stronger pastoral team. We need to respond to people faster. We start to see that the church in the western culture is not being led by Christ but is being driven by dopamine and ego, a need for more.
In this need for more, I have come to find out that the congregants are suffering the most. They come each week to church in hopes of a miracle, to hear something that might help or apply to their situation. Instead they hear the need for more, to do more for Christ, to be more for Christ. I believe this is unbiblical and does not follow the model that Christ exampled for us in the gospels.
Dopamine is an incredible gift to help us. In my own life, dopamine has helped me do great things and rise to the occasion of hero status. However we can not live in that place, often we see people trying to live in that dopamine enriched lifestyle because they feel happiness or good about themselves. As christians we do not glory in our own abilities, we glory in Christ. We could almost crush dopamine in our weakness, because when we are weak, He is strong (2nd Cor 12:10).
[1] Daniel Z. Lieberman, and Michael E. Long. The Molecule of the More: How a single Chemical in Your brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity-and Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race. Reprint edition. (BenBella Books, 2019).
[2] Breaking Through: Threshold concepts as a key to understanding: Robert Coven:TEDxCaryAcademy.YouTube. (2018, November 28).
[3]Daniel Kahneman, Thinking Fast and Slow (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013).
About the Author
Greg McMullen
Pastor Greg resides in Lake Stevens WA and pastors a small rural church in the Machias area . The Well Church has a large food ministry in which many different cultures come each week to gather food and counsel. The Church has a small school that is bearing good fruit. Pastor Greg has a large family of 10 children and enjoys fishing and hiking.8 responses to “Bigger, Stronger, Faster”
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Hi Greg
I appreciate these lines:
“These are things all Christians must come before the Lord with. Is dopamine driving the church today rather than Jesus Christ? As Christian leaders, why are we constantly pushing ourselves to the point of burnout? Why are we always doing more and not resting.”
These are good questions. I am curious what prompted you to ask these questions? They sound familiar to your research about Sabbath. I wonder if you have had some thoughts on dopamine and its effect on our ability to rest?
I like how your blog touched on the effects of dopamine, how it works for us and how it can work against us. The final lines are powerful. When we are weak, He is strong. I am glad that we are not determined solely by our biochemical makeup.
Kristy,
In response to your question, I am often looking for information in these books to support my NPO. I come from a Pentecostal/Charismatic background where the church can become event driven to bring in the crowds, but often pastoring and discipleship is not happening in the church. People are staying the same and their spiritual growth is not impacted.
In this present time, I want to be very careful about growth. I want to make sure it is God driven and not man driven. As a prior athlete, I have found I like challenges that make me rise to a higher level. I have found I have embraced the rush of more out of dopamine, rather than God.
In this time, I am trying to pray a little more, think a little more, react a little less. If possible, to let things pass into system 2 thinking.
Greg, thanks for pointing out that we are always searching for more even in the church. In society, we have been taught the bigger the better and as the church, we are going along with what society is teaching us. The dopamine inside of us says that a bigger congregation or sanctuary is the goal. Where in your church would you say this is happening if I might ask?
Shonell,
The doctoral program has challenged me greatly as the Lord has used this program to answer some of the why questions but also correct some things in me. Through critical thinking process, I am taking more time to make sure things are God driven and man or Greg driven.
We have had a very successful food ministry during Covid, where we had between 5,000-8,000 people coming each week to get food, receive prayer, accept Jesus, be baptized. You could almost label it a small move of God.
In this time, I felt God’s grace like never before, I preached over 5 sermons a day, prayed with many. After two years, the food ministry started to change and the church and school became a priority again. In this time I have struggles adjusting.
Yes, there is apart of me to relive the glory days and see great crowds at the Church again. But as we see in the book Mark and in the Gospels, people followed Jesus for the miracles he could do and not so much His teachings. At times I have wanted to stop or quit the food ministry because of the high cost that comes with this type of ministry, competition and sabotage from other organizations.
This is where Failure of Nerve greatly helped me and Tempered Resilience great helped me Identify the real problem and through the book Emotionally healthy leadership, I am responding less emotionally, and responding more with living water (spiritually).
I believe with me personally, coming from an athletic/construction past I have abused dopamine in my and at times in my ministry. The real problem I have now, is that I’m almost 50 years old and when the dopamine and caffeine wear off, its nap time for me.
Through this I am definitely more aware of my beginnings and endings for sure, especially my own dopamine rush.
“Is dopamine driving the church today rather than Jesus Christ?” Wow! I love this question and this post. This is definitely a question that many congregations need to ask before preparing a service or experience of any kind. Too often I see services that focus on entertainment over sacred practices. Too many lights, too many bells and whistles, too much focus on creating a show. This has been a complaint of mine for a long time but I didn’t make the dopamine correlation until reading this book. Your post is right on point and so is your heart. Thank you for this great read.
Greg, thank you for a great post. You are spot on in your analysis of the church. How often do we as the Church try to reproduce someone else’s ministry of success? People are looking for the next Billy Graham, Rick Warren, or Jack Hayford. But that is not how God works. I love your last statement:
“As christians we do not glory in our own abilities, we glory in Christ. We could almost crush dopamine in our weakness, because when we are weak, He is strong (2nd Cor 12:10).”
This passage of Scripture has meant so much to me because of my health struggles, but I have never seen it in such a light. Dopamine can be a powerful asset, but even more powerful is the work of God in and through us. I have told the Lord I would rather have a migraine every day of my life than go for even one second thinking I can do it on my own. I have wondered what my life might look like if I did not have the health struggles I have had. Would I be so deeply dependent upon God?
Becca,
Thank you for sharing with me. I can relate with you. At times I have felt at the pinnacle of success and an accident has happened. Even with the food ministry and getting Covid last year multiple times, it has taken a long time for me to recover physically.
At times I have been frustrated with God because He could of protected me, healed me… But we are just clay in His hands and He is Potter.
I am thankful to know you Becca, I believe you have a lot to offer this world, you have helped me understand deeper through your perspectives, experiences, and wisdom. Bless you!
Is dopamine driving the church today rather than Jesus Christ?
What a great question to ask! I think sometimes there are both people and congregations that can reflect on this and maybe unpack in your toolbox that you are making for your NPO. Also… what a great title to your next book!
How can we use this reflection to not make them feel like they are being bible thumped?