Chuck DeGroat’s, Narcissism in the Church, is a much needed book for the church, especially during a growing awareness among Christians of the damage that can be done by abuse of power and authority. Narcissists in church leadership often are perpetrators of this type of abuse, and are far too often enabled by the people and systems around them.

DeGroat skillfully defines what narcissism is and is not, using current accepted definitions within psychology (e.g., DSM5), although he also uses his years of expertise as a psychologist to introduce new insights for understanding this personality disorder. For those who are fans of the Enneagram, DeGroat even dedicates a chapter to demonstrating how narcissism can exist in people in any one of the nine E-types. Perhaps most intriguing is his proposal that narcissistic tendencies have high representation among church planters and mega-church leaders. This is an important point that likely needs to be taken seriously by denominational leadership when assessing potential ministry candidates.

DeGroat’s work provides significant support for those hurt by the narcissist, perhaps primarily by helping them realize that they are not imagining their emotional injuries. The narcissist and the enabling system (and those enabling the system) are culpable.

At the same time, while DeGroat is trying to raise awareness of the church narcissism problem, he also is more optimistic than many that narcissists can be reformed (although this is a slow and painful process). In part this is based on his proposal that narcissists are deeply hurting people, who are unable to face their real selves. This dis-integration is what lies beneath their destructive behaviour.

I would have liked DeGroat to have provided more data to support this position. While I’m not opposed to this explanation, primarily because I respect his expertise, I tend to be a bit skeptical with approaches that claim a motivation for a psychological issue that appears opposite to the manifestation. Jean Twenge’s, The Narcissism Epidemic, for example, argues that narcissists are motivated not by poor self esteem, but by a deep infatuation with themselves. DeGroat does not quite identify poor self esteem as what gives rise to narcissism and his arguments are more nuanced. But he does lean towards there being a shamed and frightened child beneath the narcissist’s exterior. It would have been appropriate for him to provide more support for his position, even though this book is intended for a more general, non-academic audience.

Overall this is an important book for pastors and church (and denominational) leaders to read, not merely for information, but in order to implement better systems by which to help identify and introduce protections against the damage narcissism can bring.