Week 1: Introduction — The Impostor Unmasked

1.Manning opens by describing the "impostor" — the false self we construct to survive, earn approval, and manage how others perceive us. In your own words, what is the impostor, and how does Manning distinguish it from simply being polite or putting your best foot forward?

2.Manning draws on his own story of alcoholism and shame to illustrate how the impostor develops. Why do you think vulnerability about personal failure is so rare — even in Christian communities — and what does Manning suggest that silence costs us?

3.The Aramaic word *Abba* carries connotations of warmth, safety, and intimacy — closer to "Daddy" than the formal "Father." How does this image of God differ from the picture of God you grew up with, or the one you default to when life is hard?

4.Manning asserts that the impostor is not merely a bad habit but a kind of spiritual bondage — a refusal to live in the truth of who God says we are. Do you agree? What keeps people trapped in the false self even after they intellectually accept the gospel?

5.The book's central thesis is that claiming our identity as "Abba's child" — as deeply and unconditionally loved — is the foundation for all genuine spiritual growth. Why might *receiving* love be harder for many people than *performing* religion?

6.Manning quotes his spiritual director's words: "God loves you as you are and not as you should be — because none of us is as we should be." What is your gut reaction to that sentence? Does it feel freeing, dangerous, too good to be true, or something else?

7.How does the truth of Romans 8:15–16 — that the Spirit enables us to cry "Abba, Father" — connect to Manning's argument about identity? What does it mean that our truest identity is something *given* to us by the Spirit rather than something we achieve?