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Saturday, January 12, 2013

Book Review: I Am A Follower: The Way,Truth, And Life of Following Jesus


Leonard Sweet's book, "I Am A Follower; The Way, Truth and Life of Following Jesus" was written for any Christian that is looking for effective leadership models.  In an era when churches tend to follow the world's business structure, Sweet reminds us that leaders, in any shape and form, are to be followers of Christ first and foremost.

In Sweet's own words, he describes the layout of his book in this way:

Following Jesus' lead, this book is organized into three parts to reflect Jesus' three-part story: the way, the truth and the life. 

Sweet goes on to say that when we try to emulate the world's view of leadership, it becomes about ME and not Him.

When we focus on the world's view of leadership, being a Christian becomes more about blazing our own trail than tracking another's footsteps, more about being happy than knowing truth, more about creating a guide to living than accepting the gift of life. 
So often, church leaders look to the world for examples of leadership when we've had the perfect model of leadership in Jesus all along.  Instead of looking for the next "10 steps to being a better leader", those who are called to a leader role should be looking at how Jesus served.  

I enjoyed stretching my definition of leadership and while I've always held the opinion that leaders need to exercise discipline of serving above anything else, I have to say I agree that, above anything else, a leader should be wholly relying on Jesus' example and pointing the way for others to follow as well, as Leonard Sweet argues.  

I encourage you to check out "I Am A Follower: The Way, Truth And Life of Following Jesus.  You'll think about leadership for Christian a little differently.

** Disclaimer:  I received this book, free of charge from Thomas Nelson, for an honest, unbiased review.


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