Richard and Henry Blackaby provide a book that touches on many different aspects of a spiritual leader in today’s culture. There are differences between a secular leader and a spiritual leader, and this book assists spiritual leaders to become more effective at their task of moving all people by use of spiritual means, focusing on people, and being accountable to God while working from God’s agenda.^[1]

Abstract

To understand a spiritual leader, a person must know what a secular leader is. Blackaby defines leadership and explains the differences between them. The insightful chapters read like someone explaining the life of a spiritual leader and provide examples of popular leaders as well. A lot of the names used will need to be updated soon as they are too outdated for any reader younger than fifty years old. This does not apply to the relevant biblical leaders.

Those people that are already in a spiritual leadership position should see themselves and many different aspects of their leadership life within the different chapters. In the 1970’s, there was a movement of “What would Jesus do?”. This book provides examples of Jesus commands to His disciples on how to be a spiritual leader. One example is where the focus should always be, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33, New King James Version). Blackaby normally provides actionable commentary before or after the passages. Blackaby states, “one’s calling as a Christian not only takes precedence over a career; it gives it direction. Moreover, a Christian’s calling provides meaning and purpose to every area of life.”^[2]

Those people that have secular world experience as a leader should be able to see what changes there are to upgrade and become a spiritual leader. The transition should be easy for those that surrender all to Jesus Christ and follow Him, but it can be a giant leap of faith that some need help with. Blackaby is very clear on why and where a secular leader falls short of God’s intent and plan. Blackaby states, “Spiritual leadership involves more than merely achieving objectives. People can accomplish all their goals and still miss God’s will.”^[3] There is a complete chapter dedicated to fully understanding what leadership is and then a new definition is provided to include God, “Spiritual Leadership is moving people on to God’s agenda.”^[4]

Those people that have never been in leadership before can also benefit from this book as it explains in detail what spiritual leadership is and how to apply it in today’s culture. The person will understand what to do, how to lead, what to focus on, how to build effective teams and what are some of the common pitfalls. There are many useful questions at the end of each chapter to assist with understanding and application in the reader’s life. This is another benefit of the book that is not only a book but a workbook for those that take the time to complete the response material. One example, “List three specific things you could do to enhance the quality of your team process.”^[5]

Bibliography

Blackaby, Henry T., and Richard Blackaby. Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God’s Agenda. Nashville, TN: B&H Books, 2011.

^[1] Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby, Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God’s Agenda (Nashville, TN: B&H Books, 2011), 40.

^[2] Blackaby, Spiritual Leadership, 23.

^[3] Ibid., 33.

^[4] Ibid., 36.

^[5] Ibid., 311.