Teaching or Leading?

Teaching or Leading - Teach One Reach OneDid you realize you are a leader? If you work with kids and teens, whether it is in a Bible class, faith-based tutoring program or in the mission field, you are automatically a leader. Oh, I can already hear some of you saying, “Yes, but I only teach the two year old Sunday School class” or “I only tutor a child in math.” The truth is whether you are working with one child or a thousand children, you are a leader.

Because I believe all volunteers who work with children are charged by God to lead those little ones to Him, I am always looking out for great resources on leadership to share with you. Recently, I was given the opportunity to review a brand new book on leadership H3 Leadership: Be Humble. Stay Hungry. Always Hustle, by Brad Lomenick.

Lomenick is probably best known for his work leading the Christian Catalyst conferences. He recently took a sabbatical and this book is the result of his reflections. Lomenick breaks down leadership into three primary categories: humble, hungry and hustle. Humble is about discovering who you really are and what you were created to do. Hungry tackles issues surrounding how to figure out what to do with the information you discovered under humble. Hustle is being a great leader when you have found your “assignments” in life.

Each of the three broad areas is further broken down into various chapters, all focused on developing good leadership habits. From self-discovery to bravery to team building, this book is extremely thorough in addressing the things that make someone an effective leader.

The entire time I was reading this book, I was torn. If this were merely a secular book on leadership, I would say it is one of the better ones I have ever read. Lomenick knows from experience not only what makes a great leader but also the common problems and pitfalls in leadership. He covers each topic well and gives lots of practical tips. He even ends each chapter with quotes from other well known leaders.

What kept bugging me was that although this is a faith based book, ultimately it felt secular. Please don’t misunderstand. Everything in the book is absolutely moral and even excellent advice. Lomenick mentions several scriptures and talks about faith as part of being a good leader. Unfortunately, it felt as if God were the sprinkles on the cake and not the cake itself. To me a Christian leader should begin with God and see his life as following the plans God has laid before him. The true leader is always God and we are merely secondary leaders.

Because the author didn’t take that perspective (at least not strongly), there was little advice on how to discover God’s plans for your ministry or to really tap into prayer, circumstances, people and the Holy Spirit to find what God wants you to do in leadership. There were some nods to God’s guidance but it felt more like the author believes God gifts us and then we decide where those gifts take us and use prayer as merely one of many tools.

If you want some great leadership advice, this really is a wonderful book on leadership. If you want more of a Bible study on the topic or are looking for more advice on how to know, understand and execute God’s plan as a servant leader, this book is good, but probably not your best choice. I plan on keeping it in my library though, as I do believe it gave a lot of practical reminders and good leadership advice.

 

This book was provided to me for free in exchange for my honest review. An affiliate link is included for your convenience.

Categories Book Reviews, Encouragement
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