By LeRoy Lawson
Murray Hollis, Preacher, You”ve Got Friends (Joplin: Christian Friends Connexion, 2009).
Jack Cottrell, Set Free! What the Bible Says About Grace (Joplin: College Press, 2009).
Michael C. Mack, Burnout-free Small Group Leadership (Houston: Touch Publications, 2009).
Roger Parrott, The Longview: Lasting Strategies for Rising Leaders (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2009).
Murray Hollis has done Christian church ministers a real favor. His Preacher, You”ve Got Friends compiles 25 stories by “battle-tested Christian leaders” whose personal experiences “will fortify your faith and build your determination to face your next trial or challenge.” I know most of the writers; I even knew some of their stories. Still, I couldn”t stop reading. The short chapters are, indeed, fortifying.
Most ministers will tell you we can”t imagine a richer, more fulfilling life than ours. Probe a little deeper, though, and behind our smiles you”ll find the tears we seldom let the public see.
Here is a minister who lost his daughter, a Bible college student, in a fatal automobile accident but managed to keep going; another who was fired after 30 years of ministry and then was diagnosed with incurable cancer; and another who was beaten up again and again on his road to eventual victory; and yet another who didn”t find real success until he left the pulpit for the counseling room. More than one nearly buckled under a nearly overwhelming sense of inadequacy while trying to lead a divided, difficult church””an experience I”m afraid most pastors quickly identify with.
Hollis dedicates the book to Ben Merold, his mentor. Ben”s chapter extols the importance of friendship among ministers, which is the book”s theme. After reading it you”ll understand this man”s amazing influence in the Restoration Movement. Several other writers praise him for his encouragement to them. His example has inspired younger pastors for decades.
The stated theme is friendship, but the motif that runs through these testimonies is grace: “I have survived by the grace of my friends””and God”s.”
STUDYING GRACE
Grace. That is the subject of Jack Cottrell”s scholarly Bible study. Hollis and friends personally testify to their reliance upon God”s grace. Cottrell approaches the topic as you”d expect of a seminary professor, in a more bookish way. Especially helpful is his concentration on Romans, the letter that Martin Luther and Karl Barth, among so many others, found pivotal in the formation of Christian faith.
You can expect to find reading Set Free! a little daunting. Cottrell has here preserved the contents of his signature seminary course, Doctrine of Grace. His is a systematic treatment; he believes “reason and logic are part of the very essence of God . . . (and that) God is able to communicate rationally with us, and we are able to understand what he is staying to us in his Word.” So he goes deep into biblical content to mine its sound doctrine.
Cottrell”s former students frequently refer to his expertise in this doctrine. They usually point out, as he does, that the Restoration Movement is not noted for its application of grace. Our emphasis on baptism and the Lord”s Supper and correct church polity have sometimes shoved this central Christian dogma to the side, they believe. This book is Cottrell”s corrective.
I found it helpful to read Cottrell and Hollis together. Preachers need what Cottrell teaches, but as my recent term as an interim pastor reminded me, while most church members can”t articulate the doctrine of grace to the satisfaction of a professional, they can and do live a by-grace-set-free life and will tell you of the joy of their salvation.
Like other textbooks, Set Free! is not for bedtime or vacation reading. For this one, you want to sit up and pay attention.
LEADING GROUPS
Michael Mack”s little Burnout-free Small Group Leadership doesn”t require such effort. You can absorb it in an hour or two. Mack announces his intent in the title and stays on subject. Believing that genuine discipleship requires participation in a small group (Jesus and his disciples being the model), he encourages his readers to organize their groups around a leader who shares the leadership, a core of two or three into whom the leader can pour himself, and the other members who profit from their fellowship with the core.
Mack stresses the humility of the leader, the principle of shared leadership, the imperative of mutual trust, and the simple steps to avoiding burnout.
A small book, but some big insights.
LONG-HAUL LEADERS
Finally, for a look at leadership on a larger scale, turn to Roger Parrott”s The Longview: Lasting Strategies for Rising Leaders. As with Hollis”s compendium, I wanted to read this book because I know the author. Well, that”s an exaggeration. I met and heard him speak for the 2004 Forum for World Evangelization in Thailand. I already knew something of him because of his successful presidencies at Sterling College in Kansas and Belhaven University in Mississippi. I was eager to learn from him.
The Longview is pretty typical of the plethora of leadership books on the market. I might have skipped this one had not Gary Tiffin, former dean of Hope International University, asked for my opinion on it.
My review is somewhat mixed. Most of Parrott”s advice is fairly commonplace (there are only so many ways to talk about this much-talked-about subject), but The Longview is especially on the mark in the chapter on evaluation and accountability, a sorely needed corrective for many not-for-profits. Parrott is also on target in urging leaders to work for the long haul and not for momentary applause.
And I nearly shouted my “Amen” to his chapter “Planning Will Drain the Life from Your Ministry.” We”ve worshiped at the altar of long-range planning for too long, reducing our ability to react to and take advantage of the opportunities that come our way. Planning is essential, but rigidly applied it can squeeze the life”s breath out of an organization.
I wish Parrott had written for a broader audience. His overuse of God language will guarantee that “secular” leaders won”t turn to this book for guidance. That”s unfortunate, because this is one president who has earned the right to be read.
LeRoy Lawson, international consultant with Christian Missionary Fellowship International, is a CHRISTIAN STANDARD contributing editor and a member of Standard Publishing”s Publishing Committee. His column appears at least monthly.
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