Lead by Paul David Tripp
I was sitting in on a seminary class a few weeks ago. During class discussions, one of the girls at my table asked the question: How should we think about the issue of power in the church? It’s a good question. We can all think of instances when men and women with positions of authority have abused their power. When it happens there is often a trail of brokenness left behind. Someone else is left to sweep up the mess. Someone else is left to help people process the pain and mend the damage. The reality is pastors and church leaders are not immune to leadership failure. At times, I’ve wondered if they are not more susceptible. In his book Lead, Paul Tripp says, “We don’t have just a pastoral crisis; I am convinced from conversation after conversation with pastors and their leadership that we have a leadership crisis” (17). I agree. There are too many leaders famous and forgotten who haven’t finished well. There are too many books on my shelf written by pastors whose ministry was cut short due to moral failure — it’s heartbreaking. Sure we can banter back and forth on Twitter about who is to blame and where things went wrong, but when leaders fail everybody loses. Tripp asks the question, “Could it be that we are looking to the wrong models to understand how to lead” (17)? This book is written with the hope-filled belief that the path forward is not discovering the secret to leadership but learning to saturate our leadership with the timeless truth of the gospel.
Lead
by Paul David Tripp
Tripp draws on his decades of ministry experience to give churches twelve gospel principles necessary to combat this leadership crisis. Each of these principles, built upon characteristics such as humility, dependency, and accountability, will enable new and experienced leaders alike to focus their attention on the ultimate leadership model: the gospel.
CROSSWAY. 240 PP.
Like every other book, Tripp writes Lead overflows with gospel truth. He writes, “I only have one thing to offer: the right-here, right-now truths of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. All I ever do with each book is put on my gospel glasses and look at another topic in the life of a believer or in the culture of the church” (12). If you’re hoping for leadership hacks or management principles, Tripp’s book will be a disappointment to you. If you’re looking for tips to improve your capacity as a leader, look somewhere else. If on the other hand, you want a gospel-infused snapshot of humble, dependent leadership, I can think of no better book for you to read. As a ministry leader, I found myself encouraged, humbled, challenged, and motivated to lead in a way that reflects the gospel. Over and over Tripp points leaders back to the very gospel they have been called to share as the greatest protection against ministry failure. He says, “The most powerful protection from the dangers that every leader faces is not his relationship to his fellow leaders but a heart that is ruled by deeply rooted love for Jesus” (56). No one ever graduates from the gospel. It’s something we must come back to continually. As ministry leaders, our greatest need is to become better preachers — not on Sunday to our congregation but on Monday to ourselves. We must become experts at preaching the gospel to ourselves daily. We need the gospel to humble us and shape the way we move toward people. This book is a refreshing call to do just that. I’m thankful for the wisdom and humility Tripp poured into this book. He is a leader of leaders and an example of what it means to rest in the gospel. I hope that you are encouraged as you read his book. I certainly was!
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I welcome any questions, comments, or additional thoughts you may have. If you were helped by something you read, please share it with your sphere of influence. Thanks!