Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer (J. Oswald Sanders)

Sanders, J. Oswald. Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2007. 244 pp. $15.99.

Biographical Sketch of the Author

Dr. Oswald Sanders was a lawyer and Christian leader born in New Zealand. After leaving his law practice, he served as an instructor and administrator at the Bible College of New Zealand. He also served as the general director of China Inland Mission which is now called the Overseas Missionary Fellowship. He is considered to be instrumental in the origin of many mission projects in East Asia. Overall, Dr. Sanders served in ministry as a Christian Leader for nearly 70 years and wrote over forty books on the Christian life and leadership. He existed to make Christ known among the nations and to establish and guide Christians in fulfilling the Great Commission.

Summary of the Contents

Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer is composed of two prefaces of the updated edition and the first edition, twenty-two chapters, and a short conclusion. The chapters are relatively short and make for easy reading. The author also includes a study at the end of the book for groups looking to grow as Christian leaders. The first chapter makes the case for the ambition of desiring to lead in a Christian setting with a Biblical foundation. The second chapter begins to introduce the topic of Christian leadership and seeks to answer the question, “[w]ho will lead?” (p. 17). The answer, found in the third chapter, is that servants will lead and Jesus himself was and is the chief of servants. Oswald then lists and explains several key factors of servanthood: dependence, approval, modesty, empathy, optimism and anointing (pp. 24-26). In chapter four, Oswald contrasts the leadership of the world and Christian leadership. In chapter 5, Oswald provides some helpful ways for Christians to examine their potential to lead. In chapters six through nine, Paul and Peter’s leadership and their qualities, as well as other Christian’s leadership qualities, are examined. These qualities include: discipline, vision, wisdom, decision, courage, humility, integrity and sincerity, humor, anger, patience, friendship, tact and diplomacy, inspirational power, executive ability, the therapy of listening, and, lastly, the art of letter writing (pp. 59-89). In chapter 10, Oswald addresses the chief quality—to be filled by the Spirit—and he looks to Acts to make this case. He also briefly covers spiritual gifts (pp. 95-96). Chapters eleven through thirteen cover several practices of Christian leaders: prayer, time management and use, and supplementary reading. Chapters fourteen through seventeen cover the improvement, cost, responsibilities, and tests of leadership. Chapters eighteen through twenty address delegating tasks, building up leaders, and reproducing leaders in order to further fulfill the Great Commission. Chapter 21 lists the dangers of Christian leadership: pride, egotism, jealousy, popularity, infallibility, indispensability, and disqualification. The final chapter examines the character and methods of the leader Nehemiah. The author then provides a brief conclusion on the topic of leadership and again references Nehemiah and Peter before asking the reader a question: “What answer to Jesus’ invitation [to follow Him and feed His sheep] echoes in your heart today?” (p. 206).

Critical Evaluation

Dr. Sanders’ goal in writing Spiritual Leadership is to provide both new and mature Christians with a guide to becoming and serving as a Christian leader. He also aims to help current leaders form and produce more leaders of the Christian faith. He achieves both goals in great faithfulness to the Bible and Christian thought influenced by it.

The first chapters of the book provide an outline of some qualifications for Christian leaders, answering the questions “who can lead?” and “what should leaders look like?” In chapter three specifically, Oswald posits that the biggest qualification to lead is to be a servant. He looks to Jesus’ remark in Mark 10:43-45, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (pp. 21-22). Oswald then states that leadership is sovereignly ordained and requires a great amount of suffering (pp. 22-24). This ordained suffering is due to the servant nature of leadership and the explosive spread of the Gospel would come by it. Oswald then claims that the suffering servanthood of Christians is not a discouragement, however, and inspires readers to follow in the footsteps of their Suffering Servant and Messiah.

In chapter 20, Oswald supports his goal of equipping leaders to make more leaders. Like Paul, he charges, “The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others” (p. 179). He then states that “leaders must multiply themselves by growing younger leaders, giving them full play and adequate outlet for their abilities. Younger people should feel the weight of heavy burdens… blunders are the inevitable price of training leaders” (p. 179). In order to fulfill the task of growing leaders for the church, more experienced leaders are to equip younger leaders by delegating tasks and allowing them to either succeed or fail. If they succeed, the Great Commission is fulfilled. If they fail, then they are left with the knowledge of how to be more effective as a leader in the future.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading Spiritual Leadership. I believe it has been a really great resource in helping me to realize the arch and expansive nature of Christian leadership. There are so many necessary qualities and practices of a Christian leader and I really hope to become equipped with all of these. Most of all, I have learned that leadership requires suffering through servanthood. After reading Sanders’ book, I feel called to serve my brothers and sisters in Christ with a service like Christ’s service. I wish to love my brothers and sisters well and to see them better no matter the cost. If there is anyone desiring to know how to serve like Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit, then I highly recommend this book for them.