The world needs more Christian leaders, both men and women. However, many times we don’t feel equipped to be a leader and manage people well. Perhaps no one has been there to teach or guide you to be the best leader you can be for the good of your organization—for the good of your family—for your own development. That is why you should read from the best Christian leadership books out there.
Let these authors and leaders influence and shape you into the leader God wants you to be!
Without further to do, here are some of the best Christian Leadership books to grow you as a leader.
- Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God's Agenda
- The God Who Goes Before You: Pastoral Leadership as Christ-Centered Followership
- 21 Laws of Leadership in the Bible
- Lead Like Christ: Reflecting the Qualities and Character of Christ in Your Ministry
- Communicating for a Change: Seven Keys to Irresistible Communication
- Lead Like Jesus Revisited: Lessons from the Greatest Leadership Role Model of All Time
- Called to Lead: 26 Leadership Lessons from the Life of the Apostle Paul
- Dare Mighty Things: Mapping the Challenges of Leadership for Christian Women
- Leading Cross-Culturally: Covenant Relationships for Effective Christian Leadership
- Biblical Eldership: An Urgent Call to Restore Biblical Church Leadership
- Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence For Every Believer
- Hand Me Another Brick: TImeless Lessons on Leadership
Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God’s Agenda
Next to their Experiencing God classic, Spiritual Leadership is one of Henry and Richard Blackaby’s most highly regarded and best-selling books to date, encouraging business and church leaders alike to follow God’s biblical design for success. In fact, the Barna Group reports that pastors list it among today’s most influential writings on the topic of how God develops, guides, and empowers spiritual leaders.
In this new trade paper edition of Spiritual Leadership, the Blackabys update their notes on the key points regarding a leader’s challenges, character qualities, influence, decision making techniques, and more, all the while focusing on how leaders discover and promote God’s vision for their organization and move people on to His agenda. There are also new chapters on leading change and leading teams.
The God Who Goes Before You: Pastoral Leadership as Christ-Centered Followership
In The God Who Goes before You, Michael S. Wilder and Timothy Paul Jones establish a foundation for Christian leadership that draws not from human assumptions, but from the wisdom of God.
By considering the whole canon of scripture as their supreme and sufficient authority, Wilder and Jones present both pastors and laity with a Christ-centered, kingdom-focused vision of godly leadership.
When it comes to leadership, there is much to be learned from empirical research and from marketplace leaders. However, without Scripture as our authority, flawed views of God’s purposes and human nature will skew our understanding of the character and practices of God-called leaders. In this book, Wilder and Jones redefine leadership as Christ-centered followership and present a radically countercultural perspective on leadership practices in the church today.
Related Article — You may also like to read “Effective Follower – A Biblical Perspective“
21 Laws of Leadership in the Bible
In this twenty-one lesson study, John guides you through the same bedrock Scriptures that have formed the basis of his life’s work. Each lesson includes:
- The Definition of the Law: a brief description and introduction to the Law
- Case Studies: Three Biblical Studies–including leaders such as Moses, Joshua, David, Elijah, Esther, Mary, Paul, and Jesus–that reveal and illustrate the Law
- Study Questions: reflection and application questions to help you dig into the stories of the men and women in Scripture and learn from them
- Leadership Insight and Reflection: questions to help you assess and improve your own leadership skills
- Taking Action: practical takeaways and direction to help you incorporate each lesson into your daily life
- Group Discussion Questions: questions to help you learn and process the Bible study material with other like-minded people who want to grow in leadership
Leadership is for everyone, because every person who accepts Christ is called to influence others. So learn to be the best Christian leader you can be from the best leaders who ever lived–the men and women in the Bible.
Lead Like Christ: Reflecting the Qualities and Character of Christ in Your Ministry
As a Christian, does your leadership approach look any different from that of those who don’t follow Christ? Throughout the Bible, God shows us what leadership looks in His kingdom, and sometimes it can seem upside-down. The first shall be last. The master shall be the servant. But how can we apply these counterintuitive truths in our world today?
Rather than focusing on the nuts and bolts of management, Lead like Christ uses the book of Titus to take a close look at what biblical leadership entails. Using Paul’s instructions to his young ministry partner as a guide, Tozer takes us through themes of grace, servanthood, spiritual boldness, and humility toward the Word of God. This foundation will lead to powerful, long-lasting change in both your own leadership role today as well as in God’s eternal kingdom.
Related Article — You may also like to read “27+ Best Christian Books to Read“
Communicating for a Change: Seven Keys to Irresistible Communication
When You Talk, Are People Changed?
Whether you speak from the pulpit, podium, or the front of a classroom, you don’t need much more than blank stares and faraway looks to tell you you’re not connecting. Take heart before your audience takes leave! You can convey your message in the powerful, life-changing way it deserves to be told. An insightful, entertaining parable that’s an excellent guide for any speaker, Communicating for a Change takes a simple approach to delivering effectively. Join Pastor Ray as he discovers that the secrets to successful speaking are parallel to the lessons a trucker learns on the road. By knowing your destination before you leave (identifying the one basic premise of your message), using your blinkers (making transitions obvious), and implementing five other practical points, you’ll drive your message home every time!
“Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away…”
“Once upon a time…”
“In the beginning…”
Great stories capture and hold an audience’s attention from start to finish. Why should it be any different when you stand up to speak?
In Communicating for a Change, Andy Stanley and Lane Jones offer a unique strategy for communicators seeking to deliver captivating and practical messages. In this highly creative presentation, the authors unpack seven concepts that will empower you to engage and impact your audience in a way that leaves them wanting more.
Every good leader needs to communicate well which is why this is an essential Christian Leadership book to read.
Lead Like Jesus Revisited: Lessons from the Greatest Leadership Role Model of All Time
“The more I read the Bible, the more evident it becomes that everything I have ever taught or written about effective leadership over the past 25 years, Jesus did to perfection. He is simply the greatest leadership role model of all time.”
Effective leadership—whether on the job, in the community, at church, or in the home—starts on the inside. In this revised classic, renowned leadership expert Ken Blanchard guides you through the process of discovering how to lead like Jesus.
Before you can hope to lead anyone else, you must know who you are. Every leader must answer two critical questions. One deals with your relationship to Christ. The other with your life purpose.
- Whose are you going to be?
- Who are you going to be?
Learning to lead like Jesus can be described as the process of aligning two internal domains (the heart and the head) and two external domains (the hands and the habits). These four dimensions of leadership form the outline for this very practical and transformational book, from which you will learn how to:
- Integrate your faith with your role and responsibility as a leader
- Identify your priorities
- Build your relationship with God in a new and personal way
- Move from success to significance
- Lead out of service rather than self-interest
- Put the love of Jesus into action
With simple yet profound principles from the life of Jesus, and dozens of stories and leadership examples from his own life, Ken Blanchard once again shows us the way effective leaders lead.
Get the best book on Christian servant leadership based on the life of Christ, today!
Called to Lead: 26 Leadership Lessons from the Life of the Apostle Paul
What makes a true leader?
Is leadership a title? Authority? Charisma? Whatever getsthe best results? Today more than ever, Christians need a model of leadership that is based on God’s Word, that brings God glory.
In Called to Lead, best-selling author, pastor, and teacher John MacArthur explains the characteristics of a leader drawn from one of the Bible’s most renowned leaders, the apostle Paul.
Focusing on Paul’s letters to the church, Called to Lead shows you the twenty-six key qualities of a leader who can achieve results without forfeiting faith and obedience, qualities such as:
- Trustworthiness
- Discipline
- Christlikeness
- Sincerity
- Decisiveness
Called to Lead presents a compelling, biblically sound explanation of Christian leadership which God established when Jesus called and commissioned the apostles . . . and when God called you to lead.
Dare Mighty Things: Mapping the Challenges of Leadership for Christian Women
Are you living up to all your potential? For the last seven years, Halee has been studying the lives of female Christian leaders to determine what keeps them from fully flourishing as people of influence. It’s not that Christian women cannot or do not want to lead; it’s that their way is fraught with roadblocks. In Dare Mighty Things, Halee unpacks the results of her research, tackling the top challenges for Christian women, including:
- What prevents you from seeing yourself as a leader.
- How to discern what you are really, truly meant to do.
- How to navigate between your roles as a women and a leader.
- How the myth that only ‘exceptional’ Christian women can lead hurts all Christian women.
Dare Mighty Things is a guide for women navigating the difficult waters of leadership. This book is packed with helpful advice and strategies for success. It will challenge you to claim your God-given potential and lead with confidence, poise, and grace.
Leading Cross-Culturally: Covenant Relationships for Effective Christian Leadership
As the US becomes more diverse, cross-cultural ministry is increasingly important for nearly all pastors and church leaders. Of particular concern is the issue of leadership–a difficult task made even more challenging in multicultural settings.
Sherwood Lingenfelter helps the reader understand his or her own leadership culture (and its blind spots), examine it critically in light of Scripture, and become an effective learner of other cultural perspectives on leadership. He also confronts the issues of power inherent in any leadership situation.
Lingenfelter carefully defines cross-cultural leadership and unpacks that definition throughout the book. He emphasizes on building communities of vision, trust, and empowerment through leadership based on biblical principles. In the end, he argues that leaders must inhabit the gospel story to be effective cross-culturally.
If you have a heart for missions or are involved in cross-cultural work, this is one of the best Christian leadership books for you!
Biblical Eldership: An Urgent Call to Restore Biblical Church Leadership
With over 200,000 copies sold, this comprehensive look at the role and function of elders brings all the advantages of shared leadership into focus. Beginning with the four broad categories of eldership (leading, feeding, caring, and protecting), Biblical Eldership explores the essential work of elders, their qualifications (including why qualifications are necessary), their relationships with each other, and each of the biblical passages related to eldership.
In today’s Christian circles, the role and office of the elder is becoming blurred and mis-shapened. This book is written for those seeking a clear understanding of the mandate for biblical eldership. Strauch’s book is a full-length, expository book which defines eldership accurately, practically, and according to Scripture.
Become the Christian church leader God intended it to be by learning from this book. It is an excellent text for the study of eldership by young and older men interested in the work of an elder.
Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence For Every Believer
The need for talented, vigorous leaders in the church cannot be overemphasized. Such times demand active service of men and women who are guided by and devoted to Jesus Christ.
With more than 1 million copies sold, Spiritual Leadership stands as a proven classic for developing such leadership. J. Oswald Sanders, a Christian leader for nearly seventy years and author of more than forty books, presents the key principles of leadership in both the temporal and spiritual realms. He illustrates his points with examples from Scripture and biographies of eminent men of God, such as Moses, Nehemiah, the apostle Paul, David Livingstone, Charles Spurgeon, and others.
Featured topics include:
- The cost of leadership
- The responsibility of leadership
- Tests of leadership
- The qualities and criteria of leadership
- The art of reproducing leaders
- The one indispensable requirement of leadership
Sanders holds that even natural leadership qualities are God-given. Their true effectiveness can only be reached when they are used to the glory of God. Let this classic book be your guide for Christian leadership, and watch how God works through you to do great things for His glory.
Hand Me Another Brick: TImeless Lessons on Leadership
Do others look to you for leadership? Are you facing a major task or shoulder heavy responsibilities? Do you want to take your leadership skills to a higher level? Hand Me Another Brick will help guide you to be a more effective leader by studying Nehemiah.
When Nehemiah confronted the task of rebuilding Jerusalem’s wall, he was heartbroken by the damage he saw and nearly overwhelmed by the task that lay before him. Yet through the application of timeless leadership principles, Nehemiah completed this nearly impossible project. He also laid a pattern for success which is just as valid for us today.
Charles Swindoll brings his sensible and straightforward style to offer a deeply spiritual approach to the role of leader. Whatever the context, secular or ministerial, he demonstrates how to size up a task, organize and motivate a team, and respond to inevitable obstacles such as these:
- Unforeseen setbacks
- Unrelenting deadlines
- Criticism and outside resistance
- Personality conflicts
- Financial pressures and temptations
The insights that Swindoll draws from Nehemiah’s wise administration will change your approach to leadership forever. Motivate yourself and others by first reading one of the best Christian leadership books today!
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