The Book on Leadership

by John MacArthur

In The Book on Leadership, MacArthur seeks to write a manual on the essential qualities found in Biblical leadership. He does this in three parts.

First, he looks at Paul’s example of leadership in an unlikely position—his shipwreck at the end of Acts—and how he rose to the occasion and demonstrated leadership there. Second, he looks at Paul’s relationship with Corinth—specifically several key passages in 2 Corinthians—that show what kind of leader Paul was for the Corinthians. Finally, he looks at two other passages—1 Corinthians 9:24–27 and Acts 6:1–7—that feature insights about the leader’s character and personal discipline. By the end of the book, he has amassed 26 characteristics of Biblical leadership.

The bulk of the book is made up of those first two sections. And while I don’t necessarily believe that Paul wrote 2 Corinthians for the purpose of providing a leadership manual, I’d also say that what MacArthur draws from that letter about leadership isn’t a stretch at all. The same would go with Luke writing of Paul’s shipwreck and the event surrounding it. In addition to drawing leadership principles from those passages, MacArthur offers a mini-exegesis of the passages as he goes—nothing in great detail, but he doesn’t ignore the context to get to his point. If you aren’t familiar with Paul’s shipwreck or 2 Corinthians, it might be worth your time to read this book just to get a brief introduction to those passages.

Overall, The Book on Leadership is put together well and probably worth a read—especially if you are a leader or are aspiring to a position of leadership. While it won’t answer all of your questions, it will set you on the right direction by pointing you to the Bible rather than to the wisdom of the world.