This post may contain affiliate links. If you decide to make a purchase through these links, I earn a small commission at no cost to you. I do not promote anything I do not believe in or stand behind.
Christian leadership books can help pastors and ministry leaders grow in wisdom, character, biblical understanding, and practical leadership. Great leaders never stop learning, and reading allows us to learn from believers, scholars, and leaders who have walked before us.
The Bible must always remain our primary authority. However, good Christian books can help us understand Scripture, leadership, ministry, and ourselves more clearly. Even the apostle Paul, near the end of his life, asked Timothy to bring him “the books, and above all the parchments” (2 Timothy 4:13).
Why Christian Leadership Books Matter
Read the lives of William Tyndale, John Wesley, A. W. Tozer, Samuel Brengle or Charles H. Spurgeon and one of the things you can learn is that they were ferocious readers. Moreover, they were great leaders in their generation in the Kingdom of God. Were they great leaders only because they read books? Of course, not. However, reading books helped them tremendously to become excellent leaders.
Any leader should read books but not to the expense of the Bible. I only assume that by now you know that I teach people of the paramount interest any leader should have in studying the Bible with the purpose of applying and communicating it to others.
Leadership requires a commitment to lifelong learning, which is why I have also recommended several books for Christian leaders who want to keep growing.
Here are six Christian leadership books that have challenged my thinking and helped shape my ministry and leadership.
1. Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders
I cannot speak too highly of this excellent book. Really, if you desire to become a spiritual leader or if you want to improve your spiritual leadership you need to read this book. It is probably the best Christian book on the topic of leadership that I have read so far. Moreover, it is packed with precious gems and gold nuggets. John Maxwell, talking about this book said:
As a young pastor, J. Oswald Sanders’ book Spiritual Leadership was the first book I read that awakened me to the subject of leadership. No other book has influenced my life the way this one has.
Sanders discusses topics like natural and spiritual leadership, qualities essential to leadership, the art of delegation, the cost of leadership, the responsibilities of leadership, the peculiar perils of leadership, the reproduction of leaders and much more. His book is packed with Bible verses and examples from great men and women of God. It is a must read! And when I think I paid only 20 cents for this fantastic book…It is worth so much more!
2. Christian Leadership and Emotional Health: The Emotionally Healthy Leader
The thing I probably like the most about this book is the emphasis on the inner life of a leader. I love how Scazzero guided my steps into a deeper understanding of this vital principle. To lead out of my marriage, out of my relationship with God and the “rule of life” are probably the best things I take with me.
To lead out of my marriage and make sure I communicate to my wife using her own love language is at the top of my priorities. As Scazzero says, this is the first item on my leadership job description. Now I pray daily for wisdom and strength to continue to the end of my life to follow this principle. As someone said, a strong church is made of strong families and as a leader I need to be a good example.
By recommending this book (or any other) does not mean I agree 100% with everything written in it. Nevertheless, it is a great book to read and my advice is to only take what you sense is good.
3. Money, Sex, and Power by Richard Foster
I highly recommend this book especially if you are a leader in a Church or para-Church department/ministry. Richard Foster writes from his long walk with God and deep knowledge of the Bible, about topics like kingdom use of unrighteous mammon, simplicity, sexuality and marriage, singleness, the marks of spiritual power and the practice of power. And much more!
As J. Oswald Sanders, Richard Foster gives many examples from Church history and from the lives of more recent men of God. Above all, his Bible knowledge of the topics is quite impressive. If you want to know more about the topics of money, sex, and power or if you need to prepare a teaching about these subjects then Foster’s book might be exactly what you are looking for.
4. Approaches to Paul by Magnus Zetterholm
Magnus Zetterholm is a brilliant scholar—I am sure he does not need my compliments because he knows that. I had to study his book for one of my Seminary courses and it changed my view of Paul. The book is a scholarly research into the different approches to Paul and his teachings over the centuries. He talks how Paul was pictured by the Christian Church fathers and theologians from the 1st century up to our days. Zetterholm did a tremendous work exploring the views of so many Bible scholars and theologians and in his book he takes the reader on a journey to understand how Paul viewed and observed the Torah.
Zetterholm says
Paul is commonly thought to have left Judaism because he had realized that the Torah represents a person’s ambition to become righteous by means of his or her own efforts.
Want to know more about the topic? Make sure you read Zetterholm’s book. It is not always an easy reading—I found it quite challenging.
5. The New Testament and Jewish Law by James G. Crossley
Maybe as a Bible teacher or preacher yourself or only as a simple Bible student you read your Bible and have found a difficult passage you do not understand. It happened to me many times. And maybe you asked yourself if there is a book that can help you understand those difficult Bible passages from the New Testament where Jesus talks about Sabbath observance, or where the text speaks about purity and food, divorce, interaction with Gentiles, an eye for an eye or other Jewish Law customs. Well, this might be the book you are looking for!
James Crossley does an excellent scholarly work in showing the cultural background of some of the most interesting passages in the New Testament. Understanding the Law and the culture in the time of Jesus can make a big difference in your application of the Word of God and in your preaching.
Crossley when talking about his book says:
This book will work with the assumption that people concerned, even obssessed with details of the Law are neither wrong nor right and it will leave the theological issues of grace and salvation to theologians that way inclined the way intented.
It is worth having this book and reading it!
6. A Christian Leadership Book About the Holy Spirit by J. Lee Grady
Thinking at the celebration of Pentecost I want to recommend one of the best books you can read about the Holy Spirit. Lee Grady, who is also my mentor, wrote an excellent book in which he shares many personal and ministry examples of how people today treat the Holy Spirit. Lee Grady is also an excellent writer and his insights will help you deepen your spiritual discernment about the work and the Person of the Holy Spirit. I know I’ve learned so much from it!
Any leader should read as much as he or she can. We should all learn from each other!
Keep Growing as a Christian Leader
Christian leadership is a lifelong journey of learning, serving, and becoming more like Christ. Christian leadership books can help us grow, but they must never replace Scripture or our dependence on the Holy Spirit.
Choose one book from this list and begin reading it slowly. Take notes, compare what you read with Scripture, and ask God to show you what needs to change in your character and leadership.
The goal is not simply to read more books. The goal is to become a wiser, humbler, and more faithful servant of Jesus.
Let me know if there is anything special going on in your life or if you want prayer! Share this post with your friends and don’t forget to leave a comment.
Most importantly, do subscribe to my blog.
Donate—Thank you for partnering with me through investing in this ministry.
I am a blogger, writer, pastor, Director of Zion Romania Bible School, husband to Olguta, a father and, most importantly, a child of God. I also completed my studies at the King’s University where I earned a B.A. in Theology with a concentration in Messianic Jewish Studies. I love Israel and I love the ‘Jewishness’ of the Bible.
Leave a Reply