Issue No. 429 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting highlights a new take (with a deeper context) on the perilous path to greatness. And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies) and click here for my Top-10 books of 2019 and my Book-of-the-Year pick.
“To Be Honest…”
To be honest…I have this thing about political pundits, CEOs, board members—even colleagues—who, after five minutes or more into a conversation then preface a statement with “Well, to be honest…” (I wonder: Is this now the first time they’re being honest with me?)
So—NEWS FLASH!—I’m saying this up front. To be honest, I really wasn’t motivated to read yet another book on servant leadership. We’ve all read them. We know (we know!) we could be and must be better at serving. Yada. Yada. Yada.
But (to be honest), because Ralph Enlow’s book, The Leader’s Palette: Seven Primary Colors, was on my Top-10 list for 2013 (and I still quote from it), I was willing to give servant leadership another try. And to be honest, Enlow’s latest book is only 125 pages, with lots of white space. I can speed-read this, I thought.
Whoa! Slow down, Pearson. Servant of All checks all of the boxes:
• Convicting.
• Motivational. Quotable.
• Short chapters—long on wisdom.
• Frequently, very, very funny. LOL funny.
• Dramatically changed my thinking on Matthew 18.
As I’ve noted before, the measure of a great book is how often I’m reading selections to my wife, Joanne. And get this: Joanne picked it up and read it.
Subtitled, “Reframing Greatness and Leadership through the Teachings of Jesus,” the author (his day job is president of the Association for Biblical Higher Education), walks us through the Gospels to pinpoint the fuller and deeper context of what many take out of context:
“Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last,
and the servant of all.” (Mark 9:35)
He writes that “some of the people who most often quote this simple and straightforward principle are among the worst violators of its true implications.” He adds, “…the disconnect between precept and practice is because much of our practical, theoretical, and even theological commentary on servant leadership fails to account for all the Bible has to say on the subject.”
In the foreword, Barna Group’s David Kinnaman notes, “We have a surplus of Christian leaders who mistake the size of their platform for the impact they are having for Jesus.” We all see it. Who’s the greatest? Check my Twitter followers. What’s your open rate?
The first five short chapters address how we misunderstand greatness. To be honest, I underlined most of the book. Example: “For all our talk about servanthood as Christ’s disciples, we just don’t like it when others are granted preference—especially in ways that expose our laxity or pettiness.” By page 57, Enlow has already called “Strike Four” on the disciples.
“Are you kidding me?” Enlow asks. Why did Jesus organize an inner circle campout on the mountain top with just three of the disciples? “Nine of the twelve get excluded from the greatest private screening of all time.” I underlined this:
“The emotional path between exclusion and resentment
is exceedingly well worn.”
I could fill this entire review with quotable quotes—dozens, wonderfully word crafted by Enlow. Plus, dozens more from a few hall of fame servants (is that an oxymoron?). Examples:
• “What enables us to achieve our greatness contains the seeds of our destruction.” (Jim Valvano)
• “If you hug to yourself any resentment against anybody else, you destroy the bridge by which God would come to you.” (Peter Marshall)
• “Humiliation is the beginning of sanctification.” (John Donne)
• “Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo.” (H.G. Wells)
• “A journey toward greatness is a journey down, not up.” (Larry Richards)
• “Nothing—it would seem—fuels a crisis more than ambiguity.” (Ralph E. Enlow, Jr.)
• “Not only did Jesus affirm that Simon’s answer was correct, he went way overboard.” (Enlow)
• On Peter: “Often wrong, but never in doubt.” (Enlow)
In one setting, writes Enlow, “Matthew 18:15-20 was the go-to Scripture passage for addressing personal conflict on the team.” He describes the setting and then adds, “The frequency with which the passage was applied in an attempt to resolve these offenses became itself a source of irritation.”
Why the confusion over the Matthew 18 principles? Enlow: “One reason for this is that rarely, if ever, is this text recognized to be a continuation of Jesus’ lengthy discourse on greatness.” His insights in chapter 10, “The Pursuit of Greatness,” are worth the price of the book. (To be honest.)
How I wish other authors could deliver powerful content in small packages like Servant of All:
• Five probing questions for each chapter (study guide quality)
• Six memorable and alliterative chapter titles in Part 2—perfect for six weekly staff meetings. (Add prayer—and it preaches!)
• Summary “In a Nutshell” sidebars contrasting “Worldly Thinking” versus “Godly Thinking.”
Did I mention humor? On forgiveness protocols, when Peter “was looking for a rule that would quantify his moral obligation and validate his righteousness,” you’ll recall Jesus’ answer on how often we must forgive someone: 77 times (some translations say 70 times 7). Per Enlow, here’s how Jesus responded:
“Put away your scorecard, Peter. You can’t count that high. In fact, if you’re keeping score on such things at all, it reveals that you have failed to understand what constitutes true greatness…”
To be honest—and this is the last time I’ll use that annoying phrase—I will read this book again. Enlow, himself, is amazingly transparent—which is arresting. This is a 10 on the must-read scale.
To order from Amazon, click on the title for Servant of All: Reframing Greatness and Leadership through the Teachings of Jesus, by Ralph E. Enlow, Jr.
Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions:
1) In his conclusion, Ralph Enlow reminds us to pursue the context of Jesus’ teaching on greatness, and writes, “If you have the courage to engage it in this way, you will not come out unscathed.” OK, team—do we have the courage to read this book together?
#2. Enlow: “The sort of greatness Jesus has been commending in this passage only comes by means of grace. Gratitude acknowledges and appropriates God’s grace. God’s grace appropriated engenders, in its turn, true greatness.” (Or as Anne Lamott says, “Grace always bats last.”) Do you agree?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“10 Biggest Mistakes”
Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook
One of the big ideas in the Budget Bucket, Chapter 15, in Mastering the Management Buckets, is to implement best financial practices. Since the majority of my readers are board members and staff of nonprofit organizations and churches, I annually recommend two best practice resources:
• Zondervan 2020 Church and Nonprofit Tax and Financial Guide: For 2019 Tax Returns, by Dan Busby and Michael Martin
• Zondervan 2020 Minister's Tax and Financial Guide: For 2019 Tax Returns, by Dan Busby and Michael Martin
Both books include Top-10 lists, including “10 Biggest Tax and Financial Mistakes,” “10 Tax and Finance Questions Most Frequently Asked by Churches and Nonprofits,” plus (for the minister’s guide), “10 Biggest Tax Mistakes Made by Ministers.” Number 6 on the ministry mistakes list: “Weak controls over revenue, including failing to have offerings and other cash and checks controlled by two individuals until the funds are counted.”
For more resource in the Budget Bucket, click here.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
JASON PEARSON: UNEXPECTED CREATIVE. Are you leveraging the extraordinary power of visual media to inspire your members, clients, or customers? Check out the innovative work from Jason Pearson at Pearpod Media (branding, digital, print, and video), including the new book by Jason Pearson and Doug Fields, This. Customizable Journal: 52 Ways to Share Your World With Those You Love. (Read John’s review here.)
___________________________________________________________________________________
Your Weekly Staff Meeting is emailed free one to three times a month to subscribers, the frequency of which is based on an algorithm of book length, frequent flyer miles, and client deadlines. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. PRIVACY POLICY: Typepad, Inc. hosts John Pearson's Buckets Blog. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform for Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews. By clicking (above) to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy policy here.