I Am a Follower: A Review

My latest offering from the Booksneeze bloggers program is "I Am A Follower" by Leonard Sweet.  In this book Sweet is taking on the leadership culture that is dominating the culture of the church and asking if this is what the church is to be about.  As you might can guess from the title he is seeking to call us away from leadership models and into what he terms followership.  Instead of seeing ourselves as leaders he claims that we are to become first followers.  The reason being that much of the leadership culture that is present within the church can lead us away from following after our own whims instead of listening to the Spirit and following after Jesus.  After an opening section that makes the case for followership, the book is then broken up into three subsequent sections that take a deeper look at Jesus being the way, the truth and the life for those that follow after him.

I will have to admit that I loved this book.  As someone who has worked in the church for the past ten years and has been indoctrinated in the leadership culture, although with a great measure of discomfort, I am happy that someone is finally speaking up.  I only wish that this book had been written ten years ago to save me so much heartache and to help put some of my own thoughts into a more coherent form.  I felt that this book was a very easy read and was clear and understandable.  I think that this book is accessible to all audiences, but I think its biggest impact would be had on pastors and lay people who are in charge of ministries.  There will be a measure of controversy surrounding this book as I know of many a pastor who have sold out to the leadership paradigm to the point where they would turn a deaf ear to Sweet's message in this book.  But there is an important message here for the church and those who have been called by God to be the first followers that help to point others to the way, the truth and the life that Jesus is calling us to live.  Thank you Leonard Sweet for reminding me.