At this season in my life when the desire to lead within my church has waned and efforts to move into a supervisory position in my career have been thwarted, I was excited to read Leonard Sweet’s book I Am a Follower, expecting that he would re-affirm the value of following in a culture that has been obsessed with the importance of leadership. While I was delighted at his ability to turn popular thought upside down and help the reader think outside the box, I was a little disappointed.
Leonard introduces this writing with a beautiful illustration of a dancing man on a hill (with reference to a video clip on YouTube) and what it means to be a “first follower”. The book is then divided into three parts – what it means to follow Jesus in 1) the way, 2) the truth, and 3) the life.
Leonard’s emphasis on the value of being a “first follower” instead of a leader just seems to be a matter of semantics. In my opinion, a first follower is essentially the same as a servant leader. Still there was value to what he had to say if you can overlook this point. While he has a poetic way of illustrating what it means to follow Jesus Christ, this book was hard to read, very long, and difficult to finish.
BookSneeze® provided me a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed are my own.
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