THE CRUCIBLE OF LEADERSHIP:
Learning from the story of Moses
By Dr Alan Wilson
Instant Apostle. 215 pages. £10.99
ISBN 978 1 912 726 578
Aargh; not another book on leadership! Where will it end? But hang on; not so fast. Alan Wilson has served up a feast. This is less another manual on leadership, more an engaging journey in the company of a great leader.
Alan Wilson served as a pastor for just over 20 years – first with Westlake Church in Switzerland and then with Portstewart Baptist Church in Northern Ireland. Most recently he has been exploring the ‘crucible’ of leadership through a series of interviews conducted with experienced Christian leaders for his regular podcast, The Leadership Journey.
In The Crucible of Leadership, Alan explores nine striking lessons from the life of Moses, the leader – from the wilderness years, through coping with criticism to handing on the baton. And that’s the book’s USP; it is real and raw rather than idealistic or theoretical. With humility and good humour, Alan draws on a rich store of resources – sacred and secular – to show how leadership shapes the leader. Above all, character is the soil from which the fruit of leadership ripens. Here’s an example of what I mean: ‘The best leadership flows from who the leader is, rather than merely the skills the leader has mastered.’
And that’s what makes the Moses story so compelling; its subject is a deeply flawed man – to the extent that, in the end, God gives him a glimpse of the Promised Land but forbids him from entering it. All leaders have to wrestle with their faults and their failings. But is Moses a successful leader? Without doubt. He’s called to lead God’s people out of Egypt and into the future and, by God’s grace, he delivers. He is truly one of the Old Testament greats with much to teach us!
So, who should read this book? Every pastor on sabbatical who has time to think and pray. And every seasoned pastor concerned to know how to finish well. But also every Christian who wants to know how God goes about calling and equipping men and women for service in His kingdom. Humanly, the health of our churches and the spread of the Lord Jesus’ mission depends on the cultivation of such people.
