Book Club Begins! (Leadership Essentials).

The “official” gabbingwithgrace.com book club is starting today!  For information on the book & schedule head on over to my Graces Book Club page.

Were starting with Leadership Essentials: Shaping Vision, Multiplying Influence & Defining Character by Greg Ogden & Dan Meyer.

Were currently in Part I: The Character of a Leader, Chapter 1 – Holy, Developing a Vision of Christlike Character. If you hop over to my “Grace’s Book Club” page you’ll see the table of contents & please feel free to jump in at any time!  (I’m only posting once a week for this book because I know it will take me at least a week to get through each chapter).

Okay, without further ado, let’s get going.  (Also, feel free to comment even if you haven’t gotten or read the book!)

CORE TRUTH:

First off, what I love about this book all ready is that it’s a workbook…which makes me feel like I’m participating in my own growth.  After reading the core truth & trying to redefine it, here’s what I came up with to help me understand it:

“What is the most important thing about Jesus we can try & emulate in order to lead others?  Well, we have to have laser like focus on the holiness of Jesus and in this weay try to be just like him in all of the ways that we think, act, do and interact with others in our lives.  If we want to be like Jesus, it will require a higher standard of moral purity, bearing fruit and having a purpose –all of which are only possible by accessing God’s power.”

There’s a mouthful, eh?  I underlined what stood out to me.  This idea of having an even higher standard of moral purity than I’m all ready currently trying to have.  It convicted me specifically because of some of the ways I struggle with moral purity issues seem to me so inconsequential & “little,” though I know they are wrong.  Could Jesus be possibly asking me to give even those “little” things up?  (Hint: yes!)

MEMORY VERSE STUDY GUIDE: (I Peter 1:14-19)

My favorite question in the Bible Study was #5 about listing a few arguments for why Peter is arguing for such a high standard of holiness.  My 1st argument was: it’s important doggone it.  It was not with money that gave me my freedom, but a man’s torture and death.  And not just any man, but a man who could not have been less deserving of it.  My 2nd argument:  Essentially, if I don’t live my life this way, I’m just wasting it.  Just pissing on Christ’s death for me.  That’s no good.

READING: “Simply the Greatest”

I loved this reading.  I was intrigued by the quote they had from Time Magazine who said that “[A] serious argument can be made that no one else’s life has proved remotely as powerful and enduring as that of Jesus.” Sweet.

If you think of leadership as the art of multiplying influence, then by this standard Jesus must be considered the master artist… he is simply the greatest.

What struck me about the reading was this idea of Jesus’ purity in the absence of his sin.  Sure, sure we’ve all talked about Jesus being sinless, but not in contrast to his being filled with good qualities like self-control, kindness, beauty or the presence of glory.  He had a “compelling beauty,” which made some want to follow him & some want to hate him.  Which makes total sense to me.

The reading kicked my buttox in it’s “steps to holiness,” ideas.  Ay ay ay.  I was very challenged by the idea that we need to root out impurity and that our pursuit of purity is first and foremost a sign of our passion to be like Jesus.  Issues like pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed & sloth unaddressed will fester, diminish & even cancel our leadership.  Case in point: Kwame Kilpatrick’s recent debacle.

But instead of focusing on not doing those things, he suggest instead focusing on cultivating the fruit of the Spirit in our lives –things like love, joy, peace, patience, generosity, gentleness & self-control.

LEADERSHIP EXERCISE: “Holiness Health Check”

Wowser… I sort of felt like a jerk after this “holiness health check” which has you diagnose how well your life shows the aforementioned fruits of the Spirit.  The only one I felt I could honestly check with “gentleness,” which by definition stated, “I exhibit sensitivity and tenderness in my treatment of others, restraining the force I could exercise.”  And then I put next to it, “maybe.”  As it asked where you most feel you need to grow I checked “self-control.”  I realize that there are parts of my life which I have consecrated to God like my career path, marriage, parenting & life in general but I see where there are parts I’m holding back.  Things, dear blogging friends, I’m not yet willing to share here in this public format.

Overall, this chapter was very very convicting & very good for me this week even as I’ve been making decisions about some bigger issues in life.  I’m really excited about how this book is going to continue to challenge me.

So, if you liked this, hop over to Amazon -use the beauty link, if you would- and pick it up.  You can fold in to next week with chapter 2 – Habitual.  Cultivating Spritual Disciplines to Sustain our Leadership.