![\"41xwTnbrPYL._SX343_BO1,204,203,200_\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/687\/2016\/05\/41xwTnbrPYL._SX343_BO1204203200_.jpg\")
So for the next few days, I want to do a kind of book review\/summary of Andy Crouch\u2019s great new book \u201cStrong and Weak.\u201d<\/p>\nSo for the next few days, I want to do a kind of book review\/summary of Andy Crouch\u2019s great new book \u201cStrong and Weak.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re not familiar with Crouch, he\u2019s the Executive editor of Christianity Today, and the author of a couple of other great books \u201cPlaying God\u201d and \u201cCulture Making.\u201d And if that doesn\u2019t impress you, than maybe the fact that Lacrae wrote about him in a song lyric will.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s one of my favorite authors and thinkers out there right now, and I highly recommend his new book. It\u2019s a short read, and\u00a0it\u2019s packed with great insight for what it means to be in a leadership role as a Christian.<\/p>\n
Now I know some of\u00a0you might be thinking. \u201cGreat another book on leadership. Just what the world needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
I get it. I\u2019m not a huge fan of leadership books either, but\u00a0I loved this one, and I think if you\u2019ve been called into any kind of leadership role in your life, this is a terrific resource for you.<\/p>\n
Crouch\u2019s basic premise is that leadership is a paradox that requires both power and vulnerability. And that the default temptation of humanity is to emphasize one and neglect the other. It can be that we pursue power without vulnerability and become a tyrant, or we can (in the name of humility) emphasize\u00a0vulnerability and neglect the God-given power that we\u2019ve\u00a0been given to help others around us\u00a0flourish.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how Crouch puts it:<\/p>\n
\nI used to think that what we feared was vulnerability\u2014the \u201cweak\u201d part of the paradox. But in the course of writing this book and talking with many others about the paradox of \u00a0flourishing, I\u2019ve realized that we fear authority too. The truth is that we are afraid of both sides of the paradox of flourishing\u2014and we especially fear to combine them in the only way that really leads to real life, for ourselves and others.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\nThis paradox of both God-given authority and also the vulnerability that we all face in the world is where true Jesus-like leadership occurs. This is what it has always meant to be humans made in God\u2019s image.<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\nIn the beginning, God made Adam and Eve and made them c0-regents of God\u2019s good world, but they also had a vulnerability woven into their nature.<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWalter Brueggemann pointed out many years ago, the way the original man in\u00a0Genesis 2 recognizes the original woman as his suitable partner, after seeing so many other creatures that would never suffice, is with this outburst of poetry: \u201c is at last is bone of my bones and \u00a0flesh of my flesh\u201d (Genesis 2:23). Bones\u2014hard, rigid, strong. Flesh\u2014soft, pliable, vulnerable. We image bearers are bone and \u00a0flesh\u2014strength and weakness, authority and vulnerability, together. -Crouch pg 45<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nI liked this book so much, I asked Andy Crouch to come in and present the material to the Highland church leadership (the church I serve), and it was incredibly helpful for us, so I hope\u00a0a brief introduction to his ideas will be helpful here, and hopefully encourage you to check out this great book.<\/div>\n<\/div>\nSo for the next few days I want to walk through the paradox of leadership that is strength mingled with weakness. Next up: The 2\u00d72 grid that will change your life.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So for the next few days, I want to do a kind of book review\/summary of Andy Crouch\u2019s great new book \u201cStrong and Weak.\u201d If you\u2019re not familiar with Crouch, he\u2019s the Executive editor of Christianity Today, and the author of a couple of other great books \u201cPlaying God\u201d and \u201cCulture Making.\u201d And if that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2768,"featured_media":277,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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