The full title of this book is ‘A Christian Leaders Guide to Leading with Love”. It is a straightforward exposition of the wonderful love chapter of 1 Corinthians followed by the works of a loving leader. The whole matter of Christian love is examined in relationship to leadership and done without pretension. This ‘no frills’ book is a welcome change from so many written nowadays that are concerned with matters of church leadership. There is a simple chapter to commence the book that connects love with leadership followed by several on the indispensability of love in the life of a leader. The main body of the book deals with love in the character and behavior of the leader and then the labors of a loving leader. The writer uses quotations from at least one hundred and twenty different voices of the Christian church through the centuries, from Polycarp in its earlier days through to modern day people such as Elizabeth Elliot and George Verwer. These quotations and sources have the effect of corroborating the whole thrust of the book, and the references drawn from the life of Robert Cleaver Chapman with which the book commences set the tone. An author can be partially judged by the company he keeps and it is clear that this author delights in good Christian company from the centuries. None of the chapters are very long and they afford the reader opportunity to see the path of love applied in numerous aspects of church life and leadership. Although some definition of love and short analysis of the Greek words used in the Pentateuch and the New Testament are included the whole is a book for everyone involved in any aspect of leadership in God’s church. Love is vital to the local church and is its very life breath essential to its evangelical witness and spiritual growth and this book sets out to promote this path of love in a no nonsense succinct way and seems to succeed in doing exactly that.
