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Facing Leviathan: Leadership, Influence, and Creating in a Cultural Storm
There are two styles of leadership at war in the world.
On one side the mechanical leader casts a vision of heroic action aided by pragmatism, reason, technology, and power.
On the other side the organic leader strives to bring forth creativity, defying convention, and relishing life in culture’s margins.
This leadership battle is at the heart of our contemporary culture, but it is also an ancient battle. It is the reinvocation of two great heresies, one rooted in an attempt to reach for godlikeness, the other bowing before the sea monster of the chaotic deep.
Today’s leader must answer many challenging questions
What does it mean to lead in a cultural storm?How do I battle the darkness in my own heart?Is there such a thing as a perfect leader?Weaving a history of leadership through the Enlightenment, Romanticism, tumultuous 19th-century Paris, and eventually World War II, cultural commentator Mark Sayers brings history and theology together to warn of the dangers yet to come, calling us to choose a better way.
On one side the mechanical leader casts a vision of heroic action aided by pragmatism, reason, technology, and power.
On the other side the organic leader strives to bring forth creativity, defying convention, and relishing life in culture’s margins.
This leadership battle is at the heart of our contemporary culture, but it is also an ancient battle. It is the reinvocation of two great heresies, one rooted in an attempt to reach for godlikeness, the other bowing before the sea monster of the chaotic deep.
Today’s leader must answer many challenging questions
What does it mean to lead in a cultural storm?How do I battle the darkness in my own heart?Is there such a thing as a perfect leader?Weaving a history of leadership through the Enlightenment, Romanticism, tumultuous 19th-century Paris, and eventually World War II, cultural commentator Mark Sayers brings history and theology together to warn of the dangers yet to come, calling us to choose a better way.
240 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2014
59 people are currently reading
689 people want to read
About the author
Mark Sayers
20 books259 followersMark Sayers is the senior leader of Red Church and the cofounder of Über Ministries. He is particularly interested in the intersection between Christianity and the culture of the West. Mark lives in Melbourne, Australia, with his wife, Trudi, and their daughter (Grace) and twin boys (Hudson and Billy).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
March 6, 2020
This book is not for the faint of heart. Mark Sayers writes about leadership from a historical, cultural, and biblical standpoint. This book will force you to think in ways that most leadership books will not do. For some, that seems like an invitation to dig in. I would highly recommend this to them. For others, it is a bit intimidating and I completely understand. It took me a couple of months to finish this book because it is not an easy to read book on leadership. The story can feel really jumpy at times (my biggest complaint).
In conclusion, I would recommend people to read this book with someone else alongside of them to help when the going gets tough.
In conclusion, I would recommend people to read this book with someone else alongside of them to help when the going gets tough.
December 22, 2014
I was surprised by this book on leadership. The cover didn't do it justice. And dividing Leadership into two styles also seems a little off to me. Yet having recently moved to Paris, I was delighted with the historical lessons dealing with Paris and World War 2. Mark did a great job with research and with story telling. He also intertwines the story of Jonah very well. The chapter on Henry Morton Stanley and his PR moves in search of David Livingstone was particularly good. At times the bolded 'tag phrases' seemed a little awkward. I have reread certain parts of this book over more than twice. That is a good sign!
April 5, 2014
A really enjoyable book that was part historical, part cultural analysis, and part leadership. Though it felt somewhat disjointed at times, I thought Sayers did a good job threading all those elements together. I think this is a book that is worth multiple readings and will offer fresh insights in each of those readings.
May 20, 2020
I love Sayers. He really brings such a wealth of knowledge about history and culture to conversations about Christianity. I found this book to be harder to follow than the Vertical Self. Both Facing Leviathan and Road Trip That Changed the World are fantastic books, just over my head at points. I imagine I'll read them again in a few years and hopefully I'll be better able to follow his arguments.
That being said (sorry for leading with the criticism Mark), I did really love this book. Here are some ideas I found helpful:
Quotes
“We need leaders, influencers, and creatives who have met Him in the storm.”
“It’s easier to reimagine church structure than it is to reimagine what it means to live a life fully devoted to God in modern culture.”
Great Ideas
-You can’t build a church based on who you don’t want to be
-Beware discipleship that's based on deconstruction only
Need to have a firm grasp of who you DO want to be
Who does God want us to be? What does God want us to do?
-Many attempts to bring the gospel by connecting with the culture have ended up being more influenced by the culture around it than actually transforming it
-Cultural exhaustion is the doorway to the human heart
Society of the spectacle fuels distraction and passivity
That being said (sorry for leading with the criticism Mark), I did really love this book. Here are some ideas I found helpful:
Quotes
“We need leaders, influencers, and creatives who have met Him in the storm.”
“It’s easier to reimagine church structure than it is to reimagine what it means to live a life fully devoted to God in modern culture.”
Great Ideas
-You can’t build a church based on who you don’t want to be
-Beware discipleship that's based on deconstruction only
Need to have a firm grasp of who you DO want to be
Who does God want us to be? What does God want us to do?
-Many attempts to bring the gospel by connecting with the culture have ended up being more influenced by the culture around it than actually transforming it
-Cultural exhaustion is the doorway to the human heart
Society of the spectacle fuels distraction and passivity
April 7, 2020
Facing Leviathan is an 'out-of-the-box' way to approaching leadership.
I bought this book and had it read in a couple of days - which is fast reading for me! Basically, it captivated me due to its mix of theology, Sayer's personal reflection, history and biography. I still have much to muse through regarding the book's content. However, it's gift is in its analysis of leadership from an entirely different angle than I was expecting.
I bought this book and had it read in a couple of days - which is fast reading for me! Basically, it captivated me due to its mix of theology, Sayer's personal reflection, history and biography. I still have much to muse through regarding the book's content. However, it's gift is in its analysis of leadership from an entirely different angle than I was expecting.
December 23, 2015
Not really what I expected. I expected, here is a biblical attitude toward engaging the culture, and here are some tips for doing so. Instead, the cultural overview for How We Got to Now was reasonably interesting, but reusing exposition from Jonah and the Great Fish, again, was not particularly inspiring.
April 26, 2014
Phenomenal cultural exegesis and some surprising conclusions.
Read
August 8, 2020Thoughtful, thought-provoking, original, clear-sighted, challenging, ultimately encouraging in its honesty, and at least six years ahead of its time. What a great book.
March 23, 2015
Not sure what he's trying to do here, but it doesn't work.
January 12, 2019
A book herringboned with intersecting, zigzagging, interlaced ideas. A web, rather than a flow. The Nautilus of Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is an unexpected picture of Leviathan, yet in the age of mechanisation, spectacle and human isolation, it makes perfect sense.
Sayers, in his analysis of Paris in the year of the Exposition of 1889, show how abrupt the transition from politics and the rule of law towards celebrity as the primary form of influence. The bizarre picture of Buffalo Bill's "Wild West" show with the re-enactments of genuine battles which included the actual enemy he'd fought against in real life presaged a transition in society's interest. Truly, "bread and circuses" was what the public wanted; not integrity in politics.
So great was the cult of celebrity that Henry Morton Stanley, famed as the man who tracked down missing missionary David Livingstone and greeted him with, "Dr Livingstone, I presume?" was able to capitalise on his adventure by working for King Leopold of Belgium in the Belgian Congo. The legacy of brutality, cruelty and horror they left was only possible because Stanley was able to build what today would be called a "personal brand".
Sayers evokes the past in a way that gives us insight into the present. Once the poster boy for the creative organic values of leadership in his denomination, he found unexpectedly that organic counter-cultural values contain the seeds of their own destruction - just as much as the privileged mechanical values of the past do.
Sayers, in his analysis of Paris in the year of the Exposition of 1889, show how abrupt the transition from politics and the rule of law towards celebrity as the primary form of influence. The bizarre picture of Buffalo Bill's "Wild West" show with the re-enactments of genuine battles which included the actual enemy he'd fought against in real life presaged a transition in society's interest. Truly, "bread and circuses" was what the public wanted; not integrity in politics.
So great was the cult of celebrity that Henry Morton Stanley, famed as the man who tracked down missing missionary David Livingstone and greeted him with, "Dr Livingstone, I presume?" was able to capitalise on his adventure by working for King Leopold of Belgium in the Belgian Congo. The legacy of brutality, cruelty and horror they left was only possible because Stanley was able to build what today would be called a "personal brand".
Sayers evokes the past in a way that gives us insight into the present. Once the poster boy for the creative organic values of leadership in his denomination, he found unexpectedly that organic counter-cultural values contain the seeds of their own destruction - just as much as the privileged mechanical values of the past do.
June 29, 2017
What a unique and fresh take on leadership and influence!
This is just a marvellous book on culture, creativity, history and how they have shaped the leadership landscape in our post-modern era.
Sayers goes through the history of leadership from the era of the Enlightenment, Romanticism, 19th century Paris and to World War II.
Again, this is a unique take on leadership and culture seen through the lens of modern European cultural development. Sayers use many case studies from the art world (from paintings, poems, and performance arts) to validate his points – which I find remarkable!
I feel this is a great book on culture and history written by a great cultural commentator. However, I don’t see it as a traditional leadership book. Saying that, sometimes it is better to see leadership and influence from a new angle that we have not seen yet. This is what happens to me. To be able to learn about an exhausted topic like leadership through a new lens is great! Not to mention that the book itself is well written and so enjoyable to read!
Can I have more books like these please?
This is just a marvellous book on culture, creativity, history and how they have shaped the leadership landscape in our post-modern era.
Sayers goes through the history of leadership from the era of the Enlightenment, Romanticism, 19th century Paris and to World War II.
Again, this is a unique take on leadership and culture seen through the lens of modern European cultural development. Sayers use many case studies from the art world (from paintings, poems, and performance arts) to validate his points – which I find remarkable!
I feel this is a great book on culture and history written by a great cultural commentator. However, I don’t see it as a traditional leadership book. Saying that, sometimes it is better to see leadership and influence from a new angle that we have not seen yet. This is what happens to me. To be able to learn about an exhausted topic like leadership through a new lens is great! Not to mention that the book itself is well written and so enjoyable to read!
Can I have more books like these please?
June 6, 2020
Sayers takes his readers on an interesting journey as he thinks about leadership. This book is part history lesson through French Romanticism, part cultural exegesis, part character sketch of Jonah, part autobiography, part leadership lessons. One particularly interesting point he makes is that he thinks our modern age is less built on the presuppositions of the Englightenment (hence leading to Secularism) and more built on the Romantic Era (hence leading to paganism). This leads to some interesting cultural analysis through the lens of Romanticism, including some illustrations from 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea (modernity as a submarine!). I'm not sure who I'd recommend this book to given that it travels down many roads to the goal of helping leaders navigate our cultural storm. I'd say if at least two of the parts I listed interest you, this could be for you.
December 30, 2024
Stared this book in January, got 90% through it... just skimmed the last chapter. And yes I am padding my goodreads stats lol
But for real, this is a decent book, nothing mind blowing. its basically christ-like leadership plus cultural commentary. Sayers as aways is great at weaving an interesting historical narrative and drawing on a lot of interesting sources in art and literature and culture.
down sides: too much fluff, stories and anecdotes that dont really do anything for the argument. And I didn't love how he used biblical characters as archetypes of leadership, it wasn't very convincing. I think its inevitable that you end up distorting the text when you try and fit it into your framework.
But for real, this is a decent book, nothing mind blowing. its basically christ-like leadership plus cultural commentary. Sayers as aways is great at weaving an interesting historical narrative and drawing on a lot of interesting sources in art and literature and culture.
down sides: too much fluff, stories and anecdotes that dont really do anything for the argument. And I didn't love how he used biblical characters as archetypes of leadership, it wasn't very convincing. I think its inevitable that you end up distorting the text when you try and fit it into your framework.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 29, 2019
Heroic individualism & cynical withdrawal are two ways humans have sought to influence culture. The Biblical leader embraces a third way: standing at the intersection of the world (involvement) and God’s word (prophetic)
Sayers takes a cultural survey through 19th & 20th century Europe: Paris, Bohemians, Conrad, Livingston, Hitler—nothing is new under the sun, alongside an exegetical treatment of Jonah. As we stand on the verge of paganism resurgent, Christians must avoid communities of criticism that rely on the existence of another community, and instead forge communities that truly establish the Kingdom.
This is a fantastic read.
Sayers takes a cultural survey through 19th & 20th century Europe: Paris, Bohemians, Conrad, Livingston, Hitler—nothing is new under the sun, alongside an exegetical treatment of Jonah. As we stand on the verge of paganism resurgent, Christians must avoid communities of criticism that rely on the existence of another community, and instead forge communities that truly establish the Kingdom.
This is a fantastic read.
December 4, 2024
Such a thoughtful, deeply-researched book — and not what you expect from a book on "leadership" or "cultural influence" Facing Leviathan is remarkable because it's not about self-improvement. It's an argument for deep engagement with history. Sayers is pulling a strand of yarn slowly and persistently, watching the present unravel into the past.
Focusing on the thinkers and poets of fin-de-siecle Paris, Sayers walks through the twin expressions of post-Christian paganism, which you might call the artistic and the authoritarian — until you realize that a lot of the authoritarians were artistic. Delightful, insightful, and, at the end, profoundly moving.
Focusing on the thinkers and poets of fin-de-siecle Paris, Sayers walks through the twin expressions of post-Christian paganism, which you might call the artistic and the authoritarian — until you realize that a lot of the authoritarians were artistic. Delightful, insightful, and, at the end, profoundly moving.
October 19, 2018
This is more of journey into the heart of leadership then a how to book. Sayers surveys the cultural storms that have confronted leaders throughout history, and how those cultural storms are context in which God forms leaders. Sayers draws on the biblical story of Jonah, the story of various different historical figures, and his own leadership challenges to point be to the unique ways we are formed in the storm and prepared for leadership.
March 8, 2019
History, biblical narrative, self-deprecating personal journey, philosophy
This is not a typical paint-by-number leadership book that spoon feeds the reader some shirt actionable steps (as helpful as those can sometimes be).
Instead, Sayers moves us to think about our culture, ourselves, our history, and our God.
I could not ask for a more engaging, thought provoking book on spiritual leadership in today’s culture.
This is not a typical paint-by-number leadership book that spoon feeds the reader some shirt actionable steps (as helpful as those can sometimes be).
Instead, Sayers moves us to think about our culture, ourselves, our history, and our God.
I could not ask for a more engaging, thought provoking book on spiritual leadership in today’s culture.
April 23, 2020
As usual, Mark Sayers has presented a brilliant resource for Christian leaders. I hesitate to give it five stars because it can be quite complicated at times, as Mark weaves together historical accounts, the scriptures, and teaching. The book builds up to the final chapter, which offers us an amazing call as Christian leaders in the current secular storm that we are facing. If you like heavier books with a lot of history, I highly recommend it!
May 17, 2020
Many of us want to be influencers, but not actually lead.
Sayers threads this idea through history and what leadership actually looks like in a Christian worldview.
I had trouble getting into this read, because it’s historic and very informative but was captivated in the end with his valuable wisdom and insight on leadership. I was definitely challenge in my definition of Christian leadership and confronted with what leading actually entails.
Sayers threads this idea through history and what leadership actually looks like in a Christian worldview.
I had trouble getting into this read, because it’s historic and very informative but was captivated in the end with his valuable wisdom and insight on leadership. I was definitely challenge in my definition of Christian leadership and confronted with what leading actually entails.
June 28, 2017
Sayers gives a wonderful historical and spiritual analysis of how we arrived at our present state of affairs.
Wonderful histotical quotes and perspectives. Challenges both contemporary forms of leadership, hierarchical and democratic. Brings the reader back to the example of Christ- servant leadership.
Wonderful histotical quotes and perspectives. Challenges both contemporary forms of leadership, hierarchical and democratic. Brings the reader back to the example of Christ- servant leadership.
October 2, 2024
I really enjoyed the mixture of history, theology and leadership provided here. My only wish is that mark dived deeper into the biblical leadership model.it felt tacked on at the end of a great look into Frances history. But there is still plenty in this book for me to re-read it in the future. I especially enjoyed the chapter about Henry Marten Stanley and the look into the “heroic leader"
January 13, 2025
This is the second book I have read by Mark Sayers. He has a way of pulling you in, challenging your thinking, and creating a narrative that inspires you to engage with God and culture.
This book was so well written with rich stories, cultural tension, and a great ending that inspires you to be a faithful rebuilder in a culture of chaos.
This book was so well written with rich stories, cultural tension, and a great ending that inspires you to be a faithful rebuilder in a culture of chaos.
February 24, 2017
A fascinating book on leadership. Not your typical "5 principles to make you a better leader." This book is part cultural critique and part history lesson. It's brilliant. I didn't give it 5 stars because there were parts that seemed disconnected, but it's well worth the read.
February 14, 2020
Excellent look at the historical movement towards a "society of spectacle" and the trend towards deconstruction. Sayers gives an admonishment to leaders to face Leviathan, acknowledging that it lives also within us.
July 31, 2020
A book that all Christian leaders should read, it's just as relevant in the Covid19 days as it was when it was written. Mark speaks from a place of his own growth and healing while using history and the Biblical story of Jonah to talk about leadership in the midst of the storm.
January 16, 2021
This book was excellent and I really enjoyed Mark’s way of working a theme of leadership and merging that with history and culture. This book ministered to me in a profound way! I highly recommend this book.
March 25, 2017
Pros: (1) penetrating cultural analysis, (2) great insights on leadership in light of that penetrating cultural analysis, and (3) helpful emphasis on the importance of history for our present. Cons: (1) some of the historiography and philosophical analysis is weak, (2) exegesis of Jonah is strained, and (3) theology is not as nuanced as the cultural analysis.
September 21, 2018
A call to leadership that is different from the world. B
September 2, 2019
Excellent & Insightful
I am a senior pastor in the Texas Panhandle, & I recommend this book to any church leader. It will hit you well.
I am a senior pastor in the Texas Panhandle, & I recommend this book to any church leader. It will hit you well.
September 11, 2022
Mark Sayers' books always talking about the future. This book was written in 2014 but so so needed in 2022! Love his insights, his humility in sharing his life to us.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews