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Great Leader, Great Teacher: Recovering the Biblical Vision for Leadership
The greatest leaders among us are the great teachers among us. Whether you’re a preacher in the pulpit, an instructor in the classroom, or a behind-the-scenes trainer, you are a leader because you teach. Using pointed case studies and impeccable research, Gary Bredfeldt informs, inspires, and challenges your teaching skills, allowing you to achieve maximum influence as a leader. No matter what the size of your flock, you Bredfeldt offers realistic leadership paradigms and explores four basic types of churches to show you how best to lead in your situation. Be the most powerful leader you can be by fulfilling your sacred call... as a teacher.
- GenresLeadershipEducation
208 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2006
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49 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 21, 2024
A good discussion on biblical leadership and the necessity of teaching the Word of God.
July 16, 2018
Book Review: Great Leader Great Teacher: Recovering the Biblical Vision for Leadership
Bibliographical Entry
Bredfeldt, Gary. Great Leader Great Teacher: Recovering the Biblical Vision for Leadership. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2006.
Summary
The title of the book that Bredfeldt chose describes the exact theme and nature of the work: recovering biblical leadership. He suggests this with a strong emphasis that great leaders are great teachers. The thesis is revealed in chapter 1, “At the most basic core of biblical leadership is one indispensable, unchanging function of the Christian leader – the task of teaching God’s word with clarity, in its original context, and in a way that is relevant to those who hearts are open to hear.” (p. 15) The church is described as a “teaching-learning organization” whose goal is to reach a spiritual maturity in unity rather than numerical growth.
The examples of leadership styles included are from various leaders which gives the book definitive and crucial effectiveness. Each concept is explained so that the reader articulates Bredfeldt’s argument with ease of comprehension. “Maximum leadership is achieved through great teaching” (p. 19) and teachers are the ones who influence change and begin movements. (p. 22)
The book enlists the various church styles and how it has lost its effectiveness through the generations. Bredfeldt believes this is due to the leader losing the original vision or by becoming distracted with daily mundane tasks. He emphasizes that teaching is the biblical leader’s task and should be made a priority.
Several concepts of leadership are explored such as the virtues of leadership, competencies of a leader, competencies of a teacher, and paradigms of leadership. The latter half of the book distinguishes the basic types of churches that are established and offers assessments of spirit-truth and works-faith churches for the reader to assess his own church.
Critique
This book was a great read and just what a new leader needs to learn going forward. Bredfeldt’s insightful techniques and examples given for each concept enhance the allowing of the reader to incorporate his ideas into everyday leadership. Chapter three, “More Like Jesus Than Jack: Learning to Lead Like Jesus,” was somewhat hard to swallow in the beginning of the chapter. After careful deliberation of getting to the point of matter, it became more of a thought provoking question as to whether Bredfeldt intentionally meant that Jesus was a failure at leadership. (p. 49) If it would not have been Gods will for Christ to be the propitiation of humanity’s place then it could be assumed that Christ would have had a very different nature and style of leadership.
Evaluation
In my opinion this book does contribute to the field of Christian leadership and Christian organizations that may be lacking in biblical leadership. Bredfeldt is a man of wisdom who seems to have captured the essence of true biblical leadership. His analogies and stories are supported biblically and experientially. The last few chapters allow the reader to analyze the type of church they may be members of. This assists the teacher-leader to be able to distinguish areas that may be in need of change, substance, and are vulnerable. I would recommend this book to new and seasoned leaders alike.
Bibliographical Entry
Bredfeldt, Gary. Great Leader Great Teacher: Recovering the Biblical Vision for Leadership. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2006.
Summary
The title of the book that Bredfeldt chose describes the exact theme and nature of the work: recovering biblical leadership. He suggests this with a strong emphasis that great leaders are great teachers. The thesis is revealed in chapter 1, “At the most basic core of biblical leadership is one indispensable, unchanging function of the Christian leader – the task of teaching God’s word with clarity, in its original context, and in a way that is relevant to those who hearts are open to hear.” (p. 15) The church is described as a “teaching-learning organization” whose goal is to reach a spiritual maturity in unity rather than numerical growth.
The examples of leadership styles included are from various leaders which gives the book definitive and crucial effectiveness. Each concept is explained so that the reader articulates Bredfeldt’s argument with ease of comprehension. “Maximum leadership is achieved through great teaching” (p. 19) and teachers are the ones who influence change and begin movements. (p. 22)
The book enlists the various church styles and how it has lost its effectiveness through the generations. Bredfeldt believes this is due to the leader losing the original vision or by becoming distracted with daily mundane tasks. He emphasizes that teaching is the biblical leader’s task and should be made a priority.
Several concepts of leadership are explored such as the virtues of leadership, competencies of a leader, competencies of a teacher, and paradigms of leadership. The latter half of the book distinguishes the basic types of churches that are established and offers assessments of spirit-truth and works-faith churches for the reader to assess his own church.
Critique
This book was a great read and just what a new leader needs to learn going forward. Bredfeldt’s insightful techniques and examples given for each concept enhance the allowing of the reader to incorporate his ideas into everyday leadership. Chapter three, “More Like Jesus Than Jack: Learning to Lead Like Jesus,” was somewhat hard to swallow in the beginning of the chapter. After careful deliberation of getting to the point of matter, it became more of a thought provoking question as to whether Bredfeldt intentionally meant that Jesus was a failure at leadership. (p. 49) If it would not have been Gods will for Christ to be the propitiation of humanity’s place then it could be assumed that Christ would have had a very different nature and style of leadership.
Evaluation
In my opinion this book does contribute to the field of Christian leadership and Christian organizations that may be lacking in biblical leadership. Bredfeldt is a man of wisdom who seems to have captured the essence of true biblical leadership. His analogies and stories are supported biblically and experientially. The last few chapters allow the reader to analyze the type of church they may be members of. This assists the teacher-leader to be able to distinguish areas that may be in need of change, substance, and are vulnerable. I would recommend this book to new and seasoned leaders alike.
June 3, 2017
Read in seminary. Helped cement the concept that whatever else a leader does, he must surely teach. Christ's words are the center of the Christian leader's work.
October 29, 2012
Great Leader Great Teacher is a pretty good book. It is above average, but not excellent. It is above average in that it does give some helpful insights that should be considered:
The difference between values and virtues
The competencies of the Leader, such as: methodology, clarity, and team dynamics
Philosophical leadership paradigms
Church characteristics and styles
These are all good reflections, bringing the leader to examine his or her own situation and ensure a high level of awareness.
However, one of the things that keeps the book from being excellent is its uneven and trite treatment of important ideas. Bredfeldt has no trouble affirming a power paradigm of Sigmund Freud's even though he acknowledges the overwhelmingly negative reputation Freud has in evangelical circles. He says: "I would encourage the reader to not discard everything Freud has theorized without giving due consideration to his research" (208). This is good, as it should be. However, he does not give the emergent church the same consideration. His blanket and unsupported statements against A Generous Orthodoxy gives the (I must assume false) impression that Bredfeldt hasn't read McLaren's book. I acknowledge freely that I strongly disagree with some of the directions McLaren leans, but that should not prevent me from seeing his point that legitimate, orthodox denominations have disagreements over theology that a humble person should consider and not reject out of hand, but rather examine the points of difference to see if we can learn something. McLaren is not saying "Let's all just toss out good theology and join theological hands with cults." He is saying, "what can we learn from the various good theologies to be found in legitimate Christian expressions?" Again, he may take this idea too far, and on those points I disagree, but why can we not give him and some other Emergent leaders the same consideration given to Freud who was explicitly anti-Christian? It seems disingenuous, distrustful of other believers, and needlessly divisive. Again, I am not saying we should simply endorse everything any emergent says, but we should not smother them all with a blanket condemnation either. Part of the hallmark of the emergent movement is its eclectic nature, it's tenacious resistance to endorsing a single path. Though the existential flavor of such a stance is philosophically foreign, it should also be enough to tell us that even within the movement there is broad disagreement and a need for evaluating individuals for their own views.
The second problem I see with Great Leader Great Teacher is the over-simplified presentation of some very good ideas. This is to some degree a personal bias. Bredfeldt is way too married to alliteration. Alliteration has been valued in popular but unsophisticated circles as a mnemonic, and it does work. It is also a poetic device, but one that is seldom used in poetry for a reason. It does not lend itself to precision. A person who uses alliteration too much seems willing to sacrifice accuracy for pithiness. Bredfeldt's ideas are good, but his over-use of this device trivializes his material. In my own mind, I have to get past that self-trivialization before I can give the ideas the credit they deserve. I have to ask what Bredfeldt would have said if he had felt free to use the most accurate words possible in his constructs instead of feeling bound to five Es, five Ss, four Ms, four Ps, four Vs, and four Es. The preoccupation with the number four also leads me to believe that he may be forcing his ideas into a pattern that makes it useful for various reasons, but may also mean that it is less precise than it might be otherwise. To give him his due, Bredfeldt does not always resort to this pattern, and when he doesn't his alliterative tendency is also muted. That is all to the good, but his own model could stand to be self-evaluated to see if additional complexity and precision could also lead to greater effectiveness of the model. The abandonment of imposed simplicity could lead to a more significant success.
One of my own frustrations with the pastorate has been the impression I had as a young man that the pastor's primary role was teaching. When I actually entered the profession, I found that people placed a higher value on other pastoral roles than I anticipated, roles I was ill equipped to fill. As a person with a definite spiritual bent toward teaching, this development has been drastically discouraging. Bredfeldt's paradigm is encouraging in that it affirms my initial impression, but does not help because it is not broadly recognized and valued. As a leader it makes little difference what my core values are if they are not in harmony with the core values of my constituency.
However, read Great Leader Great Teacher to see how Bredfeldt draws the values of his paradigm into sharp relief. Use it to refine your ministry. I will. It is only one view, communicated with some flaws, but it contributes good material to the overall philosophy of the leader.
The difference between values and virtues
The competencies of the Leader, such as: methodology, clarity, and team dynamics
Philosophical leadership paradigms
Church characteristics and styles
These are all good reflections, bringing the leader to examine his or her own situation and ensure a high level of awareness.
However, one of the things that keeps the book from being excellent is its uneven and trite treatment of important ideas. Bredfeldt has no trouble affirming a power paradigm of Sigmund Freud's even though he acknowledges the overwhelmingly negative reputation Freud has in evangelical circles. He says: "I would encourage the reader to not discard everything Freud has theorized without giving due consideration to his research" (208). This is good, as it should be. However, he does not give the emergent church the same consideration. His blanket and unsupported statements against A Generous Orthodoxy gives the (I must assume false) impression that Bredfeldt hasn't read McLaren's book. I acknowledge freely that I strongly disagree with some of the directions McLaren leans, but that should not prevent me from seeing his point that legitimate, orthodox denominations have disagreements over theology that a humble person should consider and not reject out of hand, but rather examine the points of difference to see if we can learn something. McLaren is not saying "Let's all just toss out good theology and join theological hands with cults." He is saying, "what can we learn from the various good theologies to be found in legitimate Christian expressions?" Again, he may take this idea too far, and on those points I disagree, but why can we not give him and some other Emergent leaders the same consideration given to Freud who was explicitly anti-Christian? It seems disingenuous, distrustful of other believers, and needlessly divisive. Again, I am not saying we should simply endorse everything any emergent says, but we should not smother them all with a blanket condemnation either. Part of the hallmark of the emergent movement is its eclectic nature, it's tenacious resistance to endorsing a single path. Though the existential flavor of such a stance is philosophically foreign, it should also be enough to tell us that even within the movement there is broad disagreement and a need for evaluating individuals for their own views.
The second problem I see with Great Leader Great Teacher is the over-simplified presentation of some very good ideas. This is to some degree a personal bias. Bredfeldt is way too married to alliteration. Alliteration has been valued in popular but unsophisticated circles as a mnemonic, and it does work. It is also a poetic device, but one that is seldom used in poetry for a reason. It does not lend itself to precision. A person who uses alliteration too much seems willing to sacrifice accuracy for pithiness. Bredfeldt's ideas are good, but his over-use of this device trivializes his material. In my own mind, I have to get past that self-trivialization before I can give the ideas the credit they deserve. I have to ask what Bredfeldt would have said if he had felt free to use the most accurate words possible in his constructs instead of feeling bound to five Es, five Ss, four Ms, four Ps, four Vs, and four Es. The preoccupation with the number four also leads me to believe that he may be forcing his ideas into a pattern that makes it useful for various reasons, but may also mean that it is less precise than it might be otherwise. To give him his due, Bredfeldt does not always resort to this pattern, and when he doesn't his alliterative tendency is also muted. That is all to the good, but his own model could stand to be self-evaluated to see if additional complexity and precision could also lead to greater effectiveness of the model. The abandonment of imposed simplicity could lead to a more significant success.
One of my own frustrations with the pastorate has been the impression I had as a young man that the pastor's primary role was teaching. When I actually entered the profession, I found that people placed a higher value on other pastoral roles than I anticipated, roles I was ill equipped to fill. As a person with a definite spiritual bent toward teaching, this development has been drastically discouraging. Bredfeldt's paradigm is encouraging in that it affirms my initial impression, but does not help because it is not broadly recognized and valued. As a leader it makes little difference what my core values are if they are not in harmony with the core values of my constituency.
However, read Great Leader Great Teacher to see how Bredfeldt draws the values of his paradigm into sharp relief. Use it to refine your ministry. I will. It is only one view, communicated with some flaws, but it contributes good material to the overall philosophy of the leader.
July 1, 2024
I appreciated this book and its approach to leadership. However, I found myself fundamentally disagreeing with the basic principles of what Bredfeldt defined Biblical Leadership as. Such statements such as a Biblical leader is first and primarily a teacher (not quoting), I find problematic. I believe that a Biblical leader is first and foremost a child of God, and then secondarily a shepherd. There is a sort of venn diagram between shepherd, teacher, and servitude that makes a biblical leader. I believe that Bredfeldt made an uneven/one side weighted diagram and did not give the attention needed to the other aspects of leadership laid out in Scripture.
January 28, 2015
A meaty yet accessible book that emphasizes the role of teaching in leadership. The book is written from a theologically conservative point of view that takes a high view of Scripture as "objective truth" (p. 69) and its sufficiency for providing a model for leadership in today's world. The book sets out a basic framework for the teacher-leader understanding that "the church is fundamentally a teaching-learning organization" (p.16) and that the Great Commission includes "teaching those we reach" (p. 27). Those wanting to grow in their teaching/leading abilities will find chapter 6, "Competencies of the Leader-Teacher" helpful. For further development of teaching skills and more specific instruction on methods, read "Creative Bible Teaching" (co-authored by Bredfeldt).
December 16, 2021
I read this book years ago, and reviewed it recently. It's a tremendous resource for pastors who want to understand biblical leadership. In all the talk about leadership today, even among Christian authors, the central responsibility of teaching is often ignored in favor of vision and mission and planning and change. Pastors are called to lead, and leaders are called to teach.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews