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The Spiritual Leader: A Guidebook for Pastors and Christian Leaders
Spiritual LeaderPaul Chappell
- GenresLeadershipChristian
336 pages, Hardcover
First published June 30, 2008
17 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
Paul Chappell
169 books101 followersDr. Paul Chappell is the senior pastor of the Lancaster Baptist Church and president of West Coast Baptist College in Lancaster, California. His biblical vision has led the church to become one of the most dynamic independent Baptist churches in the nation. He has been married to his wife for over thirty-six years and is the father of four married children all serving in Christian ministry. His books can be found at http://www.strivingtogether.com.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 4, 2022
A powerful book exploring both the philosophy of spiritual leadership and its practical application in the ministry context. Although this is a book written for pastors, I (not a pastor) found that almost every chapter contains an answer to a question I did not even know I had. Great read for any servant who holds a leadership position amongst believers.
4.8/5
“Has it ever occurred to you that many leaders in the Bible never had a desire to lead? Men like Moses, Joshua, Daniel, David, Paul, and John the Baptist were essentially “caught off guard” by God’s anointed plan for their lives. They were not seeking position, prominence, or preeminence. They were simply servant-hearted men who humbled themselves before God, and God exalted them in due time (1 Peter 5:6). These were men who were given influence by the sovereign hand of God, and they rightly chose to use that influence for His glory. This attitude must be the heart of every spiritual leader” (pp. 9-10).
“Surely, with God’s calling comes God’s enabling. If He has called you to lead, then His power can make you what you ought to be.” (p. 16)
“Our God is a God of order. When His Holy Spirit is active and working, order will be the natural result. As the Holy Spirit leads, you will be prompted to bring order to both the business and the structure and ministry of the church.” (p. 22)
“Give yourself to your wife as Christ gave Himself to the church… The church is not your bride; it is Christ’s. He gave you a bride to love, cherish, know, and nurture. Are you loving your bride as He loves His?” (p. 35).
“Our daily passion should be to use the time the Lord gives us as a stewardship unto Him—to invest and expend our resources in accordance with His purpose and plan” (pp. 49-50).
“The pastor is the undershepherd. Don’t ever lose sight of your true role. You are not the Lord of the church—Christ is. This is His body; these are His people; and you are appointed for a brief time to nurture their lives toward Him.” (p. 76)
“Any growing ministry will repeatedly come against a ceiling. In other words, the administrative structure will only grow to what it can handle. At that point, growth either stops, or the leader restructures and administrates to handle more growth. Don’t misunderstand, better administration won’t create growth, only God can do that. Yet, effective administration clears the way for growth. It makes growth possible. Essentially, good administration helps us “get out of God’s way.” Consider this. If we’re not effectively meeting the needs of the congregation God has already given to us, why would we expect Him to make it larger?” (pp. 81-82).
“Leaders focus on vision, but managers focus on organization. Leaders focus on what could be, but managers focus on what is. Leaders focus on aligning people, but managers focus on assigning people. Leaders focus on motivating people, but managers focus on controlling people.” (p. 83).
“There are two primary functions of a good administrator. The first is to clearly see needs, and the second is to appoint the right people to meet those needs.” (p. 84).
“There is a difference between interest and commitment. When you are interested in something, you do it only when it is convenient. When you are committed to something, you accept no excuses. Do not equip people who are merely interested; equip those who are committed.” (p. 88).
“Do not be afraid to define a distinctive position, but do it with a loving spirit and a compassionate heart. Articulate it, teach it, explain it, and support it biblically. Even those who disagree will at least respect your kind heart and clear biblical direction.” (p. 96).
“He is the one who gave you a twenty-four-hour day, and He expects you to sleep a good number of them, eat, spend time with Him, nurture your family, and lead His church. You do not need more time in a day; you need more balance and deliberate decision-making regarding the time you have.” (pp. 124-126).
“If you’re too busy to plan, you’re too busy! Planning is what puts added value into tomorrow. Redeeming the time is about looking ahead and allocating purpose and priorities before it’s too late. One of the most valuable gifts you can give your staff or church family is clear direction and a well-defined plan. You can only give this if you first receive it from the Lord. Your team will embrace this direction with anticipation; God will delight to bless your faith; and your new year will exceed your expectations!” (p. 132)
“You have no greater responsibility and no higher duty than to deliver the mysteries of God to the hearts of men. It is a sacred responsibility with eternal implications.” (p. 138).
“Never be ashamed to be a preacher and a teacher of God’s precious truths. His Word must be declared with passion, and it must be taught with clarity.” (pp. 138-139).
“Preaching isn’t preaching until the Bible is opened, God’s Word is read, and His truth is expounded within its appropriate context. Preaching is not biblical unless it flows directly from a text. Preaching is not powerful or life-changing unless it is thoroughly filled with the Word of God.” (pp. 140-141).
“Never preach your personal preference as Bible and never preach the Bible as mere preference. Discern between the two and clearly state which is which.” (p. 145).
“Everything prior to preaching creates the context for preaching. The greeters, the ushers, the prelude, the music, the offering—all of this creates the emotional and spiritual “backdrop” or environment in which the preaching of God’s Word is delivered.” (p. 153).
“The music service is for the Lord, not for the people.” (p. 153).
“Because of my marriage, my ministry should be more abundant and fruitful; and because of my ministry, my marriage should be stronger and healthier. I believe this is God’s plan. The various relationships and responsibilities He brings into our lives should add wonderful value to each other. They should each significantly impact the other in positive ways. They should complete not compete. Dr. Bob Jones Sr. said, “Duties never conflict.”” (pg. 175).
“Make your spouse your first ministry. Choose to lavish upon each other affection, emotional support, tenderness, care, respect, and kindness.” (pg. 179).
“There are some things that take place in ministry that a husband should bear privately with the Lord. As the stronger spouse, bear that pressure and protect your wife’s sensitive spirit.” (pg. 182).
“With God’s calling comes God’s enabling. God has called me to raise my family for His glory, and He has called me to minister to my church family. As with marriage, I believe that ministry and family should not conflict, but rather complement.” (pg. 185).
“Every spiritual leader faces the daily challenge to fully embrace ministry and fully embrace family simultaneously. Both are eternally important; both are the gift of God; and both require great amounts of time and energy. It is possible to make wise daily decisions so that neither suffers for the other. It is possible to have a thriving ministry and a healthy family. God desires for you to have both!” (pg. 186).
“Imbalance is a struggle for everyone who is passionate about anything! I would rather fight my whole lie to stay in balance because I have much to do in both family and ministry, than live such a purposeless life that imbalance never poses even the slightest threat! This would be imbalance of the worst sort – a life so out of balance that it does not even remotely align with God’s purposeful direction.” (pg. 189).
“A spiritual leader’s spiritual maturity has nothing to do with his age, but rather with his sharing of responsibility with other mature leaders.” (pg. 200).
“Leadership development is not about making your life easier; it’s about making ministry more effective and making people stronger in God’s work. It’s about removing something from your workload so God can do something greater through you.” (pg. 201).
“Establishing standards is not legalism unless the keeping of those standards is somehow equated with earning or keeping salvation or acceptance from God… We know that our outward works do nothing to gain God’s acceptance. We are accepted because of Jesus Christ and our salvation is sure because of His finished work. Furthermore, we are accepted in God’s family regardless of our behavior – God’s love for us never changes. However, it is possible to be accepted by God and yet still displease Him in our daily walk (2 Timothy 2:1-2).” (pg. 206).
“We should not abuse grace, but rather allow grace to teach us to deny ungodliness. In other words, God’s grace does not allow us to sin, it allows us not to.” (pg. 206).
“A godly leader will lovingly institute godly standards within the church and will enlist leadership to help him uphold those standards as a model of godliness to all. At the same time, this leader will love those who do not immediately adopt, agree with, or live up to the standards. And the leader will biblically teach and preach God’s standards for a distinct outward lifestyle that flows from a pure heart. Again, these are not standards for acceptance from God; they are a model of godliness that the church family must first see to be able to emulate” (pg. 206-207).
“Take the specific vision that God places on your heart and put it on paper. Define it, describe it, develop it. Turn it into a place of action with concrete, measurable timelines and goals. Explain the “what.” The “how” may still have some question marks – that’s where faith comes in. But don’t leave the vision intangible or vague; otherwise, it’s merely a fantasy. If spiritual vision will survive it must be accompanied by a strategy of faith.” (pg. 225).
“Develop a complete picture of your vision – one that you and others can understand, embrace, and act upon. If you don’t, the vision will remain conceptual instead of concrete – and concept are like good intentions, they’re useless without action.” (pg. 225)
“When God lays a vision upon your heart, you must define it, picture it, and then stand before people and inspire them to love and trust God enough to realize it.” (pg. 225).
“Godly vision must be biblically based, personally inspiring, change oriented, customized to your ministry, detail oriented, people oriented, and Christ centered.” (pg. 228)
“One pastor wrote, “The qualifications of a pastor are to have the mind of a scholar, the heart of a child, and the hide of a rhinoceros.”” (p. 243).
“If someone feels he would rather worship in a different style, with a different level of commitment, time scheduling or other differences, he should simply find the church or ministry that best suits him and lovingly and kindly begin serving there.” (p. 262).
“You can’t solve an administrative problem with a sermon and you can’t solve a spiritual problem with a new administrative process.” (p. 287).
“Finish-line leaders respond well to weariness. They replenish. They quench their thirst for God, for grace, for His Word, for rest, and for restoration. They work passionately and rest just as passionately. They serve with all their might and restore with all their hearts.” (p. 298).
4.8/5
“Has it ever occurred to you that many leaders in the Bible never had a desire to lead? Men like Moses, Joshua, Daniel, David, Paul, and John the Baptist were essentially “caught off guard” by God’s anointed plan for their lives. They were not seeking position, prominence, or preeminence. They were simply servant-hearted men who humbled themselves before God, and God exalted them in due time (1 Peter 5:6). These were men who were given influence by the sovereign hand of God, and they rightly chose to use that influence for His glory. This attitude must be the heart of every spiritual leader” (pp. 9-10).
“Surely, with God’s calling comes God’s enabling. If He has called you to lead, then His power can make you what you ought to be.” (p. 16)
“Our God is a God of order. When His Holy Spirit is active and working, order will be the natural result. As the Holy Spirit leads, you will be prompted to bring order to both the business and the structure and ministry of the church.” (p. 22)
“Give yourself to your wife as Christ gave Himself to the church… The church is not your bride; it is Christ’s. He gave you a bride to love, cherish, know, and nurture. Are you loving your bride as He loves His?” (p. 35).
“Our daily passion should be to use the time the Lord gives us as a stewardship unto Him—to invest and expend our resources in accordance with His purpose and plan” (pp. 49-50).
“The pastor is the undershepherd. Don’t ever lose sight of your true role. You are not the Lord of the church—Christ is. This is His body; these are His people; and you are appointed for a brief time to nurture their lives toward Him.” (p. 76)
“Any growing ministry will repeatedly come against a ceiling. In other words, the administrative structure will only grow to what it can handle. At that point, growth either stops, or the leader restructures and administrates to handle more growth. Don’t misunderstand, better administration won’t create growth, only God can do that. Yet, effective administration clears the way for growth. It makes growth possible. Essentially, good administration helps us “get out of God’s way.” Consider this. If we’re not effectively meeting the needs of the congregation God has already given to us, why would we expect Him to make it larger?” (pp. 81-82).
“Leaders focus on vision, but managers focus on organization. Leaders focus on what could be, but managers focus on what is. Leaders focus on aligning people, but managers focus on assigning people. Leaders focus on motivating people, but managers focus on controlling people.” (p. 83).
“There are two primary functions of a good administrator. The first is to clearly see needs, and the second is to appoint the right people to meet those needs.” (p. 84).
“There is a difference between interest and commitment. When you are interested in something, you do it only when it is convenient. When you are committed to something, you accept no excuses. Do not equip people who are merely interested; equip those who are committed.” (p. 88).
“Do not be afraid to define a distinctive position, but do it with a loving spirit and a compassionate heart. Articulate it, teach it, explain it, and support it biblically. Even those who disagree will at least respect your kind heart and clear biblical direction.” (p. 96).
“He is the one who gave you a twenty-four-hour day, and He expects you to sleep a good number of them, eat, spend time with Him, nurture your family, and lead His church. You do not need more time in a day; you need more balance and deliberate decision-making regarding the time you have.” (pp. 124-126).
“If you’re too busy to plan, you’re too busy! Planning is what puts added value into tomorrow. Redeeming the time is about looking ahead and allocating purpose and priorities before it’s too late. One of the most valuable gifts you can give your staff or church family is clear direction and a well-defined plan. You can only give this if you first receive it from the Lord. Your team will embrace this direction with anticipation; God will delight to bless your faith; and your new year will exceed your expectations!” (p. 132)
“You have no greater responsibility and no higher duty than to deliver the mysteries of God to the hearts of men. It is a sacred responsibility with eternal implications.” (p. 138).
“Never be ashamed to be a preacher and a teacher of God’s precious truths. His Word must be declared with passion, and it must be taught with clarity.” (pp. 138-139).
“Preaching isn’t preaching until the Bible is opened, God’s Word is read, and His truth is expounded within its appropriate context. Preaching is not biblical unless it flows directly from a text. Preaching is not powerful or life-changing unless it is thoroughly filled with the Word of God.” (pp. 140-141).
“Never preach your personal preference as Bible and never preach the Bible as mere preference. Discern between the two and clearly state which is which.” (p. 145).
“Everything prior to preaching creates the context for preaching. The greeters, the ushers, the prelude, the music, the offering—all of this creates the emotional and spiritual “backdrop” or environment in which the preaching of God’s Word is delivered.” (p. 153).
“The music service is for the Lord, not for the people.” (p. 153).
“Because of my marriage, my ministry should be more abundant and fruitful; and because of my ministry, my marriage should be stronger and healthier. I believe this is God’s plan. The various relationships and responsibilities He brings into our lives should add wonderful value to each other. They should each significantly impact the other in positive ways. They should complete not compete. Dr. Bob Jones Sr. said, “Duties never conflict.”” (pg. 175).
“Make your spouse your first ministry. Choose to lavish upon each other affection, emotional support, tenderness, care, respect, and kindness.” (pg. 179).
“There are some things that take place in ministry that a husband should bear privately with the Lord. As the stronger spouse, bear that pressure and protect your wife’s sensitive spirit.” (pg. 182).
“With God’s calling comes God’s enabling. God has called me to raise my family for His glory, and He has called me to minister to my church family. As with marriage, I believe that ministry and family should not conflict, but rather complement.” (pg. 185).
“Every spiritual leader faces the daily challenge to fully embrace ministry and fully embrace family simultaneously. Both are eternally important; both are the gift of God; and both require great amounts of time and energy. It is possible to make wise daily decisions so that neither suffers for the other. It is possible to have a thriving ministry and a healthy family. God desires for you to have both!” (pg. 186).
“Imbalance is a struggle for everyone who is passionate about anything! I would rather fight my whole lie to stay in balance because I have much to do in both family and ministry, than live such a purposeless life that imbalance never poses even the slightest threat! This would be imbalance of the worst sort – a life so out of balance that it does not even remotely align with God’s purposeful direction.” (pg. 189).
“A spiritual leader’s spiritual maturity has nothing to do with his age, but rather with his sharing of responsibility with other mature leaders.” (pg. 200).
“Leadership development is not about making your life easier; it’s about making ministry more effective and making people stronger in God’s work. It’s about removing something from your workload so God can do something greater through you.” (pg. 201).
“Establishing standards is not legalism unless the keeping of those standards is somehow equated with earning or keeping salvation or acceptance from God… We know that our outward works do nothing to gain God’s acceptance. We are accepted because of Jesus Christ and our salvation is sure because of His finished work. Furthermore, we are accepted in God’s family regardless of our behavior – God’s love for us never changes. However, it is possible to be accepted by God and yet still displease Him in our daily walk (2 Timothy 2:1-2).” (pg. 206).
“We should not abuse grace, but rather allow grace to teach us to deny ungodliness. In other words, God’s grace does not allow us to sin, it allows us not to.” (pg. 206).
“A godly leader will lovingly institute godly standards within the church and will enlist leadership to help him uphold those standards as a model of godliness to all. At the same time, this leader will love those who do not immediately adopt, agree with, or live up to the standards. And the leader will biblically teach and preach God’s standards for a distinct outward lifestyle that flows from a pure heart. Again, these are not standards for acceptance from God; they are a model of godliness that the church family must first see to be able to emulate” (pg. 206-207).
“Take the specific vision that God places on your heart and put it on paper. Define it, describe it, develop it. Turn it into a place of action with concrete, measurable timelines and goals. Explain the “what.” The “how” may still have some question marks – that’s where faith comes in. But don’t leave the vision intangible or vague; otherwise, it’s merely a fantasy. If spiritual vision will survive it must be accompanied by a strategy of faith.” (pg. 225).
“Develop a complete picture of your vision – one that you and others can understand, embrace, and act upon. If you don’t, the vision will remain conceptual instead of concrete – and concept are like good intentions, they’re useless without action.” (pg. 225)
“When God lays a vision upon your heart, you must define it, picture it, and then stand before people and inspire them to love and trust God enough to realize it.” (pg. 225).
“Godly vision must be biblically based, personally inspiring, change oriented, customized to your ministry, detail oriented, people oriented, and Christ centered.” (pg. 228)
“One pastor wrote, “The qualifications of a pastor are to have the mind of a scholar, the heart of a child, and the hide of a rhinoceros.”” (p. 243).
“If someone feels he would rather worship in a different style, with a different level of commitment, time scheduling or other differences, he should simply find the church or ministry that best suits him and lovingly and kindly begin serving there.” (p. 262).
“You can’t solve an administrative problem with a sermon and you can’t solve a spiritual problem with a new administrative process.” (p. 287).
“Finish-line leaders respond well to weariness. They replenish. They quench their thirst for God, for grace, for His Word, for rest, and for restoration. They work passionately and rest just as passionately. They serve with all their might and restore with all their hearts.” (p. 298).
November 23, 2021
Excellent Read
Though written primarily to pastors, Paul Chappell's book includes numerous leadership principles that everyone in a leadership position should choose to live by.
Though written primarily to pastors, Paul Chappell's book includes numerous leadership principles that everyone in a leadership position should choose to live by.
May 24, 2022
A great book on the need for spiritual leaders in churches that follow the example of the Bible and Jesus for growing people, not the latest slick corporate techniques. If we focus on teaching people and growing people, God will bring the results. We don’t need to manufacture the. Complete Bibliography as well for further study.
June 16, 2025
Honestly, this is a great book for anyone in ministry. Paul Chappell does an excellent job in outlining practical steps in leadership and discipleship. He is also very vulnerable, sharing personal struggles and stories.
October 2, 2025
I highly recommend this book for pastors, preachers, deacons, and ministers. It is full of wise Biblical counsel for those who have ears to hear and hearts to receive it. If you are or plan to lead people in a spiritual walk with the Lord this book will benefit you tremendously.
May 4, 2017
A great read for every pastor or missionary. Pastor Chappell addresses many issues spiritual leaders face and gave his Biblical response to those issues. Again, I highly recommend this book.
October 18, 2018
Read for the internship at Stanley Heights Baptist Church.
April 21, 2013
I enjoyed this book as I have enjoyed the other books by Paul Chappell. In full disclosure, he is a personal family friend and mentor who I have known for many years. With that being said, there are few men that are qualified to write this book more than he is. In my opinion he is a true spiritual leader.
September 21, 2015
One of the best books I have read for personal council, mentorship, and help for the Spiritual Leader. This book contains great advice for every pastor, teacher, and Christian worker who desires to serve the Lord in ministry. Written in a very easy reading style that encourages and gives guidance. This book gives insight and wisdom and all could benefit from its author's wisdom.
January 2, 2012
This is one of the best books I've ever read regarding spiritual leadership. I would strongly recommend this to anyone in a Pastor or leadership role.
September 11, 2012
One of the most well prepared, and written, books on Christian leadership.
May 7, 2019
Excellent book. Very encouraging.
February 21, 2015
good book on leadership. simple reading. didn't put me to sleep.
January 29, 2016
Best leadership book I've read! Used it with my Student Leadership class at church (high schoolers) and they loved it, too. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews