Senior leadership or servant leadership?

GIVE UP THE PURPLE:
A Call for Servant Leadership in Hierarchical
Cultures
By Julyan Lidstone
Langham Partnership. 88 pages. £8.99
ISBN 978 1 783 686 810

From the outset I found this book to be a compelling read.

In his Preface, Julyan Lidstone speaks about being troubled by how poor leadership hinders the progress of the gospel among the least-reached peoples of the world. Leadership that is not grounded in the Scriptures may lead to success in terms of numbers, but cannot foster the true transformation of lives.

Why the title? Is it aimed at Anglicans? Yes, certainly. But it has a much wider application!

In a brief historical review, we are reminded how only Roman aristocrats were able to wear the purple toga that showed their rank and status (the cost of the dye made it prohibitive for ordinary folk). Men competed for the positions that would give them the honour of being able to wear it. But this was not true of the early church leaders, whose lives had been deeply changed by Jesus and who emulated His servant leadership (Phil. 2).

The bulk of the book surveys New Testament teaching, which ran counter to the culture both then and now. He leads us again and again to Jesus Christ, who through His teaching, His example, and ultimately His death on the cross, disrupted the cultural assumptions of the day. This continues to speak loudly in our own day as we follow His example.

The author brings a breadth of experience to help us apply the Bible’s teaching. His ministry was first with Operation Mobilisation, then church planting in Turkey, and pastoral work in the UK which included evangelism among Muslim asylum seekers. His refreshing approach was for me rather like taking a journey to a known destination, but by a route that is entirely new. It’s not a long book, but its lessons will stay with me for a long time.