The Call to Follow: Hearing Jesus in a Culture Obsessed with Leadership

In this stimulating work, Biola University theology professors Langer (Winsome Conviction) and Jung (The Lost Discipline of Conversation) critique the emphasis on leadership in the Christian church. “For Christians, followership is more foundational to our spiritual lives than leadership,” the authors contend, drawing from scripture and the teachings of C.S. Lewis and Brother Lawrence to outline what good followership looks like. Deference to an authority and active engagement in support of a common goal are required, otherwise one risks merely “being led or dragged along.” Langer and Jung push back against misconceptions about following and suggest that, far from being the purview of the unexceptional, it demands a “high level of aptitude and depth of character.” The authors highlight the benefits of followership, noting that in Jesus’s parables a common reward for servants is praise from their masters and that readers should aspire to earn such approval from God. Case studies in followership, including a French town that followed Jesus’s example by sheltering Jewish refugees during WWII and a 19th-century Dutch congregation whose extensive knowledge of the Bible convinced their minister to change his theology, drive home the author’s persuasive appraisal of the benefits of following. The result is a fresh take on what it means to be a “follower of Christ.” (Aug.)