I have been an avid reader all my life. And so, books have sown in me, producing convictions and opinions, lifestyle and character. Some have even influenced my worldview. In a sense, I am a product of books as writings have left their unmistakable fingerprints upon the doorknob of my personality.
Aristotle, Plato, Coleridge, Hugo, Dickens, C.S. Lewis, Wole Soyinka, and Chinua Achebe are some great names whose pieces of literature I have savored – each time with an unusual appetite – and which I have found particularly eloquent and thought-provoking. But none has changed me more radically than the Bible.
True, some have spelled out my need for compassion for my neighbor. Yet, none has brought me to the point of loving my enemy the way the Bible has done. Others have taught me to give, but only the Bible has profoundly compelled me to self-emptying. Some have promised hope for me tomorrow. Even so, only the Bible has guaranteed my tomorrow and my eternity. Many have encouraged me to strive for my own identity. As a leader, the Bible, on the other hand, has convinced me that what matters the most is “to desire that in the opinion of the world others may increase, and I decrease.”
Someone has stated that the most powerful stimulus for changing a person’s mind is not a chemical, not an electric shock, not a baseball bat, but instead a word. I believe then that the words which fill up the Bible, although viewed by some scholars as covered with the cobwebs of time, are the only ones that can thoroughly and flawlessly effect change in a person in a positive way.
No doubt the Bible has no equal. Reading a book written by the most erudite of authors is like setting foot in a dark room with flickering candlelight. Conversely, reading the Bible is like slipping in that same room and turning on a spotlight instead.
Throughout the years, I have held to this biblical truth: “The whole Bible was given to us by inspiration from God and useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives; it straightens us out and helps us do what is right. It is God’s way of making us well prepared at every point fully equipped to do good to everyone” (2 Timothy 3:16 Living Bible Paraphrased). I have also concurred with Martin Luther that “the Bible is alive; it speaks to me. It has feet; it runs after me. It has hands; it lays hold of me.”
Therefore, dear leader, read the Bible. Read it at daytime and you will be refreshed within your soul like when the floodgates of heaven cool a hot parched ground. Read it at nighttime and you will find yourself saying “Eureka!” about all the missing pieces of your puzzle of life. Feed on it now and then and it will quench your cravings till you want no more.
Yes, read the Bible. Let your leadership be informed by it. Seek to personally be shaped by the values it espouses. If you imbibe God’s word, you will be in a position to apply these values in all leadership situations and as a consequence have enduring results and impact others (Clinton 1997, 15)[1]. This is what a Bible-centered leader is and does. This is the type of Christian leader our postmodern world needs because “the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8).
[1] Clinton, J. Robert. 1997. Having Ministry That Lasts by Becoming a Bible Centered Leader. Altadena, CA: Barnabas Publishers.
