How can you lead the church as Jesus wants? One of the key problems in pastoral leadership today is that few people truly understand what leadership looks like, how leaders become leaders, and what leaders are supposed to do with their leadership position. This book shows that true pastoral leadership begins at the top with the pastor, and the best way for a pastor to lead is to show the church what it looks like to follow Jesus into servanthood and death. Pastors who lead the church like Jesus will not lead the church on the upward path toward prominence and popularity, but instead onto the downward path of service and obscurity. Cruciform pastoral leadership follows Jesus into death and calls others onto the same path. Understanding this will be of immense help to pastors as they seek to lead the church by leaving the church, preach a sermon by being a sermon, show doctrine by living it, and praying more effectively by answering their own prayers. When we pastor in this way, we will truly be pastoring and shepherding the church like Jesus. We will show the church how to follow Jesus into service and sacrifice for the world. Note: This is Volume 5 in the “Close Your Church for Good” series of books: Preface: Skeleton Church Vol. 1: The Death and Resurrection of the Church, Vol. 2: Put Service Back into the Church Service, Vol. 3: Dying to Religion and Empire, Vol. 4: Church is More than Bodies, Bucks, and Bricks, and Vol. 5: Cruciform Pastoral Leadership.
