I Am a Follower

I am a Len Sweet fan. In my opinion, Sweet, the E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism at Drew University (as well as Distinguished Visiting Professor at George Fox University), is one of the most innovative and influential thinkers in the Church today.

So I was excited to read his newest book, I Am a Follower (The Way, Truth, and Life of Following Jesus). I was not disappointed. The book skewers the modern church's success-worshiping, corporate-obsessed "leadership" fixation, and contrasts it with the example and message of Jesus--what Sweet calls "followership culture." He says, "Leadership is an alien template that we have laid on the Bible." And then he goes about showing us the more excellent way of Jesus, in his typically colorful, thoughtful, biblical, and entertaining style.

After the prologue (don't skip it), the book is divided into three sections, characterized by four Latin words: Vece (the place), Via (the way), Verita (the truth), and Vita (the life). It features "Interactives," suitable for individual and group use, in which the author offers questions for discussion and more content for further application. The text is enriched with quotes from a diverse spectrum of voices--from Wendell Berry and Dietrich Bonhoeffer to Hunter S. Thompson and Tom T. Hall. It is a delight to read and a spur to thought.