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9 of the Best Christian Leadership Books for the 21st Century

Great leaders are great learners. They are continuously soaking in information that will not only help them to lead but to lead well. As a Christian leader, you have a great responsibility to help guide people in the way of the truth. Whether you are a leader in a church, ministry, business, small group, or even at home, taking your leadership role seriously is very important. 

While a Christian leader’s main resource for guidance will always be God’s word, the Bible, there are tons of fantastic books out there that have helped to interpret the Bible in such a way that will help you in your specific leadership role. Each of these books takes Biblical principles and helps to turn them into applicable practices that you can begin to use as a leader. 

Reading leadership books by well-known authors such as Jim Collins, Ken Blanchard, or John C. Maxwell is not a bad route to take. However, the challenges, situations, life experiences, and solutions that Christian leaders face and seek are very unique. We are held to a higher standard and have a different mission than those who are not followers of Jesus Christ. This does not make such books bad, however, they are not as sufficient as reading a Christian leadership book. I want to give you some really great books for Christian leaders specifically. 

Many of these great books I will share with you offer current examples and case studies that will give you a refreshing view on the Biblical leadership principles that may be very common to most of us. So whether you are in a position where you are struggling to lead your group effectively, or you are looking to stay on top of current leadership practices, there is a great book here for you to pick up! 

So here we go, the top 9 best Christian leadership books for the 21st century! 

Christian Leadership Books for the 21st Century

The Emotionally Healthy Leader: How Transforming Your Inner Life Will Deeply Transform Your Church, Team, and the World 

Peter Scazzero
The author, Peter Scazzero, has written a handful of books on being emotionally healthy. One of his most popular books is Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. This book is another one of his best sellers! It is specifically written for the Christian leader who feels overwhelmed, stuck, and like they aren’t making a big impact. This book helps that leader to enhance their inner life so that they can feel balanced and make a larger impact on the Church. 

This book will also help individuals to measure the health of their leadership and leadership team. It will also help to address those issues one may uniquely face as a Christian leader. This is definitely a fantastic book for any leader to read through, but especially for those who need an emotional reboot. If you have read and enjoyed the book Emotional Intelligence by Travis Bradberry, you will no doubt love this book written from a Biblical worldview.  

Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence For Every Believer 

J. Oswald Sanders
Even though the original book was first published in 1967 it has stood the test of time and is regarded as one of the best Christian leadership books ever written. It has been revised many times and is still very relevant and applicable to Christian leadership today. The most recent edition was published in 2017 with many significant updates. With more than 1 million copies sold, Spiritual Leadership stands as a proven classic for developing such leadership.

The need for talented, vigorous leaders in the church cannot be overemphasized. Such times demand the active service of men and women who are guided by and devoted to Jesus Christ. Sanders explains that even natural leadership qualities are God-given, and yet their true effectiveness can only be reached when they are used to the glory of God.

Redeeming Your Time: 7 Biblical Principles for Being Purposeful, Present, and Wildly Productive

Jordan Raynor 
This is one of my personal favorite books – it is definitely my favorite book on time management. Not to mention that it is written by one of my favorite authors who has written a number of fantastic books that I always highly recommend. Redeeming Your Time is a unique book written on Biblical time management. There is really no other book out there like it. Not only will you learn the spiritual side of managing your time wisely and effectively, but you will also be given extremely practical steps that you can take in order to become masterful at time management! 

Not only does Jordan Raynor give an extremely compelling biblical argument for why Managing our time is a crucial skill for Christians to learn, but then he dives into very practical applications of how to actually go about managing your time well. After applying many of the principles from within the book, I have become much better at being in control of my schedule. 

I used to sit down at my computer in the morning and wonder “what do I need to do today“ and it would take 30 minutes to sift through all my priorities before coming to a decision. So much time was wasted. Not only that but the way I approach my work has dramatically changed. I’m so thankful for another amazing book by Jordan Raynor

Didn’t See It Coming: Overcoming the Seven Greatest Challenges That No One Expects and Everyone Experiences

Carey Nieuwhof
This book is written by an influential pastor, podcaster, and thought leader who believes it’s not only possible to predict life’s hardest moments, but also to alter outcomes, overcome challenges, and defeat your fiercest adversaries. Carey Nieuwhof wants to help you avoid and overcome life’s seven hardest and most crippling challenges: cynicism, compromise, disconnectedness, irrelevance, pride, burnout, and emptiness.

Didn’t See It Coming is a very transparent book for those leaders who need a good kick in the rear end to get back to their high-performing selves. As Christian leaders, the enemy is always working against us. He is trying to make us second guess ourselves and God so that we may give up fighting the good fight. Through Pastor Carey’s book, we are given the knowledge and skills to take the next step and overcome the enemy. There are many chapters that offer great insight on how to get out of your “burnout funk” and return to a place of excellent leadership. 

Learning to Lead Like Jesus: 11 Principles to Help You Serve, Inspire, and Equip Others

Boyd Bailey
In his book, Boyd Bailey shows you how to mirror Jesus’s heart and make a positive difference in the lives of those around you. You will explore 11 common traits that mark successful leaders, and learn the keys to growth in wisdom and humility. If you are looking for one of the best Christian leadership books, why not learn about the best Christian leader? Jesus was the ultimate leader so why not learn from his leadership style? He ushed in the Kingdom of God and helped to lead those to trust in the Lord and practice servant leadership. Great leadership begins when you turn your focus to God and model Him in your attitude, conversations, and actions.

Learning to Lead Like Jesus is the perfect book for those who are looking to truly level up their leadership in order to to make a great impact on the hearts and lives of those within the church and outside of it. It’s time to implement the best practices of leadership into your own life and study the very life of Jesus!

How People Change

Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp
While this book isn’t specifically written for the Christian leader, it is probably one of the best books I have personally read. I highly recommend it to anyone who works with people in a leading, guiding, or mentoring capacity. Together in their book, Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp do an amazing job of expressing that when people desire change in their lives it often needs to begin from within. As a leader, knowing and understanding how to get people to change their ways is a vital skill. Pastors, mentors, counselors, and ministry leaders, will all benefit from reading this book so they can help those they are leading to make lasting changes that will take them a step closer to Christ. 

One of my favorite things about this book in particular (and all of Paul David Tripp’s books including my all-time favorite, Redeeming Money!) is that there are a ton of very practical anecdotes to help you understand how these ideas play out in the daily lives of typical Christians. You will understand how each of us is a work in progress and that includes you and me! Knowing this will help you as a leader to point people in the right direction, but also help you to be a bit more understanding of the deep heart issues that all of us face as sinners. 

Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion

Rebecca McLaughlin
This is another book that isn’t necessarily written for leaders, yet one that I highly recommend all Christian leaders read for their own leadership development. This book will equip those in leadership roles will sound arguments that compel others to understand that Christianity doesn’t necessarily disagree with modern-day research, but rather they align with one another. 

The Christian faith includes many controversial beliefs that non-Christians find hard to accept. This book explores 12 issues that might cause someone to dismiss orthodox Christianity–issues such as the existence of suffering, the Bible’s teaching on gender and sexuality, the reality of heaven and hell, the authority of the Bible, and more. Showing how the best research from sociology, science, and psychology doesn’t disagree with but actually aligns with claims found in the Bible, these chapters help skeptics understand why these issues are signposts, rather than roadblocks, to faith in Christ.

As a Christian leader, you may already have some personal experiences with these kinds of conversations. Level up your leadership potential by understanding real life questions that believers and non-believers wrestle with every day! 

Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory

Tod Bolsinger
In this book, Tod Bolsinger uses the example of how the explorers, Lewis and Clark, had to adapt as they searched for a way to find a river or body of water that led to the Pacific Ocean. As they set out on their journey they soon found themselves in the Rocky Mountains! Not exactly something you can boat through.

You too may feel that you are leading in a cultural context you were not expecting. You may even feel that your training holds you back more often than it carries you along. Drawing from his extensive experience as a pastor and consultant, Tod Bolsinger brings decades of expertise in guiding churches and organizations through uncharted territory. He offers a combination of illuminating insights and practical tools to help you reimagine what effective leadership looks like in our rapidly changing world. If you’re going to scale the mountains of ministry, you need to leave behind canoes and find new navigational tools. Reading this book will set you on the right course to lead with confidence and courage.

Courageous Leadership: Field-Tested Strategy for the 360° Leader

Bill Hybels
Leaders such as yourself have the potential to be the most influential forces on planet Earth. Do you believe this? Well, author Bill Hybels does! He emphasizes that you have a staggering responsibility and a matchless privilege as you rally believers and mobilize their spiritual gifts in order to reach those who are far from God. Impactful leaders help to create more leaders so that the mission of redemption can reach the ends of the earth. 

This book serves as the encouragement and hype that you need to do whatever it takes to lead a church effectively so that God’s message of hope can truly transform the world! This book has been compared to some of John C. Maxwell’s work. What makes this book so great for Christian leaders is that it helps to interpret many practical leadership principles from a Biblical perspective. While Bill Hybels offers some new perspectives, it is not written for the young church leader or the old. It is for those who desire to be a better leader altogether! 

How to Get the Most Bang For Your Buck

If you are like me and love reading books, it can become easy to spend HUNDREDS of dollars on books every year. In the past year or so I have tried to stop paying for things like books, which leaves me to figure out how I can get the most bang for my buck in the first place.

1. Start with the Library
I recommend trying to get as much of your education for free simply by starting your search at the library.

2. Find It On ThriftBooks
ThriftBooks is my favorite place to find used books. Not only are they super cheap, but you are helping save the planet by recycling used books! Yay!

3. Free Audible Trial
You can get many of these books for FREE by using Audible. They have a 30-day free trial where you can get 2 free audiobooks!

4. Request Gifts
Books make great gifts! Not only that but Audible can be gifted as well. Ask for Audible credits for Christmas or your birthday this year!

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