Book Review: In the Name of Jesus

I recently discovered Henri Nouwen, slightly by accident, and he is a writer who (despite my reservations over some of his theological assumptions) has been feeding my soul providentially at different times. Today's book review, 'In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership' is one that has been particularly welcome - I ended up devouring it in one sitting (though it is only 81 pages long!) - and also full of poignant ideas.

If you don't know of Nouwen, then I'd encourage you to get to know him! With some reservations, I think he is a valuable voice for Christians of all persuasions to hear. Nouwen famously left an impressive academic career to share his life with mental disabilities - as part of the l'Arche Daybreak Comunity. This radical career change comes out in this book, particularly in a powerful story of taking one of his mentally disabled friends with him to share a lecture in New York. This story perfectly illustrates something profound and powerful about Jesus, and the vision of Jesus' model for leadership and community that Nouwen grasped.

'In the Name of Jesus' is quite unlike other books on leadership I have read! for one, it is very short, as I mentioned at the outset of this review. It is barely pragmatic, the text is huge, but it is packed full of powerful, deep, and beautiful and true one-liners. I think that his chapter 'The Temptation: To Be Relevant', is one of the most powerful things I have read on this topic in a while. The section closes with this powerful challenge;

"The leader of the future will be the one who dares to claim his irrelevance in the contemporary world as a divine vocation that allows him or her to enter into a deep solidarity with the anguish underlying all the glitter of success and to bring the light of Jesus there"

This notion is typical of Nouwen's writing in this book. He moves on from this powerful discussion of relevance to a beautiful and nuanced unpacking of the importance of prayer in the light of the Christian leader. 

I could go on. I really could. For days. This is an incredibly rich little book. Which is why I can't review it as I would normally review a book. It simply begs reflection. Provokes thoughts. Makes you want to pray. This is an excellent book on Christian leadership - and it is also a profound sketch of what it might mean to 'be' church. It deserves wide readership, and I hope you will consider reading it.

Apologies that this review is not a normal one - hopefully that should show you, dear reader, that is perhaps a special book, worth reading!