FBC Clanton pastor writes about leadership lessons gleaned from evangelist’s life

He never attended seminary nor even was ordained to the ministry. Yet Charles Haddon Spurgeon became one of history’s leading pastor-evangelists.
   
Divinity school scholars still study his life and works, and more than 100 years after his death, many of his 130 books, sermons and other writings are still in print.
   
Recently Larry J. Michael, pastor of First Baptist Church, Clanton, until Dec. 14 decided to explore the leadership qualities of the noted English evangelist in his book, “Spurgeon on Leadership: Key Insights for Christian Leaders from the Prince of Preachers.” The book was recently published by Kregel Publications.
Spurgeon became pastor of London’s New Park Street Church at age 20. Later he preached to thousands when the congregation moved into the Metropolitan Tabernacle.
   
An estimated 14,000 people were converted to Christ through his ministry, which spanned the latter half of the 19th century. Somehow he also found time to be a prolific and enduring writer. He was the Billy Graham of his day — perhaps even more.
   
“My book is an attempt to give a new vision of Spurgeon, his leadership and the guiding principles for this leadership that were based on the Bible,” said Michael, who also chairs the Christian Life Commission for the Alabama Baptist State Convention (ABSC).
   
Michael has accepted the role of senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Sweetwater, Fla., and will conclude his ministry in Alabama Dec. 14.
   
As a Ph.D. candidate at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., Michael became deeply interested in Spurgeon.
   
“Lewis A. Drummond, my academic mentor at seminary, gave me a love and passion for Spurgeon’s life, ministry and teaching. Spurgeon epitomized what a godly pastor has to offer in Christian leadership.”
  
Michael, who served as chairman of the resolutions committee for the Nov. 18–19 ABSC annual meeting, is also an adjunct professor at Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School.
   
He and Drummond co-taught a class on Spurgeon’s leadership at Beeson several years ago, and the book is an offshoot of the class.
   
“Spurgeon’s principles of leadership can be valuable to lay leaders as well as pastors and divinity students,” Michael said. “Whether someone is an official church leader or the member of a Sunday School class, there’s something they can learn from Spurgeon. It’s incredible to look at his achievements. It was God working in his life.”
   
“Spurgeon on Leadership” takes an alliterative approach, outlining 14 C’s of Spurgeon’s leadership, Michael said. These range from “competence” — Spurgeon believed that a leader must intentionally develop other leaders — to coping with both world crises and daily challenges.
   
“Spurgeon’s followers would have considered him a leader rather than a boss,” Michael writes in the book. “Typically a boss says, ‘Go!’ But a leader says, ‘Let’s go!’” One example of this is Spurgeon’s willingness to work alongside victims of a cholera epidemic that devastated London in the 1850s.
   
Michael said that while the scope and depth of Spurgeon’s ministry continue to amaze him, he’s especially impressed by the English pastor’s devotion to his family.
   
“A Christian leader (most notably Spurgeon) understands that one of the primary ways to honor God is by honoring one’s family,” writes Michael. “Today we often see leaders sacrificing their families on the altar of success.”
   
Another characteristic Michael admires is Spurgeon’s sense of humor. “Spurgeon on Leadership” features a cover photo of the famous preacher sporting an impish grin — a side of Spurgeon’s character that didn’t receive widespread attention.
   
“He’s often portrayed as stern and serious, but he loved a good story and appreciated the joy of the Christian life,” Michael said.
   
While Michael is telling the world about Spurgeon’s leadership, his own lifestyle seems patterned after that of the English evangelist.
   
For more information, go to www.thealabamabaptist.org.