Using Authority Well E-Book

Jonathan Leeman

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 144

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2026

Beschreibung

Accessible Guide from 9Marks Equips Men to Steward Their God-Given Authority Every position of power—in homes, churches, and boardrooms—has the potential to strengthen people or to harm them. Bad leaders abuse their authority or abdicate it. And their actions breed distrust in authority generally. Yet what do godly authority and leadership look like—the kind that causes people to flourish? Many men today have lost their bearings when it comes to leadership. In this condensed version of his book Authority, Jonathan Leeman equips men to take hold of the authority they've received and responsibly steward it for the good of others. Exploring the domains of marriage, fatherhood, church, and the workplace, he offers practical, Scripture-based advice for daily life. This accessible guide, perfect for men's groups, helps readers submit to God and gain biblical wisdom for their most important roles. - Practical Advice for Various Areas of Leadership: Biblical insights for fathers, husbands, employers, church pastors, and more - Adapted from Jonathan Leeman's Book Authority: Features condensed content  - Perfect for Small Groups and Men's Ministries: With engaging questions throughout, this is a great resource for churches and mentors   - Includes a New Introduction and a Chapter with Advice for Single Men

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“In our anti-authoritarian age, Jonathan Leeman is convinced that authority is good and aims to convince you that, when used well, authority leads to human flourishing in every sphere of life. In our day, in which confusion about this topic abounds, Leeman brings much-needed clarity backed by deeply biblical convictions. In all the best ways, this book challenged and changed me. And if you prayerfully give your attention to it, fair warning—the Lord just might change you.”

Josh Manley, Senior Pastor, RAK Evangelical Church, Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates; Chairman, Great Commission Congress

“I’m always impressed with how Jonathan Leeman couples careful biblical analysis with pastoral wisdom and experience. Jonathan demonstrates awareness of all sides of these conversations. The lengthier version, Authority, sits on my shelf and should sit on yours as well. This abbreviated volume will likely become your go-to resource for training leaders in the why and how of Christlike authority. It’s a great tool to get the conversation started.”

J. D. Greear, Pastor, The Summit Church, Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina

“This is a playbook for Christian manhood, a roadmap for Christian ministry, and should be required reading for every teenaged Christian boy. Saturated with the Bible and filled with concise applications, Using Authority Well is a well-timed reminder of what real, Christlike leadership looks like. I’ll be recommending it to every young churchman I know.”

Clint Pressley, Senior Pastor, Hickory Grove Baptist Church, Charlotte, North Carolina; President, Southern Baptist Convention

“‘Authority is a good and dangerous gift.’ This is a much-needed resource in our African context, where authority is often misunderstood. Jonathan Leeman provides a practical and insightful study of authority, exploring its nature, functions, and challenges across every man’s life. I found the reflection questions useful as I assessed my own authority in various areas.”

Tommie van der Walt, Executive Director, Imprint; Elder, Brackenhurst Baptist Church, Alberton, South Africa

“Jonathan Leeman has done wonderful work in helping all Christians understand the limits, power, and beneficial effects of God-given authority. He helpfully reminds us that one cannot exercise upright authority unless one can be under authority.”

R. D. “Tex” Alles, 25th Director, United States Secret Service

“Churches in China often find themselves caught between external persecution and internal conflict. A leader who can guide a church forward under such circumstances needs to be courageous, decisive, and steadfast. Pastors with these qualities, however, can easily become domineering, controlling, or in other ways harmful to the congregation. Jonathan Leeman’s work can speak to pastors in China or other closed countries, reminding us that even a bold and decisive pastor should at the same time be a sacrificial, patient, and gentle servant.”

Joshua Fang Xie, Pastor, Shining Light Baptist Church, China

Using Authority Well

Other 9Marks Titles

Overview Books

The Compelling Community, by Mark Dever and Jamie Dunlop

How to Build a Healthy Church, by Mark Dever and Paul Alexander

Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, by Mark Dever

No Shortcut to Success, by Matt Rhodes

The Rule of Love, by Jonathan Leeman

The Building Healthy Churches Series

Church Membership, by Jonathan Leeman

Conversion, by Michael Lawrence

Deacons, by Matt Smethurst

Discipling, by Mark Dever

Evangelism, by J. Mack Stiles

Expositional Preaching, by David Helm

Additional titles available

The Church Questions Series

How Can I Find Someone to Disciple Me?

How Can I Love Church Members with Different Politics?

How Can Our Church Find a Faithful Pastor?

How Can Women Thrive in the Local Church?

Additional titles available

Titles for New Christians

Am I Really a Christian?, by Mike McKinley

Who Is Jesus?, by Greg Gilbert

What Is the Gospel?, by Greg Gilbert

Why Trust the Bible?, by Greg Gilbert

Healthy Church Study Guides are available on all nine marks.

To explore all 9Marks titles, visit 9Marks.org/bookstore.

Using Authority Well

A Concise Guide for Men

Jonathan Leeman

Using Authority Well: A Concise Guide for Men

© 2026 by Jonathan Leeman

Published by Crossway1300 Crescent StreetWheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Crossway® is a registered trademark in the United States of America.

This book is adapted from Jonathan Leeman, Authority: How Godly Rule Protects the Vulnerable, Strengthens Communities, and Promotes Human Flourishing (Crossway, 2023). Used by permission.

Cover design and illustration: David Fassett

First printing 2026

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Trade paperback ISBN: 979-8-8749-0577-4 ePub ISBN: 979-8-8749-0579-8 PDF ISBN: 979-8-8749-0578-1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Leeman, Jonathan, 1973– author | Leeman, Jonathan, 1973– Authority

Title: Using authority well : a concise guide for men / Jonathan Leeman.

Description: Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2026 | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2025027667 (print) | LCCN 2025027668 (ebook) | ISBN 9798874905774 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9798874905781 (pdf) | ISBN 9798874905798 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Authority—Biblical teaching | Authority—Religious aspects—Christianity

Classification: LCC BS680.A93 L44 2026 (print) | LCC BS680.A93 (ebook)

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2025027667

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2025027668

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

2025-12-18 03:30:14 PM

When one rules justly over men,

ruling in the fear of God,

he dawns on them like the morning light,

like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning,

like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.

The last words of King David

(2 Samuel 23:3–4)

Contents

Illustrations

Series Preface

Introduction

1  What Is Authority?

2  Authority of Command and Counsel

3  Wielding Authority as a Husband

4  Wielding Authority as a Father

5  Wielding Authority as a Manager

6  Wielding Authority as an Elder

7  Authority and the Single Man

Conclusion: Fearing God

Study Questions

General Index

Scripture Index

Illustrations

Table

2.1  Authority: Command Versus Counsel

Figures

2.1  Spectrum of Authority: Immanence Versus Transcendence

2.2  Spectrum of the Implementation of Authority

Series Preface

The 9Marks series of books is premised on two basic ideas. First, the local church is far more important to the Christian life than many Christians today perhaps realize.

Second, local churches grow in life and vitality as they organize their lives around God’s word. God speaks. Churches should listen and follow. It’s that simple. When a church listens and follows, it begins to look like the one it is following. It reflects his love and holiness. It displays his glory. A church will look like him as it listens to him.

So our basic message to churches is, don’t look to the best business practices or the latest styles; look to God. Start by listening to God’s word again.

Out of this overall project comes the 9Marks series of books. Some target pastors. Some target church members. Hopefully all will combine careful biblical examination, theological reflection, cultural consideration, corporate application, and even a bit of individual exhortation. The best Christian books are always both theological and practical.

It’s our prayer that God will use this volume and the others to help prepare his bride, the church, with radiance and splendor for the day of his coming.

Introduction

Authority is a good and dangerous gift. People can use authority for great good or for great evil.

The question I want you to consider is How well are you using yours? You have authority. Everyone does.

My friend Anthony told me a story about good and bad uses of authority through two of his high school coaches. One coach used his authority well, the other poorly. The good coach had high expectations for the team, drilled them, offered correction, and worked the boys hard. Yet he knew the boys’ limits, sometimes joined them in the drills, and let them know he was for them. He cared more about their good than his ego. Therefore, the boys loved him, worked hard, and won games.

Meanwhile, Anthony said, the bad coach did just the opposite. He seemed most interested in feeling good about himself. Therefore, he belittled the boys, played favorites, pitted them against each other, and regularly mocked them. So they despised him, played poorly, and lost games.

Back to you: If I asked your children, wife, employees, church members, or anyone else over whom you possess authority, would they say you’re more like the good coach or the bad coach?

I wrote this book because I want all those people in your life to thank God for how you’ve used your authority. At the end of the journey, I want them to look back at their lives, consider your role in it, and say, “I loved that authority! It made me strong” or “smart” or “wise” or “holy.”

I also want my own children, wife, church members, and ministry staff to say the same about me.

For that to happen, you and I need to better understand the authority that God has given us. We need to be able to explain the difference between good and bad authority. And we need to understand how authority differs from one domain to another.

Instinctual Suspicion of Authority

In my experience, however, people spend most of their time talking about the badness of bad authority. We’ve learned not to trust the authority of the government, the church, the pastor, the media, or the scientific establishment. We definitely shouldn’t trust the authority of men, and probably not our parents either, at least the ones who insist on their rules. Watch out for the Deep State, Mainstream Media, Big Eva, #metoo, #churchtoo, abusive pastors, and the list goes on. Both the political left and right have their list of bad guys. We’re all pretty suspicious.

Perhaps the easiest way to spot our cultural angst over authority is to go to the movies and notice who the heroes are. Our heroes are the people who stand up to authority. Growing up, I watched Luke Skywalker fight against the Empire in the Star Wars trilogy, Neo against the machines in the Matrix trilogy, and Jason Bourne against the US Central Intelligence Agency in the Bourne trilogy. We’ve also seen Katniss Everdeen against the capitol and President Snow in the Hunger Games trilogy, Tris and Four against the Erudites in the Divergent trilogy, William Wallace against King Edward in Braveheart, Minnie against Hilly in The Help, and on and on I could go. While I enjoy such movies individually, after a while, you realize the plots all follow one formula. The ones with authority are the bad guys. The ones who topple them are the good guys.

As an American, this same lesson is woven into my national history. The American founders equal the good guys. King George III and his redcoats equal the bad guys. For Americans, this story is rehearsed every July 4.

All these movies and national holidays, not to mention the nonstop anti-authority drumbeat of Western education generally, have shaped my cultural instincts about authority. And they have probably shaped yours too.

But never mind cultural analysis. Most of us can tell personal stories about hypocritical, heavy-handed, or downright heinous authority figures in our lives. Pastors and parents, politicians and policemen, have been untrustworthy. People have been experiencing the badness of bad authority since Genesis 3.

I could tell you about a boss I had who alternated between shouting and the silent treatment. He occasionally showed up in my dreams for a couple of decades, even after I left that job. More troubling, I could tell you the terrible stories I’ve heard as a pastor about fathers, mothers, husbands, and pastors abusing their authority. Maybe you know the stories I mean—the ones that make you want to cry and rage at the same time.

Such abuse is wicked. It tells lies about our good God and his use of authority.

We Cannot Live Without Authority

The challenge is that we cannot live without authority. Should we drive on the right side of the road or the left? How does this game work? Who is married to whom? Am I responsible for these kids? Who does she turn to when assaulted?

Living with other people requires coordinating our decisions. Living in a world of sin and scarcity requires protection, provision, and sometimes punishment. Living with children requires teaching and correcting. Living at all, apparently, requires authority. Even the Bible’s society of perfect beings—angels—live inside hierarchies.

Yet authority is not only a practical necessity. The story here is bigger than that. Exercising authority is how we image God. Get this: God created you and me to rule. He has given every one of us dominion over something—some plot of dirt like Adam and Eve had in the garden. Even my eleven-year-old daughter has dominion over her bedroom and her bunny named Boo Radley. She also claims dominion over the family dog, Atticus Finch, though her older sisters would contest that claim. The point is that God has given us all authority because exercising authority plays a central role in what it means to be created in his image. We image him by ruling like he rules. Authority is not merely a necessary evil, as I’ve heard Christians say. It goes right to the heart of human existence, which means that authority can be a wonderful, life-giving thing.

King David thought so. Authority well used, said David, is

like the light of morning at sunrise

on a cloudless morning,

like the brightness after rain

that brings grass from the earth. (2 Sam. 23:4 NIV; see also Ps. 72)

Do you see the picture here? A shower of rain falls on a field. Then the sun emerges. You look out and see a field of vibrant green. Good authority is like that sun and rain. It gives life. It creates vitality and color.

The Goal of This Book

The solution to bad authority, it turns out, is not no authority, but good authority. Just ask the child who has been abused, the minority who experiences discrimination, or the church member whose conscience is violated. In each case, justice requires some other authority figure to step in and rescue. Or think back to my friend Anthony. The boys with the bad coach didn’t want no coach, they wanted a good coach.

How much time have you spent reflecting on what good authority is? How many sermons have you heard on this topic? How many books have you read? The goal of this book is to help you do exactly this. It’s a condensed version of my larger book on authority.1 As in the fuller version, my goal isn’t theoretical; it’s practical. I want you to know how to rightly use the authority God has given you.

In all our talk these days about the badness of bad authority, we’ve become afraid to exercise the authority we do possess. Any assertion of authority instinctively feels heavy-handed. Managers are afraid to impose consequences on lazy employees. Pastors are afraid to make culturally unpopular decisions. Parents are afraid to draw boundary lines or punish disobedient children. And all that fear makes sense! Bad authority is really bad. A former pastor of mine, Mark Dever, calls it “a particularly heinous sin.” Yet we can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, like witnessing a bad marriage and deciding to do away with marriage altogether. If King David is right about good authority, doing away with authority means we’ll miss an amazing gift that God has given to humanity—indeed, something central to being human.

So I’ll say it again: Authority is a good and dangerous gift. Authority in creation and redemption is good, while authority from the fall is bad. Christians must always keep one eye on the potential for good and one eye on the potential for bad.

Not only that, God gives us different kinds of authority—one for the parent, another for the husband, another for the government, another for the pastor, another for the workplace manager. Each of these “offices” serves a different purpose, has a different jurisdiction, and possesses different tools. It’s crucial to know the differences.