I appreciate what Leeman sets out to do in ‘Using Authority Well’ and I think he does it well. He aptly explains why authority is so important to the home, church, and wider society, warns of both the costs of failing to use authority and of using it wrongly, and explains how men can embrace it as a means to honor God and be a blessing to those they lead. I’m certain that any man who leads in any way will benefit from reading it and carefully applying it to his life. 

There are few topics that have proven trickier to navigate than the topic of authority. We know we need authority to function as families, churches, and nations, yet there is something deep within our sinful humanity that causes us to rebel against it wherever it exists. We both want it and despise it.  

Authority is a gift, says Jonathan Leeman—“a good and dangerous gift.” It can be used for great good but it can also be used for great evil. When used well, it can be among the greatest blessings people will ever receive, but when used poorly, among the greatest curses. The question we each need to consider is this: How do I use my authority?

Leeman thinks it’s especially important for men to consider that question, so he has written Using Authority Well: A Concise Guide for Men to instruct them and help them think it through. He has an audacious goal for the book:

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, we need to understand the authority God has given to us, know the differences between good and bad authority, and consider how authority differs from one domain of leadership to another. And that is exactly what he accomplishes through this book’s seven chapters.

He begins by defining authority and does so by distinguishing it from a near-synonym, power. Where power is the ability or capacity to do something, authority is “the moral right or license to exercise that power.

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