Be One of God's Unlikely Leaders

Be One of God's Unlikely Leaders: Live With Focus, Get Things Done is my book, just released Nov 2025. It's the product of years in various leadership positions, a book I wanted to write for a long time, began writing 15 years ago, set it aside for work priorities, then didn't touch it until I retired end of May 2025. The Lord allowed me to finish the book last summer. Feels good to finish a long-dreamed about project. My premise is that anyone, anytime, anywhere can be a leader, or learn to be a leader. For Christians, leadership is not an option but an opportunity. Leaders don't, or shouldn't try to, do things alone (even the Lone Ranger wasn't really alone; he had his trusted friend Tonto), but leaders are important for they typically inspire others to aspire to greater achievement. We look for people who we think are leaders, but God looks for people who will be leaders. God uses ordinary people - unlikely leaders - to accomplish extraordinary things. For more Christian commentary, see my website www.rexmrogers.com or check my YouTube channel @DrRexRogers. #leadership #stewardship #UnlikelyLeaders

Transcript

Have you ever been thrust into a leadership assignment you did not know was coming? Or have you found yourself in a leadership opportunity but hesitated to step up?

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #241 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

For years I wanted to write a leadership book. I finally began one in year 2010, wrote maybe three-fourths of the envisioned chapters, set the content aside in view of job responsibilities, then didn’t touch it for fifteen years.

As I bypassed the typical retirement age and kept working, people would ask, “Why are you still working?” I usually said, “Because I don’t hate my job, and I’ve thus far been blessed with health; plus, it’s good to keep working for a number of reasons.” As I got closer to a time when retirement seemed likely, people started asking me, “What are you going to do when you retire?” Or they’d say, “You need to have something to do when you retire.” I’d respond, “I thought the point of retirement was to not do?”

When I finally did retire, end of May 2025, the Good Wife and I took a week in a log cabin in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and when we came home, I picked up my leadership manuscript from lo those many years ago. I had something to do when I retired. 

First, I re-read what I wrote fifteen years ago. Do I still think what I thought then What illustrations did I use that by now are obscure and should be updated? Eventually, am I ready to tackle new content in the last chapters of the book?

I dove in and worked June through August on this and finished the book, took some time to identify a publisher, and with great satisfaction celebrated the book’s release November 21, 2025.

The book is called Be One of God’s Unlikely Leaders: Live With Focus, Get Things Done. My premise is leadership is a learned behavior. I say this because I believe leaders are more often “made” than “born.” Of course, all people are born, but leadership is developed. In my view, anyone, anytime, anywhere can be a leader.

Sometimes the leader is the one you’d pick out of a crowd. But just as often the leader is the person you’d least expect. I call them “unlikely leaders.” It’s these “unlikely leaders” who surprise us. They rise-up in our midst, demonstrating once again that a leader is a person who stands up and steps up, a person who meets a challenge or sees an opportunity and helps the rest of us attain a new level of achievement, or maybe safety or satisfaction or creativity.   

Being a leader is not the exclusive domain of the rich and powerful, the famous, or the beautiful people. Being a leader isn’t reserved for the super talented or the V.I.Ps. It’s not just for men, adults, a given nationality, race, or ethnic group.  

Contrary to popular opinion, leadership is not a mysterious talent only some people are “lucky” enough to acquire. Quite simply yet quite remarkably, leadership is a gift of God to all of us. This book is written for everyone who’s ever thought, “How am I going to do this?  I’m no leader.” 

That’s a lot of people. Maybe it’s you. You want to accomplish something, but your perception of leadership—or of yourself—makes you think you’re not cut out to be a leader. You think you can’t be a leader. This book is for you. 

Then there are other people I meet who don’t want to be leaders. Or at least they say they don’t want to be a leader. They lack confidence in themselves or their abilities. They’re not sure they have “the right stuff.” They fear the hassle or the pressure or the accountability or the potential embarrassment if they don’t make it.  

But even these folks can become leaders, and some of them, deep down, really want to. Maybe that’s you. You’d like to lead, but you’re not sure how. Remember what we said:  Anyone, anytime, anywhere can be a leader. That includes you.  

You’re still breathing, so it’s safe to say God’s blessed you with time and talent. So, no matter how unlikely it may seem, you can learn to lead. 

The importance of leadership cannot be overstated. Whether an art or a science, leadership is key to change, accomplishment, and success. Leadership motivates others to get things done.  

The Bible is filled with stories of everyday people who learned to lead for the Lord. I call them “God’s unlikely leaders.” They were people just like you and me.  Really. We say that, but it’s genuinely true. Moses and Peter were flesh and blood men, talented, temperamental, tough, scared—all rolled into leaders who accomplished great things for God despite their weaknesses. 

Biblical leaders aren’t typically people we would’ve chosen. They’re not always the ones their contemporaries chose or wanted to choose. They weren’t always the best and the brightest.  

God’s leaders are a strange list of characters from all walks of life. Sometimes it seems the only trait God’s leaders hold in common is the fact it’s unlikely they’d ever be chosen to lead.  

We think biblical leaders are an “unlikely” bunch because we look for people we think are leaders while God looks for people who will be leaders. God doesn't think like we think. God looks for obedient people he can form into leaders.  

“Man looks at the outward appearance,” God said to Samuel, “but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). Godly, effective leadership is in short supply. There are manifold opportunities for you.   

Real leaders lead when others are not yet following. This does not mean leaders ignore their followers, only that great leaders see things before others, see a possible future, aspire to it, and inspire others toward it as well.  

In Be One of God’s Unlikely Leaders—Live With Focus, Get Things Done, I try to make it clear leadership is not about pride, prowess, power, or promotion. It’s about ordinary men and women—unlikely leaders—being used of God to accomplish extraordinary things. 

Be One of God’s Unlikely Leaders is a roadmap to accomplishing more for the Lord than you thought possible.

God often calls ordinary people to do extraordinary things, not because they are great, but because he is.   

Leadership is not for the faint of heart. In a complex world, leadership is challenging, stressful, and fraught with obstacles—polarization, technological change, shifting social dynamics. 

Leaders get burned out, bummed out, or bounced out, and potential leaders hesitate to step forward, creating a leadership vacuum. But this is our moment. God is still sovereign, and leadership as unto the Lord even in the most demanding environment can be productive, transformative, and rewarding. For Christians, leadership is not an option; it’s an opportunity.  

In his book, Involvement, the late British theologian John R. W. Stott chastised the Christian community.  He said, “Don’t be content with the mediocre! Don’t settle for anything less than your full God-given potential! Be ambitious and adventurous for God! God has made you a unique person by your genetic endowment, upbringing, and education. He has himself created you and gifted you, and he does not want his work to be wasted. He means you to be fulfilled not frustrated. His purpose is that everything you have and are, should be stretched in his service and in the service of others. This means that God has a leadership role of some degree and kind for each of us.”

The late Mother Teresa said, “If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” You can be an unlikely leader, a legion of one.  

Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. 

If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. For more Christian commentary, see my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com, or check my YouTube channel @DrRexRogers.

And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm. 

© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2025    

*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/ or my YouTube channel @DrRexRogers, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.