A decent book about the balance between authority and vulnerability in leading, and following the true leader Jesus who was the perfect balance of both. With numerous examples and grace, crouch gives a great guide to leading in any vocation. Mar 09, Joe Haack rated it it was amazing. This deserves 10 stars.
Book Review: Strong and Weak by Andy Crouch
Reading this was one of the better uses of my time. Mar 04, Jon rated it it was amazing Shelves: Andy Crouch starts with a simple idea, presented as a 2x2 matrix—sort of like those that you might encounter in a business school classroom. Vulnerability and authority are often positioned in opposition to one another: Crouch argues that vulnerability and authority are not in opposition to one another, but are rather complementary.
In fact, while vulnerability without authority leads to suffering, authority wi Andy Crouch starts with a simple idea, presented as a 2x2 matrix—sort of like those that you might encounter in a business school classroom. In fact, while vulnerability without authority leads to suffering, authority without vulnerability leads to exploitation, and a life with neither authority nor vulnerability leads to withdrawal, a life lived with both authority and vulnerability leads to a life of flourishing.
The book proceeds by examining what a life looks like in each of these categories, culminating in Crouch's argument for why true flourishing requires both authority and vulnerability. In his view, vulnerability is tantamount to being subject to meaningful risk, which is part and parcel with the human experience. Throughout history, humans have often attempted to reduce their risk by increasing their authority, which nearly always leads to negative consequences. It is an elegant argument, but given the fact that it is easy to see how it plays out in various circumstances, it's not hard to find the book argument compelling.
For example, Crouch points out that in recent years, police departments have increasingly invested in military-grade equipment and gear, which has served to both increase their authority while simultaneously reduce their vulnerability. After all, coming up to a house in riot gear armed with assault weapons does not leave police offers in a position of significant vulnerability! The consequence of this has been to actually increase the vulnerability of the communities in which those police officers serve. This increase in authority and corresponding decrease in vulnerability leads, therefore, to a form of exploitation and oppression in those communities.
This book is short, but it presents an idea in a lucid and compelling way. It is applicable to our personal lives, because we need to be prepared to live lives of meaningful risk. Crouch connects this to the gospel by describing how the exposure to risk is both a reflection of Christ's work and ministry as well as a vehicle by which we rely on God for the source of our protection, rather than our own ultimately futile attempts to increase our own authority to minimize our vulnerability.
It is also applicable to culture writ large, because we see many of the problems in society—from presidential elections to racism to corporate greed—stem from persons and institutions looking to increase their authority without vulnerability. This is an important and needed book, because it helps conceptualize major problems we face as a culture in a way that roots it firmly in Christian theology. Mar 03, Milan Homola rated it it was amazing Shelves: Andy Crouch is a much needed author who brings fresh thinking to many topics through a Christian worldview.
I anticipated this book being good, but it far exceeded my hopes. I need to read it again but I'm almost certain this is my new favorite book to lend healthy perspective to leadership and life in general. It makes you think outside the box and get honest with yourself. It does not give "gag me" fluffy Christian content that seems to be repeated over and over by so many other books. His ope Andy Crouch is a much needed author who brings fresh thinking to many topics through a Christian worldview.
His opening explanation of the "tyranny of "or" and the "genius of "and" adapted from Collins to look at Authority and Vulnerability struck deep at my worldview and it continues to alter my thinking. Go read this book May 21, Andy Huette rated it really liked it. The book reads like a 3-star, but the thesis is a 4-star. Crouch clarifies the necessity of living with appropriate authority which he defines as the capacity for meaningful action , and with true vulnerability.
- Strong and Weak: Embracing a Life of Love, Risk and True Flourishing by Andy Crouch!
- Popular Weak Hero Books!
- Indian Food For Beginners - 24 Authentic Indian Recipes;
- #5 HELPING HANDS - (HELPING HANDS COMICS Book 2).
- See a Problem?.
Vulnerability without good authority leads to suffering and authority without vulnerability leads to exploitation. A healthy mixture of vulnerability and authority is necessary for human flourishing and Crouch illustrates his thesis well. It's an easy read that gave me a helpful paradig The book reads like a 3-star, but the thesis is a 4-star. It's an easy read that gave me a helpful paradigm for leadership and life. Sep 26, Ashley rated it it was amazing.
Related Resources
He describes how to pursue flourishing by living not on a continuum between strength and weakness, as though they were opposites, but in one of the four quadrants formed by placing strength and weakness on an x and y axis. He describes the other 3 quadrants as authoritarianism, suffering, and withdrawing. Helpful and visual description of Jesus' kind of leader Very helpful book. Helpful and visual description of Jesus' kind of leadership. Feb 03, Andrew Johnson rated it it was amazing.
But Crouch shows how you need both to flourish in life. He demonstrates how we often view authority and vulnerability the wrong way by typically putting emphasis on one above the other. Overall, I thought he did an excellent of showing how to lead well and am looking forward to thinking more about the concepts. Jul 15, Paul Elliott rated it really liked it. Audiobook Insightful and challenging. Book aims to help us understand the importance of strength and weakness to true flourishing.
So many helpful thoughts on parenting, video games, social media, work, disability, leadership, race, and success. Feb 15, Merritt Onsa rated it it was amazing Shelves: A profound read for anyone in or out of a leadership role who seeks to live for the flourishing of others and the world!
This is one of the best books I've ever read on leadership if only because it actually has the potential to change the way I lead and think about leadership. Thank you Andy Crouch! Aug 30, Aaron W. Matthews rated it it was amazing. This is a practical, valuable book and one I'll refer back to several times. The paradox of strength and weakness; authority and vulnerability are discussed in detail, but with some pretty profound and applicable examples. I learned a lot and have already been having some meaningful discussions with several people about the ideas Mr. Mar 31, Rob and Liz rated it it was amazing.
My favorite book from so far. Practical and easy to read. You will be glad you did. Aug 17, Justin Lonas rated it really liked it. Short and simple, but deep. Jun 19, Matt rated it it was amazing. I heard Andy give a talk on this subject when he was still preparing this book. I was floored then. Now, reading the finished thoughts, I am absolutely and utterly convinced of this way of looking at life and flourishing and the image of God in our lives. An excellently written book about an exceedingly important idea. Sep 19, John rated it liked it Shelves: There are so many beautiful stories of men and women at their best, but also at their worst.
There were so many moments where Crouch wrote words our culture needs to hear to shake us from our slumber. There are also some very helpful sections on leadership, pornography, and many other topics as he weaves together a vision for human flourishing. Or is our very life held by one who has gone even to the dust of death and returned, who has conquered the ultimate source of vulnerability, and even now holds absolutely secure the tether of our life? Leaning on these ideas makes the book read more like a self-help book, than a biblical exhortation.
Instead, Crouch would have done better to connect his thesis with our shared theological lexicon.
This is what it means to live in covenant with God—blessings for humble obedience, curses for pursuing self-fulfillment outside of the covenant. Crouch has much good to say, but his vocabulary and grid are more distracting than edifying. What the church needs is a more consistent and robust theology, lived out publicly and obediently, not a new system that obscures biblical teaching behind words foreign to the Bible. I was given a free copy of this book, by the EFCA, with the condition that I complete an unbiased review, with their option to publish it. They chose not to, allowing me to publish it here.
Apr 27, Thomas Mulshine rated it it was amazing. This book is an interesting analysis of flourishing people. It would have been much better for me to have read this when I was a young man instead of at my current age however it is still a good read. Jul 16, Will Turner rated it liked it Shelves: And for that, I am thankful. To be fair, it is an all encompassing view of leadership. Leaders of small businesses and leaders of countries.
He begins by posing two questions: In answering the first question, Crouch argues that we are meant to live a life that flourishes. He argues his thesis through the use of a 2x2 quadrant. In the upper right hand area I lies true Flourishing. If we move to the lower right area II we discover Suffering. Moving to the lower left quadrant III we have Withdrawing. And lastly, in the upper left hand quadrant IV we have Exploiting.
Our lives should always be moving toward quadrant I, toward flourishing. And as leaders, we should be moving others toward flourishing with us. Jan 10, Dorothy Greco rated it it was amazing Shelves: I'm not sure why I did not pick this up when it came out.
Maybe I just wasn't ready for Andy's words. This past week, perhaps in light of all the stories on sexual abuse and 45's miscues, I was ready. Crouch did not disappoint. Apr 11, Maxwell Anderson rated it really liked it. We are called to exercise both our authority and our vulnerability in keeping with the way of Jesus. He was both God authority and Man vulnerability at the same time.
Book Review: Strong and Weak by Andy Crouch | ERLC
We are made in his image and are called both to exercise dominion authority and to "walk humbly with our God" vulnerability. This is what Crouch calls "the paradox of flourishing," that flourishing comes from being both strong and weak. Aristotle, in the Nichomachean Ethics, described the morality as navigating the middle w We are called to exercise both our authority and our vulnerability in keeping with the way of Jesus.
Aristotle, in the Nichomachean Ethics, described the morality as navigating the middle way between the extremes of excess or deficiency of any virtue. In more western language, he recognized there are two ways you can fall off the horse. So for example, courage is the mean between rashness excess and cowardice deficiency.
Temperance is the mean between self-indulgence excess and insensibility deficiency. Aristotle's geometry of ethics is that of a straight line, with deficiency on one end, excess on the other and the golden mean in the middle. Crouch bends that line into right angles. For him, the goal is to not live in the middle between strength and weakness. It is to live at both extremes of the y and x axes, at the same time. We should embrace radical vulnerability and radical authority. This, he argues, is the way of Christ.
I find this presentation simpatico with the other paradoxes I carry with me in my faith: Feb 02, Jeanie rated it it was amazing Shelves: Authority without vulnerability will not suffice. Neither will vulnerability without authority. The two together are what is needed. And these two together, I have come to believe, are the very heart of what it is to be human and to live for God and others. Authority and vulnerability what does that look like? This is what this little book addresses. It confirms that the test of humanity is how it cares for the most vulnerable and how misplaced authority is the down fall of culture.
For example a Authority without vulnerability will not suffice. For example authority and vulnerability with our children gives our children confidence and security. They are given a environment for flourishing. If you have all authority, you have a dictatorship and if you have all vulnerability, you have chaos. It deepens love to be received and to give. It gives room to maturity. This is a good study on the weakness and strengths of authority and vulnerability. But as he produced his textbook yell, he saw for the first time the result of his authority: Scaring sleeping children, as his superiors told Sully, created the energy needed to power Monstropolis.
Sully saw the consequences of how he was using his gifts. Write about an unsensational, seemingly undramatic topic that, in actuality, touches on every aspect of our human experience. In the title, readers get an indication of the paradox Crouch exegetes in the book.
His definitions of these dimensions of power anchor the book. We find suffering, withdrawing and exploiting. Jesus perfectly modeled this. In Jesus, we see full vulnerability. No, Jesus risked all of himself on our behalf and modeled a life of complete vulnerability. In Jesus, we also see his full authority. He made the dead come to life, gave the blind sight and emerged from the tomb victorious.
His power created the greatest movement in the history of the world. Jesus led with historic authority. He was fully both. And, the truths of this simple paradox show up in every area of our lives and culture. In Scripture, we see it in Saul of Tarsus exploiting Christians with his authority. We see it in Pilate withdrawing from his authority in the indictment of Jesus. We see it in Jesus suffering unto death, emptying himself of all authority on our behalf. We can see it in our families and organizations. It shows up in politics and sports. And, it shows up in our films.
He witnesses how his work and industry exploit children. He recognizes that his distorted use of authority needs to change. Sully starts with himself.