I have been doing a strange thing. Reading a Peterson book at the same time as reading Axiom by Bill Hybels. I am afraid Eugene passed out in horror somewhere halfway down the first page but I kept reading. Hybels is the CEO of Willow Creek in Chicago and, were he not doing this, he would probably be running Coca Cola or be President of the United States. His book convinced me I will never run a mega-church and some of the truism's he quotes made me scream a very loud NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. (Hire 10's for example). This is a book of 76 catchy one-liners that Bill tells 'the team' he leads and applies into his own life. Don't get me wrong, there is lots of wisdom in this book, he is clearly an incredible chap and, as with all Hybels books, there is some great stuff amid the stuff that leaves your scratching your head. However, the question never far from my lips is, "Are we making disciples or widgets?"
This book is familiar territory for me. I spent 13 years in a blue-chip environment and Bill sounds like my old CEO. My question is should he be sounding like him? I confess, and correct me if I am wrong, I now see myself as doing something rather different and so my heart and personality lie with Peterson and less so with dear old dynamo Bill.
Despite my reservations, it has a place on my shelf and I fear I may even return to it-quite often in fact. If you lead anyone, there will be some truths that will help you in this. I have given it to a friend on our team and I know he will be quoting these lines at me until Christmas:)
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