Leadership and Emotional Sabotage: Resisting the Anxiety That Will Wreck Your Family, Destroy Your Church, and Ruin the World by Joe Rigney. Canon Press. 120 pages. 2024
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The author, who teaches at New Saint Andrews College, writes that for years, he has recommended Edwin Friedman’s book A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix as an essential book for Christian leaders. He tells us that this short book is his attempt to do justice to Friedman’s insights while grounding them in the Scriptures, and extending and applying them in the home, the church, and the world.
He begins his study in a surprising place – with one of Shakespeare’s lesser-known plays “Troilus and Cressida”. I didn’t find this section particularly helpful, but it does introduce us to the concept of “Degree”, which is the principle of cultural order or rule or hierarchy. He tells us that once  you notice it, Ulysses’ idea of Degree turns up everywhere, and that Ulysses’ diagnosis of the Greeks’ problem dovetails nicely with Friedman’s account of our cultural breakdown.
He then introduces us to Friedman’s five key characteristics of our chronically anxious and agitated society: reactivity, herding, blame displacement, quick-fix mentality and failure of nerve. He tells us that they mark not only society as a whole, but also afflict the various institutions of society—families, churches, businesses, and the state.
The author tells us that both Shakespeare and Friedman identify a failure of nerve as central to the unraveling of the social order, and that this diagnosis accords with a repeated biblical pattern, with the first and foundational failure of nerve showing up in Genesis. The pattern – abdication, idolatry, and blame-shifting, shows up again and again in the Scriptures. Specifically, he looks at Aaron and the golden calf in Exodus 32 and Saul and the Amalekites in 1 Samuel 15.
The author tells us that it’s this abdication of leadership, this neglect of the duties and responsibilities of authority, this failure of nerve that lies at the root of our cultural crisis. The author then sketches the outlines of a threefold cure for this fever, organizing the prescription by three of the Ten Commandments: the Fifth, the Tenth, and the First.
Rigney introduces us to the concept of sober-mindedness. He tells us that if we live amidst raging anxiety storms and reactive social stampedes, the fundamental virtue leaders need is sober-mindedness. Sober-mindedness includes at least three elements: clarity of mind, stability of soul, and readiness to act. However, the moment that you begin to cultivate mature, sober-minded leadership, you should expect sabotage, both from within and without. Sabotage is any attempt to steer or derail you, to take you and your people off-mission. Rigney then looks at how in the face of sabotage, we grow in our ability to wisely and faithfully resist being steered, both by slander and by emotion-sharing.
The final three chapters of the book explore faithful leadership in the home, the church, and the world. These chapters read like they were delivered as sermons, with several helpful points or lessons. For leadership in the home, Rigney looks at Ephesians chapters 5 and 6. For leadership in the church, he looks at the confrontation at Antioch, recorded by Paul in Galatians 2. For leadership in the world, he looks at Paul’s final journey to Jerusalem in Acts 21–24.
Rigney tells us that your home, your church, and this world need leaders who are mature and sober-minded, filled with gravity and gladness, and grounded in the glory of Jesus. Becoming that sort of leader is a lifelong work of God’s grace in us and through us.