The five-hour rule. Admired business leaders such as Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Mark Zuckerberg all practice it.   Despite extremely busy schedules, each sets aside at least an hour a day (or five hours a week) to read and learn.

Learning is essential for Christian leaders, and we would be wise to note this practice. However, a word of caution is in order.

Charles Spurgeon wisely counseled,

“Visit many good books, but live in the Bible.”

In his book Leadership as an Identity Pastor Crawford Lorritts provides the following essential insights:

 “As leaders we want to get things done; we want results. And we should! This gives us a bent toward the pragmatic. However, we need to make sure that the truths and approaches we import and adopt are not contaminated. They should be consistent with what the Scriptures teach. The Word of God should be the rule, the standard for everything we are and do. What we believe, how we think, and how we act should be governed by our biblical framework.”

 “We must fight the encroaching secularization both of Christianity and Christian leadership in particular. As leaders we ought to be students of our culture, but we need to be discerning. We must learn to recognize worldviews and approaches that are human-centered rather than God-centered. Yes, by all means passionately search for principles and approaches that will help us advance His cause, but in the process let’s make sure that we edit our findings through the grid of the Word of God.”

Read to learn, in order to lead, but prioritize God’s Word in that you might “examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22)