Theology is an attempt to explain God and his relationship to our world and humanity, while leadership is the human endeavor or capacity to lead or guide others through an operation, activity, task, or even through life. To build a theology of leadership is to build on the interrelation between these two. In order to develop a true theology of leadership, thoughtful reflection on Biblical scripture and the leadership of those called by God must be examined. What I assert is that of all the models that we have examined that Servant Leadership is a theology of leadership for Christ-centered pastoral leadership within Christ’s church.
Northouse defines leadership as “a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.” Leadership as it works through those in pastoral leadership in the church then is a process whereby an individual who has been influenced by the works of Christ as they have journeyed the path of faith and come to embrace and embody Christ and the gospel message within their own life then in acceptance of Christ’s call upon their life goes out to influence, invite, and empower others to embrace and embody the gospel in their own lives.
For the not yet established church it was Christ who was the original influencer of a ragtag group of disciples and followers who came to embrace and embody His gospel message and through which Christ would build His church. So who better to look to when looking at leadership and
The process of leadership requires self-identification of behaviors and reflection on one’s attitude (Bell, 2010). Among the thousands of leadership books in print today, this book is one that takes a different approach to examining leadership from a Christian perspective as well as relating to the process of leadership along with many
When I think about leadership, Matthew 26:36-45 always comes to my mind. In this passage, Jesus unpacked the roles and responsibilities of a true leader. A true leader leads by sample without looking back. The scripture states, “…My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little further, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed…. Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping.
A couple people may trust that leaders are considered and a couple people may feel that leaders are made. I envision that leaders lead their gathering from his or her potential outcomes and learning. Because of the Apostle Paul, God as a fruitful pioneer, a man that is known how to direct and is devoted to his or her run, picked him. As pioneers, we are vessels. On the off chance that we will be viable, our energy needs to surpass our Magnitude, be the vessel that floods with eagerness and fervor for your vision. The way to Paul 's self-way of life as a pioneer was his part as a messenger (Smith, 2014). The way to that part was the way that it was a celestial arrangement and that it included a mission instructed, and empowered by God and represented by the Spirit of God (Smith, 2014). An approach to consider 'authority ' as the way toward attracting individuals together to impact and "lead" them in a specific bearing (frequently to fulfill a specific errand). On the off chance that this is the thing that we mean by 'administration ', Paul was absolutely a pioneer (Smith, 2014).
A sentiment common to almost any organization is that the one fact that remains constant is change. As society changes, and human understanding grows, any organization that maintains a static posture, assures its demise. Churches and Christian organizations are no exception. The gospel may remain the same, but the method for communicating it must speak to the audience to assure understanding. The Christian leader must be prepared to meet this challenge by incorporating an effective model for change into his theology of leadership in order to keep the ministry relevant and effective. Searching for such a change agent can prove to be challenging as well. To aid in this search, four
From the group Biblical Integration Paper, it was understood that servant-leadership is not only a gift of purpose that God places in the hearts of His people, but it is also a calling in one’s life to truly touch the lives of others in need. Living a successful life, as a servant-leader is not one that focuses on self-fulfillment, rather it is in seeking a fulfillment that comes from Christ when one pours him/herself out for the sake of others. It is through servant-leadership that one is able to bring hope into hopeless situations (Group Integration Paper,
In the following paragraphs, I’m going to compose a brief leadership manifesto of what Christian leadership means and, more specifically, what it may means to my life and career. A significant aspect of my statement would include reflection on Perkins and Gordon’s book, Leadership Revolution.
The New Testament leaders are an example of how church leaders of today should also behave and work[8]. They ought to be able to teach, guide the believers in the way of God and nurture their spiritual gifts. The New Testament leaders had to boldly defend the word of God in case of any false teaching. Basing on this New Testament leadership, it is important to make sure that any believer appointed to the leadership office has the laid down qualifications[9].
In brief order, the role of a pastor or leader is to be a servant leader. The Bible provides pastors and leaders in a Christian church with the best model of a servant leader in Jesus Christ. According to Thorsten Grahn (2011), “Jesus submitted his own life to sacrificial service under the will of (Luke 22:42), and he sacrificed his life freely out of service for others (John 10:30). He came to serve (Matthew 20:28) although he was God’s son and was thus more powerful than any other leader in the world. He healed the sick (Mark 7:31-37), drove out demons (Mark 5:1-20), was recognized as Teacher and Lord (John 13:13), and had power over the wind and the sea and even over death (Mark 4:35-41; Matthew 9:18-26. In John 13:1-17 Jesus gives … responsibility of the house-servant” (Grahn, 2011, p. 2).
Leadership can be rewarding in ministry as well as business if it is done in a biblical manner. Leadership can and will be challenging God does not tell us that doing things His way will be easy. Jesus tells us that following Him can and will come with persecution in 2 Timothy 3:12, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (English Standard Version).” Although we may be persecuted for living a godly life this is what we are called to do in ministry, business and home. When we are in a leadership position it is imperative that we lead a godly life because we are an influence on those we are leading. There are many challenges in leadership and we do not always put them in a
Atkinson (2014) believes effective leadership displays, “No person is less divine than another, and therefore no person is less than another” (p. 145). Throughout the bible, there are many people in scripture that God placed in leadership roles. Jesus, David, Moses, Paul, Peter, Abraham and many others are some of those leaders. There are core attributes discussed in the lecture that personally reflect my opinion of what an effective leader of Christ needs such as, a shared vision, model of the way, empowerment of others, challenge of the process, and encouragement of the heart.
“There is much that can be learned about leadership from Scripture” (Smith, 1992, p. 39). The Bible provides us with what God not only desires His man of God to be, but requires His under shepherd to meet His character traits.
Psalms 23:1-3, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.” (NKGV) In this scripture, God views himself as the leader of the sheep and guides them. God shows how a biblical leader should be envisioned. Biblical leaders are chosen by God to lead others through their Christian influence to guide them down the right paths. What is biblical leadership? According to Todd Engstrom, “Biblical leadership is meeting someone where they are, and taking them where Jesus wants to go.” Biblical leadership is therefore intensely personal and at the same time intensely biblical. The definition provides a basic foundation for leadership, but also expands to a more biblical meaning. Leadership is not about position, authority, or who knows the most information but more so about one life influencing another. A good leader seeks leadership from God, Proverbs 16:1 “The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.”
Effective leadership approaches from a biblical perspective consist of God’s nature in his manifested character. Christian leaders are willing to pay the price to lead in Christ’s affliction. Paul said there is a price to pay in order to lead and Jesus reminded us, “Remember what I told you: 'A servant is not greater than his master. ' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also” (John 15:20, New International Version). Christian leaders need core attributes of God’s styles and approaches, support and linkage from scriptures, and knowledge of his leadership models of truth for effective leadership. However, these perspectives will gave me a better appreciation and insight of who God is and who I can be with his guidance.
Christ is the leader of the Church, Paul in Ephesians 1:22 said “God placed everything under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the Church” however, God entrusted the authority to lead to his servant whom he set them aside to lead the community. Pastor as a public Leadership is to lead community. A person who is called by God to lead public has a responsibility to be in the community, with the community and for the community. One of best questions raised in the class during public leadership discussion was “How we can be a community pastor rather than just a church pastor?” This really a kind of question we are to consider as pastor especially as rural congregation pastor. In most cases when pastor are called to
Church leadership, along with teams that are sent to the mission field should work together in identifying what needs to be done for the particular community of people. A relevant example of critical caring was in a local church body. The Worship Experience team, made up of