Are You A Christ Led Leader?

Gene C. Wilkes, in his book Jesus on Leadership, does an excellent job in redefining leadership within the context of the Kingdom of God and he does so by pointing to Jesus who “taught and embodied leadership as service.” Wilkes’ point is that Jesus taught the world everything to know about leadership in the way that he served. Rather than leadership being top down, it should be bottom up as in the case of Jesus—the Savior of the World—washing his disciples feet. This means that leaders do not have people serve them, rather they chose to serve those they are leading. The clearest point and evidence that Wilkes utilizes is when Jesus says, “But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant.” This upside down kingdom idea is the most profound view of Wilkes on leadership and carries the most weight in applying to ministry leadership. Furthermore, two aspects deserve more attention here; which are: the importance of mission and the essentiality of equipping others. In addition, there was one element missing from the book—the people Wilkes has helped succeed through his own servant leadership.

From a personal perspective, leadership from a Christian worldview is about transforming your skills, abilities, and knowledge of the vision of life, beliefs, values, and principles. Due to the differing worldviews as a leader from a secular or biblical perspective, the ways of life as a leader divert the values that guide us, beliefs that direct us, and principles that motivate us to act or behave a certain way. Jesus lives in disciples, and we should all be living as his light and world. In Paul’s plea he stated, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1, New International Version). Not everyone is in the public eye, but everyone is in the eye of someone, and there he or she is a leader. I will discuss my growth and development into the leader from a Christian worldview and from course material as support.

In the book Practicing Greatness: 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders, by Reggie McNeal it examines the need for strong spiritual Christian leaders in today’s society. McNeal looks at the good and bad characteristics of a leader in order to help leaders understand and develop the characteristics needed in one’s own life to be a good leader. McNeal states “we are desperate for great

Robert Banks and Bernice M. Ledbetter believe the subject of leadership to be one worth exploring, and they do so in their book much to our profit. In this short book, Banks and Ledbetter begin by presenting the overall question they want to answer: Do Christians' core convictions shape their views and practices of leadership or are they affected by wider cultural assumptions? [1]The book begins by exploring the many reasons for the increased interest in leadership today. The authors offer a plethora

God’s primary way of developing leaders was through mentoring. The most positive and effective technique to prepare people for life and leadership is through mentoring. As Christians, we are charged to “help the weak and encourage the timid” and to “serve and care for the flock.” A task impossible for church leaders to personally mentor so they assist prospective mentees in finding qualified godly mentors, as

Christian leaders According to Aubrey Malphurs, “Godly character is the essential ingredient that qualifies Christian leaders to lead others.” Above all things in Christian leadership, there is strong desire to serve others, because of their love for others. Robert Greenleaf asserts “that the leader-follower, relationship is central to ethical leadership in the world.” A Christian leader is a servant, who has credibility, and the capacity to influence and change their followers thinking and

Aubrey Malphurs takes the definition of leadership and turns it up another notch. Leaders just don’t have influence over the people they lead. They use their influence “to influence people in a particular context to pursue their God-given direction”.[1] In other words, it is the church leadership’s job to help the people they lead to see God and His work in their lives, to understand their purpose,

Leadership starts at the top, and the top is not the man, but the faith in God that flows out of him. There is, different types of leadership and many ways to display this quality. God is our ultimate leader, and He revealed ways on how to be an effective leader in the church, in the house and in life. Therefore, the focus of this paper will be the Pastor epistles and the type of leadership model that they share and put forth. Now, effective ways of leadership may manifest differently in each individual. God made us all unique and gave each of us a specific talent or gift. Therefore, this class has made me investigate and look at myself more in depth and see what type of leadership model I would follow, and feel is the best model.

This book by Gordon MacDonald can be compared to “Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry” by Ruth Barton. Barton notes that some leaders have such an insatiable appetite for approval from others, that it leaves them standing as service providers that suffer from compassion fatigue. They fail to initiate quiet time that creates an uncommon intimacy with God. The pastoral leader must stop and become aware of his/her surroundings while listening for where God is leading them before they try to lead

Many people are leaders but some are not. It take a lot to be a leader. What does it take to be a good leader? Am I a leader or a follower? How do I know I’m a leader or a follower? Who follows me and when do they follow? When and where do I follow and can leaders cause difficulties for Christians? All of these questions will be addressed in this paper. I hope these questions make you think about yourself and help you become a better leader.

“This book is a call to leadership by the Book, that, is the Bible.” The essential elements of biblical leadership are discussed in detail in the book, the most indispensable being “teaching the Word of God as the life-changing power of God.” The crucial function of the biblical leader is teaching God’s Word clearly, in context to those willing to receive it. In doing this, the ideas of business leadership, will not always be the best model to use (Bredfeldt 2006,15). In the first chapter, Bredfeldt, discusses the basic principles of great biblical leadership, these principles find application in almost any leadership role. If one wishes to be an effective leader, the maximum leadership principles of influence, bringing great change, and

Leading others can be challenging and the search for an ideal, multi-purpose leadership method has been in progress since human beings first began to organize into groups. Christian leaders have the added dimension of seeking to utilize leadership methods that support the values of their faith. Many have looked to theology for leadership direction, using their understanding of God as a foundation for leadership theories and behavior. One such theology of leadership presents God as the Master of all leadership methods inviting humanity to become like Him. The following is a discussion of two historical leaders and an analysis of their leadership methods followed by a presentation of the author’s personal theology of leadership.

Leadership can be defined in many ways. Spiritual leadership’s goes beyond casting visions, accomplishing goals, and making choices. It develops into religious ties and showing fundamentally sound character traits. Leaders are molded daily. I believe the key to spiritual leadership is "absolute obedience to the Father's will and to preserve everything the Father reveals to them of His will" (28-29).

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.

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].