Effective Leadership from a Biblical Perspective
Arnette Galloway
Belhaven University- Jackson, MS
Fall 2017
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.” There are many core attributes of being an active biblical leader. According to Brent Rinehart, there are nine essential qualities of a Godly leader. A good leader is modest, not arrogant. There is always that one person who thinks they know it all or they
When I think about Savior’s leadership attributes I feel amazed of how he ministered people one by one and how he was able to see the heart of the people. In the article “Jesus: The Perfect Leader,” clarified my mind to see that even Christ follow leadership principles that are very important in a business environment. The leadership attributes that most spoke to me were leadership based in fixed principles, responsibility, and accountability.
Those who show good leadership share qualities such as strong integrity, consideration of others, and the ability to lead by example. A good leader will know what’s wrong and what’s right. When leading others, they choose the option that is morally acceptable. A good leader has been taught what is right and wrong and doesn’t choose to do what’s wrong when leading others. A good leader thinks of others when making their decisions. They consider what will be best for the group when
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.
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).
Characteristics of a Successful Leader An effective leader has certain/basic yet important characteristic. The character of a leader is important in order to show how effective they are. A good leader sets the bar high and believes in excellence, motivation, and to be dedicated. In order to lead a good leader must have these qualities/ characteristics.
My definition of Christian Leadership is to lead or guide people towards the truth by using the Bible as a reference. The Bible gives Christians the necessary tools to be a successful leader. The military trained me how
We do our best and most excellent work, and then offer it to him to go beyond our work and to change a child’s heart to have faith, to restore parents back into unity, and to bring peace to homes filled with strife. A great leader is a dependent leader.
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
I believe that the qualities of a great leader must have are that, at first they must be generous, must give people equal rights, and knowing the right decision, generosity is important because you have to be giving to their followers. Giving Equal rights is important because equal rights wouldn't be too happy so they might no longer be rooting for them. Finally they must be willing to be a leader, and by that I mean that they have to have wisdom, and mean what they say, because many people will say that they will solve problems, but a leader can't be great by just speaking, they must take action.
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
“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.
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.
Leaders are appointed to serve here on earth on behalf of Christ since Christ is the good and chief shepherd. Leaders should lead the believers based on how Christ related with the church when he was on earth[5]. Shepherds had to feed the people of God and to protect them from predators[6]. Churches today ought to do things how the New Testament churches did[7].
A good leader needs to have many particular characteristics. Some of these are obvious, such as that they care about what you are doing and always puts you before themselves. Also another trait of a good leader is that they always keep promises they make. Some of the subtle attributes of a good leader are that they do not hide behind bad news. Moreover, they are easy people to talk to and they have a good if not excellent sense of humor.