Leadership, as it relates to the Bible, is a guide or a way of living. Leadership is not only an outward manifestation of task, objectives, and strategies that are seen in the secular arena, but leadership is from within. Christensen (2015) points out
Christian leadership is not a combination of two individual tasks; it is a full embrace of the Christian world view and way of living and the leading from that understanding is (christian-> leadership)…The primary call of the Christian is to follow God and be formed in the image of his son…The secondary call is to serve God orthopathy, ortho-cardy, orthodoxy, and be orthopraxy. (Para 2)
In other words, a Christian and/or leadership does not live outside of itself “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23-24, King James Version). This verse expresses to the believer that whatsoever (in the English Standard
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According to Niewold (2007) Servant leadership “has a distorting effect on the understanding of who Jesus Christ is, what his work is, and what his continuing presence in the world is to look like” (p.120). He goes on to say, “that it is the process of choosing servanthood over alternative pursuits that affects the life-changing experience of individuals and organizations” (p126). Although there is a distortion of understanding who Jesus is, Servant Leadership is the choice over alternative theories because alternatives will affect individuals and organizations. Because the sacred text (Robbins, 1996) communicates insight into the relationship between the human and the divine, Servant leadership can also be Christian leadership or divine
Servant leadership isn’t applied or adequate to only one type of culture or even one type of culture. Servant leadership can actually be applied to all walks of life and all parts of the world. For example, the culture of the Japanese and the religion of the Hindu people both embrace a sense of what we call servant leadership. All religions and cultures have their own unique way in which they apply servant leadership, either based on their beliefs, history, or lifestyles. The significance of servant leadership is demonstrated in different ways within each culture and religion even when some cultures are not aware that what they are implying is servant leadership. As religions and cultures change and expand through time the concept of servant leadership is adapted and applied in different ways.
Lynch and Friedman (2013) express that “Servant leadership is a valuable approach in politics and industry. Adding the spiritual component−striving to build a spiritual workplace and working to improve society− completes the paradigm and makes it more valuable as a leadership theory” (p.
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).
I never thought to be a Christian leader. As a matter of fact, I am a person who did not know about God for 26 years. I was the center of my life, and there was no room for God to enter. Even when I was attending church service, I was trying not to be exposed to other church people. In other words, I was the kind of person who was afraid to walk into a life of faith. However, in the past three years, God has changed me in many ways, and showed me so many miraculous things. And, finally here I am. Being a Christian leader seems the most challenging job in the world. I am working as the chairman of a youth ministry, and walking on the path to be a church leader. When God called me to work for the
Leadership, which is defined as “…The action of leading a group of people or an organization” is used in many different ways. Most people think being a leader is mostly about being the boss, having people work under you and just becoming successful, but it boils down to more than that. Leaders are those individuals that actually utilize their many abilities in leadership and administration to help make a better change for themselves, the people around them and the goal that needs to be achieved. Leadership is not an expertise that can essentially be grabbed from a book or article based on leadership but instead it is one of those initiative abilities that are increased through experience and understanding those real life situations.
Servant leadership is a theory based on Robert K Greenleaf’s belief that all men have a primary motivation to serve others and through this service they aspire to lead (Parris & Peachey, 2012). Although this leadership model has very little in common with charismatic and situational does however compare to transformational leadership in several areas. The main area of commonality between the two can be found as transformational leaders serve as stewards to change enable the followers to accept the change and move forward with the organization (Tichy & Devanna, 1990, p. 75). In essence, servant leadership becomes the long-term transformational approach to life and work.
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,
Servant-leadership is widely researched and discussed from a secular and Christian worldview (Fischer, 2010; see also Blanchard & Hodges, 2005). A Christian is called to follow God in all he does but life experiences can be conflicting in dealing with the spiritual and secular context; however, Christ wants his followers to operate within the context of the secular world. True servant-leadership is to emulate how Jesus led those around him - with complete selflessness and by serving others. Moreover, it is challenging for humans to be servant-leaders as they often desire
This review acknowledges that additional empirical research is needed on servant leadership especially its current and potential future role in organisations. The authors state that Greenleaf warned that servant leadership would be extremely difficult to apply in an operational setting such as a company.
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.
Servant leadership from a Christian perspective is a replica of what Jesus Christ symbolizes. Jesus was a servant because he showed truth, vision, humility, commitment, teacher to his followers, and brought about change; he was a suffering servant, yet was merciful, he was a teacher, yet willing to be taught by the Holy Spirit. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
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 people in scripture that God has placed in leadership roles. Jesus himself, 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. Leaders establish a model of the way others should be treated and how goals should be pursued, with standards and examples of what others should follow by exemplifying God’s example. Christian leaders inspire a shared vision to make a difference
If you were to ask ten different respondents on what their definition of leadership is you are likely to get ten different responses. Gary Yukl defines leadership as “the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives (Guerrero, 2013). I wholeheartedly agree with Yukl’s definition of leadership. A follower needs to understand why they are given the task, explained how to complete that task, and given the proper tools on how to succeed in