Everybody is born to be a leader, but special qualities and training are needed to become a Christian leader. Several decades ago, researchers started trying to answer the question which has been lingering for centuries on whether Leaders are born or made; the debate goes on and on. I never thought of myself to be a Christian leader. As a matter of fact, I am the person who attended church, but fades into the sea of many faces that makes up the congregation. I was at the center of my life, and there was no room in my eyes for leadership. Even when I attended services at church, I was trying not to be exposed to others around me. In other words, I was the kind of “Christian” person who was afraid to walk into a life of faith. However, in …show more content…
I was unsure of myself at first, but I quickly became used to creating my weekly discussion posts. Compare this to a traditional in your face classroom where the discussion might be dominated by a number of students, while the rest of the class is passive. This setting allowed and provided all students with a voice and for it to be heard. Our class discussions were not constrained to a small window of time, but transpired throughout these eight weeks. This environment allowed for all to engage and actively participate in a discussion. In addition, with having a week to expand on these conversations permitted students to reflect and explore additional information, thoughtfully consider the views of their classmates, and then take the time to construct their own contribution. There were a few classmates that I connected with more than others. It wasn’t due to us having a similar way of thinking or even religion. Some of us shared similar life events, which we provided support and information in order to inspire and help each other. Then there were others that provided spiritual food, which I truly needed. There words helped me through some difficult times that I faced this semester and put into perspective my leadership role that I was being called to do. The most meaningful lesson I learned through the class was the fact that leadership is everyone’s business. I learned that leadership is not solely based on your accomplishments or the title you own, but
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.
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
It seems that many have the idea that leadership is all about authority and power. This is seen both inside the church and outside as well, at least that has been this writer’s personal experience. The statement reiterated by Sampson (2011) drove home a major point and that is that leadership is more than simply demanding, commanding, or directing individuals under one’s control or authority, it has to do with one’s ability to influence others even when no apparent authority is present.
Throughout my life, God has been working in my life to prepare me for a life of godly leadership. He started off giving me small responsibilities which quickly grew to be leadership opportunities. I believe that everything I do ought to be my best for God. As a Christian, I have strived to work harder in school and in ministry than my peers so that God would be glorified through my work. As a high school student, I was blessed with the opportunity to lead two robotics teams into competition on the college level. He has given opportunities to lead on the mission field and in the states. Since the Time of my salvation, God has been preparing me as a leader through my ministry experiences and academic pursuits.
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.
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.
In modern day business, leadership has become an issue that is given far more attention and investment than ever before. Leadership involves establishing a clear vision, sharing that vision with others so that they will follow willingly, providing the information, knowledge and methods to realise that vision, and coordinating and balancing the conflicting interests of all members and stakeholder. This essay will discuss whether leaders are born not made, with varies of theories being compared and contrasted and the strengths and limitations of leaders itself. Further this essay will analyse the future aspects of theories which would establish whether a leader was born with leadership qualities or made into a successful leader.
Leadership scholars have presented many theories in understanding leadership. However, making sense of hundreds of books and thousands of studies is a complicated task, which is why many mistakenly think that leadership is an indefinable phenomenon. Some of us presume complete authority in our own favored ways. Novel leaders often discard the entire system used by the exiting leaders. In a catastrophic situation, persistence on individual style can be helpful; yet in a democratic culture, leaders don’t own the organization and must consider the right of the followers. Personal style and preference must be
“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.
My character started forming back in the 90s when I, a 25-year-old medical college graduate, became an "accidental" church planter. Together with my friends, we were playing Christian "street music" and preaching the Good News in downtown Kremenchuk, the Ukrainian city that I grew up in. Soon, people started coming to Christ, which forced us to launch a community group that later became a church. That was the first time I began evaluating my relationship with other people as a leader and surveying my character formation. Hence, I discovered continual inconsistencies between my own character and the biblical description of a Christian leader.
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
In the second portion of Dr. J. Robert Clinton’s book, The Making of a Leader, there is a great focus on the final two phases of development within a leader; which are Life Maturing and Convergence. Specifically, there is an intentionality placed on the leader who has matured in leadership and is now growing in influence within his followers. The leader has learned to lead his or herself and is now maturing in leading those around them. This is not to say that the leader is no longer developing character or maturing, such as Clinton points out, “God does not stop working on character after moving someone into leadership. God continues to form character throughout the ministry of a leader. This development does not focus on testing to enter
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
Everyone can be a leader! Leadership is something I hope to enhance in the next few years. I believe that everyone has the capability of becoming a leader, in which can be in many different ways. While currently enrolled in Career Leadership Academy part 1, there are many aspects I’ve learned about what leadership is, how it is viewed, how to improve, and strengths I have as an individual. Through surveys and readings in Introduction to Leadership (Northouse, 2015), and using the Strengths finder assessment to figure my strengths as a person individually, I can learn how to focus on those areas when working with a team. In an effort to maximize and utilize my strong suits, it can very well help me become a better leader in the foreseen