Principles for Biblical Leadership

Countries disintegrate, place of worship and corporation fail, people become dysfunctional, descendants lose their direction, and mankind drift from God on behalf of one distracting reason; insufficiency of leadership. These disappointments are often for the reason that of the deficiency of instruction, appropriate leadership, and misperception on what Christian leadership subsists and exactly how that leadership is pertinent to every component of professional and personal life. From a Christian worldview perspective, Psalm 112:5 explains, “A good man deals graciously and lends; He will guide his affairs with discretion” (NKJ). A Christian manager should always keep in mind that bounteousness and admiration for God, demonstrates that one has placed trust in Him, and not our material possessions.

I was engaged in a dynamic conversation with a colleague in reference to subpar productivity of a particular office in which we work alongside. We went down the list of what the support staff (follower) were not doing, areas that lacked proficiency, and how to possibly address it. All of a sudden, my colleague stated, “Leadership is everything!” What is Leadership? What is Followership? Leadership is defined as “a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal” (Northouse, p. 5, 2013). Followership “is the capacity or willingness to follow a leader” (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). Northouse (2013) makes it clear “that both leader and follower are involved together in the leadership process” (p. 6). Kouzes and Posner (2012) said, “Collaborating across offices to get the job done also facilitates innovation and experimentation” (p. 12). I would like to borrow there statement and interject that collaborating across global markets to get the job done has and continues to facilitate innovation and experimentation. This article will define globalization, global leadership, and explore the integral leader follower relationship from a Global perspective. Then it will address principles for competent development of global leaders. Finally, the article will offer guidance on leaders and followers from a Biblical standpoint.

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.

The essence of Christian leadership is to glorify God by equipping people to fulfill the call of God on their life. Furthermore, Christian Leadership is built upon a divine call to administrate authority through devotion to Christ, humble service, and integrity. Christian leadership is built primarily upon a leader’s complete devotion to Jesus Christ. Further, Anacker and Shoup (2014) contends Christian leadership “requires the Christian to walk by the Spirit and to be devoted to prayer, Bible study and the church” (p. 60). In other words, a leader cannot be claiming to be a Christian leader if he is not a committed follower of Jesus Christ. Additionally, a leader’s humble service is a reflection of the way Christ served. Aubrey Malphurs

The black church in the 21st century needs strong, leaders who model biblical servanthood. Servant leaders are essential for transitioning a traditional black church. As a result of reading and hearing all the shocking stories related to the black church, and above all leadership in general, it’s time to develop a model of biblical leadership which will grow healthy servant leaders in the church

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,

Therefore, balanced reflection is warranted as to some of the foreseeable weaknesses of plural eldership. The authors argue that a plurality of elders typifies the essence of congregationalism; however, it may be disputed that potentially this type of leadership actually diminishes congregational participation in decision making. When decisions pass through a group of elders, then a group of deacons to finally the congregation, most of the operational decisions have already been made, possibly overlooking valuable input from the membership. Additionally, it could be argued that this practice substantially diminishes the role of women in church decision making. Qualifications for both elder and deacon exclude women from the office therefore the only acceptable participation of decision making falls within the realm of the congregational vote. The greatest advantage of a congregational structure is the ability to work together as one entity including both male and female church members. Evidence is found in the New Testament of a church that held a unique view of equality in a time of pronounced inequality as seen with women and slaves (Romans 16:12; Galatians 3:26; Philippians

The key is to be elder-led, not elder-ruled. When the church selects a pastor, that pastor should be able to appoint an eldership team based on the strengths of each individual. Obviously those individuals should meet the requirements for elders listed in 1 Timothy 3. In order to keep from giving to much authority to the “senior pastor,” the congregation with a vote should confirm the eldership team. That does not mean that the congregation nominates the elders, but they confirm them. I think it is too easy for a congregation to nominate someone who perhaps gives a lot of money, but does not meet the moral requirements for

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

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.

Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson, declare that a biblical leader is a person engaged in influencing and developing people in accomplishing a purpose by means of supernatural power.106 J. Oswald Sanders points out that spiritual leaders influence others because they are illuminated, likewise they are saturated with the power of the Holy Spirit. For instance, when the leader comes under the control of the Holy Spirit, the spirit’s power flows through him to others.107 Sanders further verifies that spiritual leaders can only lead others down the road in which they have already travelled. It’s not enough to point out the way, a godly leader must walk in a way that others can follow.108 Geoffrey V. Guns articulates brilliantly how Jesus modeled leadership

plethora of peer-reviewed, full-text articles dealing with a myriad of research topics relating tothe various leadership methods and the results of their findings. There were many articles, however, relating to business leadership models.

If the leader is willing to be transparent and realize their own shortcomings and struggles, it will enable the leader to lead from a place of more passion, emotion, and persuasiveness. This type of honesty can attract many hurting, sad, and brokenhearted people to our churches from dysfunctional backgrounds that will sit under compassionate and relevant leadership. The book further explains that the leader should careful not to let selfishness, self-deception, and wrong motives come alive in leadership as product of the dark side. The fall of many leaders are directly attributable to these components. If this dark side arises, the leader is admonished to open and honestly deal with it before God. This will empower the leader for greater effectiveness. Some leaders may be

While considering the Hebrew Bible against the New Testament, there is a great divide in the type of leaders that are presented in each. This both has to do with identity and differences in some beliefs between Jews and Christians, with the divide marked by the life of Jesus.

Plenty of contributions have been made to biblical leadership and the need for such in the Church. In order to understand better the challenges facing small churches concerning leadership, it is important to consider the biblical mandate for such. Looking at key areas such as Biblical leadership’s Foundation, Form, Fundamentals and Function helps draw application for the small church.