Preface
The
world needs another book on leadership about as much as it
needs another golf tip or diet fad. But this book is not written
for the world, though the ideas, models, and tools that follow
could be profitably applied. Rather this book is meant for
the Church and all those who see the Church of Jesus Christ
as the only hope for the world. More specifically, this book
was written for those who provide day-to-day leadership for
the Church—whether local pastors and lay leaders, parachurch
executives, or those who prepare the next generation of church
leaders. For the leaders of the Church sit at the fulcrum
point of change in this generation.
Consider the
observation of one church leader: that the future of our country
depends on the Church, and the future of the Church depends
on her leaders. This is no careless or off-handed statement
made without a sober awareness of the implications. For if
it is true (and I think it is), then the pivotal point for
societal change begins with a special group of people charged
with leading the local church. This statement was made by
Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, a man
about whom it has been said that he has had as much impact
on the local church in our day as John Wesley had in his.
Whether
or not you accept Hybels’s premise, the Church’s future indeed
rests on the shoulders of her leaders, humanly speaking. The
responsibility for exercising effective leadership begins
with a thorough understanding of the biblical model of leading.
The Scriptures offer two clear philosophies of leadership:
one of these the Lord blesses, and the other He condemns.
Faithful church leaders, therefore, need an awareness of these
two philosophies and a commitment to follow the Lord’s preferred
model. More specifically, what is needed is an integration
of Old Testament and New Testament leadership themes through
which both a discernible doctrine and a practical implementation
plan emerge. The goal is not simply a recapitulation of the
primary and familiar passages regarding leadership but rather
an integration of the biblical leadership insights into practical
tools and models that are prescriptive for day-to-day leadership
challenges.
So
the reader will not find here lessons, laws, or principles
derived from Scripture (as helpful as such insights are).
Instead, Church leaders will find answers to two practical
questions: (1) What does the Word of God say about leadership?;
(2) How do I put these truths into practice? Most leaders
in the Church are more comfortable with the first question
than with the second, so the ensuing chapters will arrange
and relate the relevant scriptural passages into a practical
theology of leadership. In a manner of speaking, the result
is God’s leadership philosophy. As these passages reveal,
this leadership philosophy is the only one God blesses. So
current and future leaders, if their efforts are going to
be transformational, are obliged to lead in God’s way.
It
has been said that theology is “faith seeking understanding.”
With God’s grace, the pages that follow will aid in bringing
into sharp relief the rich truths on leadership from God’s
Word. If successful, it will serve as the primer for leading
God’s people. With God’s grace, it will be a volume to which
a local pastor can turn when he wants to re-calibrate his
own thinking about leading his flock or to teach his staff
and lay leaders how to lead by serving. Or it can be a resource
a missions executive can use as the starting point for changing
the leadership culture of his or her organization. Or a seminary
professor can use it to introduce the vital role of biblically
based leadership in building healthy churches.
But
if not successful, it will not be due to any deficit in the
Word of God nor to His unwillingness to extend grace for this
initiative but solely to the writer’s inability to reach the
summit of so lofty a peak. And if the summit is not reached,
perhaps others, more qualified and more insightful, can take
up the endeavor at the point of failure and complete the ascent.
For the goal is of fundamental importance to the Church and
to the moral order of society. Only by attaining it can maximum
leverage be brought to bear on the fulcrum point for change,
enabling healthy churches to get healthier, unhealthy churches
to be restored, and the moral decline of society to be reversed.
The
absence of clear answers to our two previous questions leaves
church leaders open to three vulnerabilities. The first is
that lay and professional staff in local churches or parachurches
will enter into the various tasks of leading with different
understandings of appropriate and acceptable leadership practice
within the Kingdom. As a result, competing philosophies of
leadership will give rise to conflict among leadership teams.
Imagine the unlikely scenario of a first-century Pharisee
accepting a leadership role within the early church without
an appreciation for and a willingness to follow the leadership
model Jesus gave the Church. Conflict would be unavoidable,
tempers would flare, and the witness of the fledging church
would have been compromised. Such is all-too-often the case
among today’s Church leaders.
The
second vulnerability is that Kingdom leaders will be more
influenced by leadership models of the business community
than by those of Scripture. Without a doubt, many helpful
methods and practices that originate in the business world
can be applied in the Church. But here is the problem: Leadership
models and philosophies employed in the business world have
typically been stripped of their moral content. The only remaining
questions are whether a given method works, whether successful
leaders use it, and whether or not there is empirical evidence
that suggests the model can be successfully applied elsewhere.
In the business realm, the moral rightness or wrongness of
the model is rarely questioned. Leadership methods are assumed
to be morally neutral. For instance, consider the issue of
leadership style. If my authoritarian leadership style demeans
people and publicly humiliates them, most business models
in vogue today would declare my style merely less effective
in producing the desired business outcomes than a more diplomatic
or participatory method would be. Therefore, it is less preferred,
not on moral grounds as a serious sin but on utilitarian grounds
as less effective. The moral considerations are stripped away.
This
same thinking could lead a missions agency, for instance,
to tolerate a field director whose heavy-handed, over-controlling
leadership style causes new missionaries to become so discouraged,
disillusioned, and disheartened that they leave the field,
giving up their dreams of serving the Lord as foreign missionaries.
Rather than confront that field director with this sin, senior
executives all-too-easily chalk it up to “just his personality”
or “her leadership style.” Elders, deacons, bishops, even
pastors, are too often excused for leadership behaviors that
have no justifiable base in Scripture. Jesus clearly said
that He is the Good Shepherd, in contrast to a bad,
wicked, or self-serving shepherds. He was making a profound
moral statement about his own leadership role. There were
many shepherds over God’s people in His day: the Jewish elders,
the Roman authorities, and other gentile leaders. But only
Jesus was the Good Shepherd.
Third,
as the Church expands rapidly in developing countries, the
absence of a practical guide for implementing the biblical
model of leadership leaves these new shepherds on their own
to determine how best to lead their new flocks. Consequently,
these new believers quite naturally bring into the Kingdom
the leadership models of their host countries. In time, the
leadership practices within the new community of faith become
indistinguishable from those of the host culture. Jesus took
great pains to see that that did not happen in the community
of believers He left behind. One of the last lessons He taught
was a leadership lesson. He counseled the faithful not to
pattern their leadership philosophy and practices after those
of the host culture. He knew that the fate of the early church
depended on a different philosophy and a distinctive set of
leadership practices.
It
is no less important today that we in church leadership positions
understand and follow the philosophy of leadership exemplified
and taught by our Lord. To that end, the chapters that follow
will set forth the biblical leadership model and practical
tools for its implementation. Chapter 1 will review first
principles of biblical leadership. This review will not offer
anything new for most readers, but the principles are so fundamental
that a practical theology of leadership must begin with these
truths. Chapter 2 will set forth a framework for organizing
the biblical text on leadership for thorough analysis. It
is this framework that allows us to distill the leadership
philosophy of Scripture into a practical theology. Indeed,
it is the key that unlocks the leadership truths of Scripture.
Chapters 3 through 6 explain the four major factors—mental
model, motive, manner, and method—introduced in chapter 2
and demonstrate how they are interwoven in all leadership
initiatives. Chapter 6 also introduces a prescriptive model
for leading that can help church leaders (regardless of their
position) address the key issues associated with leading and
relating to both individuals and groups.
Chapter
7 employs the framework as a Leadership Philosophy Mapsm
to compare and contrast the leadership philosophies
of Jesus and the religious leaders of His day. Chapter 8 concludes
the study by offering implementation steps for leaders as
they plan their way forward personally and organizationally.
And finally, the appendices contain a summary of tools and
charts, key biblical passages and resources available from
Servant Shepherd Ministries.
May
the Lord bless your leadership ministry, and may you find
in these pages a helpful guide to understanding and applying
the servant model of leadership revealed in God’s Word.
A
Note on the Use of Scripture
My
intent has been to let the Bible speak for itself, regarding
the subject of leadership. To that end, you will find Scripture
verses quoted at length and in context. This will enable you
to determine for yourself the Bible’s leadership message. Whether you agree with my application
of various passages is less important than your wrestling
with the interpretation and application yourself.
If
you are familiar with the passages, you can treat them as
a convenient reminder and skim or skip over them. If you are
not familiar with them, I encourage you to read them carefully
in light of the interpretation and application that is being
presented. In either case, it is my prayer that you find the
Holy Spirit bringing new insights into what it means to lead
in the Kingdom.
God
bless your ministry of leadership.
