Biblical Leadership is advancing the Gospel by reflecting Christ, powered by the Holy Spirit, through living, teaching, and preaching the Word of God.
Introduction
God calls on His children to obediently serve Him at any cost for the sake of bringing glory to His Kingdom. The one that fulfilled this calling to the highest degree was Jesus Christ. Jesus lived a sinless life and died a sinner’s death, so that the world may experience a relationship with his Father. His example, alone, is the foundation of leadership. Fortunately, through God’s special and general revelation, God revealed himself to His followers. Christian Leaders’ primary truth comes from special revelation, like the Pastoral Epistles, which is the direct and divine written Word of God. General revelation is expressed through the writings of others based on their experiences and interpretations of God’s inspired word. Together, they paint a picture of what true, authentic biblical leadership looks like. Biblical leadership is advancing the Gospel by reflecting Christ, powered by the Holy Spirit, through living, teaching, and preaching the Word of God.
Biblical Leadership Byproducts
Marks of a Spiritual Leader
Biblical leadership may also be described as spiritual leadership. What marks a spiritual leader are the characteristics reflected by the believer through the power of the Holy Spirit. There are two circles of spiritual leadership - an inner circle and an outer circle. The inner circle focuses on the leading of one’s self, while the outer circle contains a lengthier list of qualities that one should strive to possess to be an effective leader for God’s Kingdom. The process begins with a humble submission and desperation for the Lord, then God transforms the heart. This heart transformation along with the working of the Holy Spirit spurs on to the outer circle of abilities and effectiveness in witness for the Kingdom of God, so “that people come to know God and to glorify him in all that they do".
Special Revelation – The Pastoral Epistles
2 Timothy 3:16-17 reads, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work”. The word of God is a biblical leader’s greatest source of information and direction. Fortunately, God provided the Pastoral Epistles as a part of His study guide on how to lead others spiritually. Paul’s letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon deliver several core leadership messages that every believer should take note of.
First Timothy is a manual for leadership training. Paul is writing to his mentee, Timothy, who is leading the church of Ephesus. Timothy was sent to Ephesus to counter the false teachings and doctrines that were growing in the face of the new believers. Three notable leadership lessons Paul shared to encourage and train Timothy in shepherding his fellow Christ-followers are: leaders develop other leaders through discipleship (1 Tim 1:1-2), leaders influence others through the action of their words (4:15-16), and leaders steward their gifts well (6:20).
Second Timothy is Paul’s final epistle written to Timothy as Paul awaits his execution in a Roman Prison. In his last words with his young protégé, Paul exhorts and encourages Timothy to continue striving towards Christ. Paul reveals his heart and his priorities for sound teaching, boldness in the midst of persecution, and faithfulness. leaders must rely on God and His Word to lead (2 Tim 1:7-8), leaders will need to sacrifice (3:12), and leaders must take a stand (2:22-24; 3:1-9).
The book of Titus is Paul’s third pastoral epistle. Written to Titus, Paul wanted to encourage him to organize and lead the church of Crete. Paul taught and nurtured him early on so that he would be prepared for spreading the Gospel and leading others wherever God was leading him. Eventually, their mentorship paid off when Paul sent Titus to oversee the Cretan churches. The three main leadership principles from this epistle are: leaders are problem solvers (Titus 1:5), leaders exemplify good character (1:5-9), and leaders submit to authority (3:1).
Lastly, the book of Philemon is a personal letter written from Paul to Philemon. Paul’s letter only includes one chapter, but what it contains is imperative to relationships within a church. It reveals a more personal and touching side to Paul, while providing leadership lessons on managing conflict: leaders connect then ask (Philemon 1:4), a good leader initiates confrontation (1:8-9), and Leaders are refreshed in Christ through healthy confrontation (1:20-21).
General Revelation – Books on Leadership
Outside of the Word of God, there are tremendously wise books on leadership based on God’s Word. Aubrey Malphurs, Albert Mohler, Matthew Perman, and Loren Reno are four authors of Christian leadership novels that offer commentary-like advice and strategies for leaders. Together, they all contribute additional pieces of essential information that complement the definition of biblical leadership.
Aubrey Malphurs, in his book Being Leaders: The Nature of Authentic Christian Leadership, defines servant leaders as “those who humbly serve others because they love them”. The model for this leadership style is Jesus Christ. He taught his followers to serve others, not themselves. Studying the life of Jesus will show that biblical leadership is the living out of humility, service, focusing on others, and love. Leaders must take risks and not become inactive in the pursuit of saving souls for Christ. Additionally, Malphurs encourages leaders to focus on developing their strengths instead of only their weaknesses. Lastly, he emphasizes that leaders must humbly serve others while also making time for themselves to fill up on the truths of scripture and to be in communion with their heavenly father.
In Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership That Matters, by Albert Mohler, it is declared that effective leaders must possess character, but that character alone will not make a leader effective. Adding onto that, effective leaders will only gain genuine credibility when exemplifying great character. Paul echoes this in his letter to Timothy as 1 Timothy 3:1-13 presents an extensive list of character qualities that must be reflected by a spiritual leader. By representing these qualities with integrity, a leader will gain trust from his or her followers.
Loren Reno shared the concept of “seeking to serve” in his book, 10 Leadership Maneuvers - “serving is one thing, but seeking to serve is another. To look for opportunities to serve is quite different from serving when opportunities present themselves”. Leaders step up when they have the opportunity, but the best leaders go the second-mile by being observant and aware of needs and will intentionally seek out opportunities to serve.
Lastly, Matthew Perman’s main message, in What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done, is geared towards being productive for the Gospel. “God wants us to be productive and even cares about things like productivity methods and secular thinking”. The Creator of the heavens and the earth cares deeply about how humans steward their lives. The heart of Christian discipleship and leadership is being a good steward. Getting things done has a whole new meaning when we remember that it is done for Christ, not for ourselves.
Leadership Vision
At the age of seventeen, I gave my life to Christ. This is when I first became passionate about people. God transformed my heart to seek out opportunities to lead others. He opened up the doors throughout college to step into a variety of leadership roles, even though I never studied what that meant. After spending time in and examining God’s Word, my perspective on leadership completely changed. God revealed that Biblical leadership was the exact opposite of what leadership looks like in the world. Conviction from reading scripture has helped me envision a life of leadership that would be glorifying to Him, rather than to the world.
As I have evaluated the definition of Biblical Leadership, I was deeply convicted in many ways. The first way is seeking to serve others. Christ sought to serve others and I can fall short of this calling easily. Oftentimes, I will only serve others when it is convenient. Daily, I counsel students and families throughout the admissions process at Cedarville University. To be a better leader in the workplace, I can search for opportunities to better serve my coworkers and prospective students, even when it “doesn’t fit my schedule”. Secondly, to be a better spiritual leader, I must improve in preaching and teaching the Word. I struggle to articulate my faith, which has caused hesitation to share the Gospel. On Sunday nights, I play in a men’s basketball league with many nonbelievers from the area. I am encouraged to study the Word, so that I can effectively preach and teach the Word to win souls for the Lord. Lastly, I learned that being a productive steward brings glory to God. I never thought about God’s view on productivity. As a biblical leader, I need to use my time wisely to make the Savior’s name known.
Conclusion
Jesus is the epitome of leadership. He lived a perfect sinless life, taught scripture, preached to those in darkness, loved all people, and sacrificed himself to restore the relationship and prove the faithfulness and love of God to His chosen sons and daughters. To be an effective biblical leader, one must rely on Scripture and the Holy Spirit to reflect Christ in his entirety. In my conviction of where I have fallen short, I am always reminded of God’s abundant love, grace, and mercy. Praise God for using broken people, like me, to bring glory to His name.
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