Towards a Theology of Leadership

What constitutes good biblical leadership?

Introduction

From a worldly perspective, good communication, resilience^[1], years of work experience and emotional intelligence^[2] are coveted qualities within powerful leaders of large companies. The Bible, however, reveals that God chooses and raises up leaders with a very different set of leadership qualifications. Moses was a poor communicator (Ex. 4:10), Elijah wanted to have his life taken by God halfway through his ministry (1 Kings 19:4) and Peter was a fisherman who had no experience in ministry (Lk. 4:18-22) and is seemingly completely unqualified to be the “rock” upon whom the church is built (Mt. 16:18). These are just a few snippets from a plethora of biblical leaders who did not match up to the worldly standard of what constitutes a good leader. When Jesus came to earth teaching about the Kingdom of God, he declared that “the first shall be last and the last shall be first” (Mt. 20:16 ESV), just a few verses after this, we read about the mother of James and John asking for her sons to be given the most glorious status of sitting at the right and left of Jesus in His kingdom (v. 21). In response to this, Jesus flips the entire paradigm of worldly leadership on its head by teaching that “whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (vv. 27-28 ESV). When read in conjunction with the examples of Moses, Elijah, and Peter it becomes glaringly obvious that the theological definition of leadership is an upside-down version of worldly leadership.

Along these lines, this paper I will argue that weakness leading to dependency, prayer, and courage are some of the most pertinent qualities for anyone seeking to be a leader within Jesus’ upside-down kingdom.

It should be emphasized that due to a lack of space, this paper is not summative in its treatment of what constitutes good biblical leadership. Key leadership qualities such as servant-leadership and humility are not touched on, but their exclusion should not diminish their significance to a holistic theology of leadership.

Weakness and Dependency 

A character trait that runs thematically throughout some of the greatest leaders in the Bible is a deep recognition of their own weakness which leads to a concomitant dependence on God’s strength. It is this character trait that provides Christians with the power they need to lead effectively, for the Scriptures proclaim that God’s power “is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9 ESV). While there are various examples to be pulled from (the disciples, Moses, Gideon etc.), this section will examine David in his fight against Goliath and how weakness and dependency were the conduit through which God’s power was able to flow.

David was only a boy when he fought Goliath (1 Sam. 17:33). As the youngest of his brothers, David possessed little physical power. As a shepherd boy, his social status within society would have been remarkably low. On paper, David appears to be an incapable, powerless leader. When considering these facts, David might be considered the paragon of physical and societal weakness in his fight against Goliath. Conversely, Goliath might be considered the paragon of physical strength. From a worldly perspective, Goliath was an infinitely more capable warrior than David. Goliath was powerful. David was weak. This battle, therefore, might be observed as a battle between the worldly model of leadership vs. God’s model of leadership; or a battle of “the first” vs. “the last”.

David’s weakness caused him to rely dependently on God for strength. This is dependency is revealed in his battle cry as he faces off against Goliath.

Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand and I will strike you down and cut off your head… For the battle is the LORD’s and he will give you into our hand.” [3]

David does not rely on one iota of his own strength. He recognizes he is outmatched in the battle. He recognizes his own weakness which causes him to come to the battle “in the name of the LORD.” David comes to the battle in dependency on God’s strength and he wins the battle because the battle was “the LORD’s.” This story of David’s victory over Goliath unveils how leaders who win great battles must fight with great dependency on a great God. Dependency is therefore an essential characteristic within a Christian leader and a conduit for God’s power to flow freely.

            A question that might arise from this section is, why does God choose to work so frequently through weak people? Perhaps an answer can be found in David’s words in v.47 where he says, “the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hand.” By David acknowledging his own weakness and dependency on the LORD, when the victory is won, there is absolutely no room for doubt that it was the LORD who brought about the victory. It is therefore the LORD who receives all the glory. This is a consistent theme throughout Scripture. The greater the weakness and hopelessness of the individual(s), the greater the glory that God receives when He supernaturally brings about a victory for His people. Therefore, it could be concluded that God chooses to work through weak people so that He will be more greatly glorified.

Prayer

            Flowing naturally from weakness and dependency is a need for a deep prayer life. As an iceberg goes much deeper below the surface than it rises above, so to a biblical leader’s prayer life must be of equal or greater magnitude than their public ministry. As Murray M’Cheyne is reputed to have said, “What a man is on his knees before God, that he is – and nothing more.”^[4] There are numerous biblical examples that support this statement (i.e., Moses, Joshua, Daniel, David, Nehemiah, Jesus, Paul). Due to the limited length of this paper, this section will focus solely on the prayer life of Jesus.  

            If ever there was a man who should have been able to fulfill a great ministry without prayer, it was Jesus. After all, He is the son of God. It speaks volumes, therefore, that prayer was a dominant feature of His life and a reoccurring part of His teaching.^[5]During Jesus’ ministry which we read about in the Gospels, there is ample mention of Jesus going off to desolate places to pray (Lk. 5:16; Mark 1:35; Mt. 14:23). It was during these times that the whispers between Father and Son affected the fate of billions.^[6] Jesus Himself declared, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the son does likewise” (John 5:19 ESV). It is evident that Jesus public ministry flowed from a deep well of intimate prayer with the Father. Before selecting the twelve disciples, Jesus spent the entire night on the mountain in prayer (Lk. 6:12). A big decision was preceded by a long night of prayer. Since Christian leaders often have to make big choices that affect their ministry, it is prudent to imitate Jesus’ by spending lots of time seeking God in prayer before making difficult choices.

            In addition to modelling the importance of prayer before big choices, Jesus also reveals how prayer is like a spiritual battleground where physical battles are won or lost. Within the sport of track and field, track coaches will often say that athletes win their medals in practice and only go to competition to pick up their hardware. In the same way, it can be observed that Jesus wins the spiritual battle of the cross while in prayer on the Mount of Olives.

And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples.[7]

This is a moment of tremendous proportions. Jesus is about to be betrayed by Judas and begin his journey to the cross where He will win the battle against sin once and for all. This was the greatest battle to ever be fought in the history of the world. In this passage, Jesus’ human will wrestles agonizingly with the impending reality of the cross. Though Jesus is God, the decision to yield to the Father’s will was a free choice made by Christ the man who willed the salvation of the world.^[8] This act of yielding to the Father’s will was accomplished in the most intense episode of prayer ever recorded. The result… Jesus rose from prayer (v. 45). He arose having fully yielded His will to the Father’s will. This act can be viewed as the decisive moment in the history of salvation.^[9] It can be suggested, therefore, that Jesus’ prayer at the Mount of Olives was where the real battle for the cross occurred. When Jesus won this spiritual battle, He also won the physical battle. The real battle for the cross was won in prayer. To apply this to a theology of Christian leadership, it is imperative that victory for the Kingdom of God within the physical domain is preceded by victory for the Kingdom of God within the spiritual domain. A victory which can only be accomplished through prayer. If Christian leaders are to gain ground for Christ, it must be accomplished through prayer. To reach lost souls in the clutches of Satan, the Christian leader must become dependent on the power of the cross in prayer. Oswald Sanders hammers home this point.

The praying Christian wields no personal power, but power nonetheless delegated by the victorious Christ to whom that faithful believer is united by faith. All around us are people bound in sin, captives to the devil. Our prayers should ascend not only for them but against Satan who holds them as his prize. Satan must be compelled to relax his grip, and this can only be achieved by Christ’s victory on the cross.[10]

Prayer rooted in the power of Christ’s victory at the cross is the greatest weapon the Christian leader wields. To lead well for Christ, the Christian leader must foster and maintain a deep, hidden prayer life that undergirds any public ministry. Like the iceberg, it is the victories won in secret that support the successes seen in public. 

Courage

             Courage can be a rare commodity within Christian leaders. Reggie McNeal points out how many Christian leaders lead from fear instead of courage, which can cause them to “play not to lose rather than playing to win.”^[11] In a similar vein, John Stott petitions Christian preachers to preach the word of God boldly. He exhorts his reader by stating that “neither man-pleasers nor time-servers ever make good preachers. We (preachers) are called to the sacred task of biblical exposition, and commissioned to proclaim what God has said, not what human beings want to hear.”^[12] Both Stott and McNeal illuminate how there is a tendency for cowardice and people pleasing within Christian leadership, which makes courage an extremely valuable, and important quality within a theology of leadership. This section will discuss courage in relation to the fear of God and the fear of man as observed within Moses and Aaron in Exodus 32.

            The proverbs say that “the fear of man lays a snare” (Prov. 29:25). The opposite of the fear of man, and the antidote to cowardice, is the fear of God. Caring what God thinks more than what people think is imperative if one is to obey God courageously. The two sides of this coin can be observed in the golden calf narrative in Exodus 32. In this narrative, Moses is gone for a prolonged amount of time while on Mount Sinai with Yahweh. With Moses gone, the people of Israel began to beg Aaron to construct a god that they could see, to protect them from their enemies (Ex. 32:1). Aaron relents to the people’s demands, revealing how he cared more about the thoughts and opinions of the people than the commands of God. In this scenario, Aaron’s fear of man causes the people of Israel to enter idolatry. Conversely, Moses comes down from mountain where his “anger burned hot” (v. 19) which reflects Yahweh’s reaction to the construction of the calf earlier in the chapter (v.10). Because Moses’ cares more about God’s desire than the desires of the people, he can come down the mountain with boldness and courage. Moses destroys the calf (v.20) and disciplines the people severely (v.25-29), leading them out of idolatry and back into right relationship with Yahweh. This study of the actions of Moses and Aaron reveal how the fear of God fuels courageous action. Christian leaders must fear God more than they fear man if they are to keep the people they lead out of idolatry and in right relationship with God.

Conclusion

            This paper revealed how a biblical model of leadership is an upside-down version of a worldly model of leadership. While the world looks to people with strength and power to lead, God frequently chooses leaders who are weak and lowly. The battle between David and Goliath can be viewed as a battle between a worldly model of leadership and biblical model of leadership. God chooses leaders who are weak, like David, because their weakness fuels a deep dependency on God’s strength. A robust life of prayer naturally flows out of weakness and dependency, as Christian leaders must rely prayerfully on God’s wisdom to make difficult choices, and the power of the cross to gain ground against Satan. Finally, courage is a rare commodity within Christian leaders as the fear of man can often take precedent over the fear of God. The actions of Aaron in Exodus 32 revealed how the fear of man can cause a spiritual leader to lead their flock out of right relationship with God and into idolatry. On the flip side, Moses reveals how the fear of God can fuel courageous action to lead people deeper into relationship with God, and away from idolatrous behaviours. In summary, weakness, dependency, prayer, and courage are prominent leadership qualities within the Bible and contribute significantly towards a theology of leadership.

 Notes

^[1] Sellers, Patricia. “The No. 1 Fortune 500 Leadership Trait Is….” Fortune.Com, June 11, 2015.

^[2] Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves. Emotional Intelligence 2.0. San Diego, CA: Talent Smart, Inc, 2009, 19.

^[3] 1 Samuel 17:45-47, ESV.

^[4] Wallis, Arthur. Pray in the Spirit: The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Ministry of Prayer. CLC Publications, Kindle Edition.

^[5] Sanders, J. Oswald. Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer. Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2007, 101.  

^[6] McNeal, Reggie. A Work of Heart: Understanding How God Shapes Spiritual Leaders. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass, 2011, 63.

^[7] Luke 22:39-45, ESV.

^[8] Wilken, Robert Louis. The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2003, 130-131.

^[9] Ibid.

^[10] Sanders, Spiritual Leadership, 105.

^[11] McNeal, A Work of Heart, 25.

^[12] Stott, John. Between Two Worlds: The Challenge of Preaching Today. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982, 233. 

References

McNeal, Reggie. A Work of Heart: Understanding How God Shapes Spiritual Leaders. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass, 2011.

Sanders, J. Oswald, Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer. Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2007. 

Sellers, Patricia. “The No. 1 Fortune 500 Leadership Trait Is….” Fortune.Com, June 11, 2015.

Stott, John. Between Two Worlds: The Challenge of Preaching Today. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982, 233.

Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves. Emotional Intelligence 2.0. San Diego, CA: Talent Smart, Inc, 2009.

Wallis, Arthur. Pray in the Spirit: The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Ministry of Prayer. CLC Publications, Kindle Edition.

Wilken, Robert Louis. The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2003.