Midwest Seminary of Bible Theology

GBPA 520

Leadership Roles and Responsibilities

 

 

 

 

A Crisis in Leadership:

 

The Failure of God’s People to Fulfill Their Callings

 

 

 

 

By

Mark S. Etelamaki

January 2009

 

 

 

A Crisis in Leadership:

The Failure of God’s People to Fulfill Their Callings

 

 

An Introduction to the Crisis:

Man’s Historic Leadership Failure

 

 

Leading up to the 2008 U.S. presidential election, one of the facts that presented itself to the American public was that only 7 percent of Americans were satisfied with the overall direction of the country, the lowest level in the history of the Gallup poll.[1]  As for the incumbent president, George W. Bush, he received only a 25% approval rating (with 71% of the public disapproving of him), the lowest of his presidency.  He was only 1 point above the 24 % rating given to Richard Nixon when he resigned his presidency in 1974, and only 3 points above the all time low of 22%, the approval rating given to Harry Truman in 1952, when it appeared that the Korean conflict would never end.[2]  

When George W. Bush began his first term in office in 2001, he was averaging about 57% approval, which quickly jumped to 90% after 9/11.  The American leader had every opportunity to succeed in his presidency and he could have continued to inspire and lead the American people and the world despite the current crises; but in overall terms, he failed to succeed.  There are many reasons for his failure as a leader, but failure should not surprise us, for this is the legacy of fallen humanity—his leaders ultimately fail. 

I believe the Bible records that leaders fail when they cease to be grateful, obedient followers of God.  For example, King Nebuchadnezzar was a secular world leader and the most powerful man in the world of his day who was raised up by God and blessed to be the leader of the Babylonian Empire (Jeremiah 27.6, cf. Habakkuk 1.6).  The King’s downfall began when he failed to acknowledge God and God’s gifts to him; and rather, claimed that his success came about by means of his own diligence and ability, or in other words, we can say that he attributed success to his own god (cf. Habakkuk 1.11, Daniel 3.1, 4-6).  Nebuchadnezzar in his pride and arrogance began to “lord it over” (cf. Mark 10.42, Luke 22.25) his people, even to the point of erecting a golden statue (most likely in his own image) and demanding worship from the people (Daniel 3.1-25, 4.30; cf. Habakkuk 1.11).  The result was that God removed Nebuchadnezzar from leadership and humbled him for a time, in order to teach him to consider his former ways and learn the importance of giving the glory to God alone (Daniel 4.31-33).  Later, Nebuchadnezzar was restored (Daniel 4.34-37); and in Daniel chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar provides his own testimony in the form of an imperial proclamation to the whole world about what the Lord God had done in transforming his life.

Nebuchadnezzar was highly blessed by God, and during his time in darkness and humiliation, he came to the knowledge of the truth.  He regained his leadership position by God’s grace and his kingdom was returned to him, but he remarked that “excellent majesty” was also added to him (Daniel 4.36).  This statement seems to be an indication of his transformation into a humble man who now understood that he was a partaker of the manifold grace of God—a man who has a share in the eternal inheritance of God, and has learned by experience, that “those who walk in pride, He (God) is able to put down” (Daniel 4.37).  Excellent majesty is something akin to enjoying all of God’s benefits, basking in the glory of God, and simply knowing that we have this treasure in earthen vessels (2Corinthians 4.7).

In Nebuchadnezzar, we have seen how God called a secular leader of the gentiles to leadership, and how God in His grace dealt with that leader to make him a more effective man, worthy of the leadership responsibility with which he was entrusted.  Nevertheless, we must ask the question, “What about those who are God’s spiritual people?”  “Do they also have to learn this same lesson?”  The Answer is yes.  Moses was a son of Israel chosen by God to lead His own special people.  In fact, Moses is the only man in the Scriptures of whom it is said by God, that he (Moses) “shall be to him as God” (speaking of Moses’ relationship to his brother Aaron), and “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh” (Exodus 4.16, 7.1).  This status conferred upon Moses as being like God, did not keep him from failing in his leadership; for in the desert Moses knowingly and deliberately smote the rock that he was told to speak to (Numbers 20.8, 11-12).  On the day of his death, Moses was still strong and virile—fully capable of continued leadership of the nation (from man’s point of view), (Deuteronomy 34.7).  Yet, Moses’ former failure required a penalty, and God removed him from his position of leadership over Israel, not allowing him to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 31.2, cf. Numbers 20.11-12).

These two examples demonstrate that leadership is a God-given responsibility, whether one is saved or lost, that is directly linked to one’s willing obedience to God, as His follower and servant.  In fact, both of these men, Nebuchadnezzar and especially Moses, are called “the servant of God” or “My servant” (Numbers 12.7, Jeremiah 25.9).[3]   I emphasize this attitude of actively following God in willing obedience, because I am convinced that as Christians—that is, as new creations in Christ Jesus, we are each called to exercise leadership in some fashion within our own communities as God’s servant. 

As we examine the world we live in, there seems to be a current crisis in leadership, both within the world and within the church, for even the secular leaders are crying out, “Where Have All the Leaders Gone?”[4]  Such a situation seems to confirm my basic premise in this paper, which is, that a leadership crisis exists because the people of God are not accepting the full mantel of authority and leadership that Jesus has called them to exhibit, both within His church and within this world. 

All men and women provide leadership in some form to a certain group of followers, whether the leaders or followers are consciously aware of it or not.   I believe that leadership is intrinsic—part of our basic nature and traces back to the original command of God to Adam to “tend and keep” His garden (Genesis 2.15)[5] and to jointly rule over the earth as man and woman, exercising “dominion” over the earth and its creatures (Genesis 1.26-28).  Even with the introduction of sin into the world, the command of God to provide leadership by accepting and fulfilling its attendant responsibilities has never been negated; for even in the midst of his sin, God counseled Cain to “rule over it” (Genesis 4.7).  We will discuss our leadership mandate in detail, but first we will examine what leadership is and is not.

 

What is Leadership?

 

We err when we attempt to limit the concept of leadership to some law, trait or model; for the actual provision of leadership is always greater than these are, and is unique to time, place, circumstances, personalities and purposes.  Our typical notions about leadership are distorted by cultural, situational, and workplace stereotypes, which misinform us, feeding us false thoughts, concepts and images.  Even in the leadership training programs and books, the various models, concepts, principles, laws, rules and traits are limited and not conclusive statements about leadership and leaders.[6]  While such discussions can certainly be correct in the particular contexts of their descriptions, they fail to grasp the essence of the topic, for leadership is something quite subtle—something that happens in the moment, despite the leaders’ background or his long-range plans and visions. 

In my line of reasoning, I would say that efforts to describe leadership are similar to the philosopher’s search for the “thing-in-itself.”[7]   We perceive events or phenomena and attempt to clothe them with concepts of understanding based upon images and words, but these images and descriptions are merely perceptions and thoughts (noumena) based upon a perspective, and they are never the actual “thing-in-itself.”   Man’s quest for truth and for God is the same—we can never fully apprehend them in our human understanding, for such things are spiritual at their core and require spiritual perception and understanding based upon God’s perspective (1Corinthians 2.10-16).  The philosophers have coined oxymoronic terms like “non-sensible intuition” and “intellectual intuition” to describe the spiritual, which is always and fundamentally “seeing the unseen” which is not oxymoronic, but a classic biblical paradox—God fully revealed to mankind in the person of Jesus; for in Jesus we see the unseen God.

I know that in my own relationship with God, that when He reveals things to me, they are entirely spiritual in essence.  I understand spiritual things and I know them completely in my spirit, but my mind always falls short of full comprehension.  Try as a might to find the proper and perfect words and images to help my mental understanding of the spiritual truth, such efforts are always insufficient.  When God unveils Himself completely to us, it is too marvelous for words or images to describe, and every effort we make, is like putting up a limited covering over His unveiling.  We see the limited covering and describe it, and it is true; but the majority of the disclosure remains beyond our description and comprehension.  Whenever the light shines in the darkness, the darkness comprehends it not, but for us, who are in the new creation, we do begin to see and to comprehend, but only as if in a mirror and darkly. 

My conviction is that leadership begins and ends with God, and that all true leadership takes us to God, no matter what our particular circumstance or environment.  That which would take us along a path away from God is not leadership, though there is one who is perceived to be a “leader” and those who “follow.”   Leadership in my understanding is forward in motion and positive in outcome—always based in God and always Yes and Amen—everything else is deception (cf. Philippians 3.12-16, 2Corinthians 1.20).[8]  God calls the negative type of “leader,” a foolish shepherd, and Jesus calls them hirelings, fools, vipers, and blind leaders of the blind.  These men and women are not leaders, but charlatans and frauds.  Many examples of this fact can be cited from world history, but two quotes about leadership should suffice to make this point clear.  These two quotes should be reflected upon in the light of my discussion of the protagonist and antagonist in footnote 8, for I believe that these terms from Greek drama represent the roles of leader (protagonist) and anti-leader (antagonist) perfectly.

The first is leadership as protagonist.  Here a leader emerges from the populace to help resolve a current crisis.  He is motivated to a great cause and inspired to do justly by all of the people.  This leader will do right because it is right and not for his personal agenda or personal delusions of grandeur.  Such a leader does not seek out the position; rather he is thrust into the role reluctantly; having been prepared by God “for such a time as this” (Such as with Queen Esther, see Esther 4.14).  This leader does not “lord it over” the people but is willing to sacrifice himself for the cause of right (Esther 4.16).  Adversaries, however, will marshal public opinion against the true leader or protagonist, as David’s brothers did against him (1Samuel 17.28-31).

The first quotation from Woodrow Wilson as protagonist is:

“Nevertheless, leadership does not always wear the harness of compromise. Once and again one of those great Influences which we call a Cause arises in the midst of the nation. Men of strenuous minds and high ideals come forward with a sort of gentle majesty as champions of a political or moral principle. They wear no armour; they bestride no chargers; they only speak their thought, in season and out of season. But the attacks they sustain are more cruel than the collisions of arms. Their souls are pierced with a thousand keen arrows of obloquy. Friends desert and despise them. They stand alone: and oftentimes are made bitter by their isolation. They are doing nothing less than defy public opinion.”  Woodrow Wilson, “Leaders of Men,” (June 17, 1890).

 

 

The subverter is the exact opposite of the true leader.  The antagonist is opposed to the protagonist at all times and does his best to garner others (in the Greek dramas this is the other characters and the chorus) against the righteous leader.   This quote from Adolf Hitler as antagonist seems to embody this concept:

“The art of leadership…consists in consolidating the attention of the people against a single adversary and taking care that nothing will split up that attention.  The leader of genius must have the ability to make different opponents appear as if they belonged to one category.”  Adolf Hitler, “Mein Kampf,” Vol. 1, Ch. 3, (1925). 

 

Of these two positions, Wilson’s seems to be the biblical view—the forward and positive, the yes and amen, the suffering servant and the glorious King all in one.  Hitler’s statement stands the leader/protagonist definition on its head and is the opposite of the good.  Hitler justifies the “anti-leader’s” efforts to control and manipulate public opinion against the true leader described by Wilson.  The clue that Hitler’s view is corrupt is that the use of deception is justified, for he says that his leader shall make different opponents “appear as if” they belonged to one category.  A true leader proclaims truth and does not use deception.[9]  

Wilson’s statement is highly reminiscent of David’s step forward into leadership in the battle against Goliath, when he boldly exclaimed to his brothers and others, “Is there not a Cause?” (1Samuel 17.29, NKJV).  David led and was victorious because he followed God—he knew whom he believed in and he was fully persuaded that God alone was able to overcome the adversary.  Leadership, then, is linked to following God, being conformed to His image in thought, word, and deed.  Leadership is the servant followership of God being transformed into the servant leadership of the people as they are led to follow God in like manner.  Jesus is the ultimate example of leadership; for He is leadership personified.

 

Leadership is Personified in Jesus

 

 In this paper, we have not and shall not spend time reciting what others have written on the topic of practical leadership (such as its principles and traits); for, such an exercise adds no new insight into leaders and leadership.   The current body of literature on leadership simply rehearses old data.  When I gather all that I have learned on this topic during the course of my life, and compare it to the current leadership writers, I have found that most of what they have written is true—the answer is frequently “all of the above,” but no one of their proposed leadership models is superior to another.  In discussing leadership, I would rather go to the “thing-in-itself” and try to put clothing on it at its point of origin, so that we may all understand essential leadership—that is, leadership in essence, leadership in its proper perspective, or leadership in its true light.  When I ventured toward this goal of discovery, I found that someone had arrived there ahead of me!  Simply stated, God personified leadership in the person of Jesus the Christ.  Everything that leadership is or will ever be is in the person of Jesus and He is always interested in and wants to be directly involved in every aspect of our lives.   One of the definitions of a leader, which I have alluded to in this study, is “one who is responsible.”  Responsibility in leadership is a very heavy word, for a leader is one who is worthy of our trust and confidence, specifically because he possesses the concern, integrity, courage, and commitment to do the right thing and to ensure that we each do the same in our lives.

Christ Jesus, therefore, is the concept, the model, the trait, the power, the ability—the all in all.  Further, He provided us His leadership style, by His example.  Yes, He taught lessons, gave practical exercises, corrected, and inspired His followers, whom He trained for leadership; but the more fundamental truth is that He embodied leadership in His every thought, word and deed.  When Jesus told His followers to go and do as He did, they did it, but not according to their own custom; rather, they acted as servants following in His steps and teaching others to do the same. 

Such a view of Jesus is not trite, nor is it a fanciful adaptation of His life—for I believe it is the true word of God.  In terms of leadership by example and finding its source in God, Jesus Himself says in John’s gospel, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.  Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner”  (John 5.17, 19).  Jesus plainly says that He only does what He sees the Father doing.  There is no other pathway, no wiggle room, no error, no deceptions, only strict obedience.  The words of Jesus are “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14.6), and “He that follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8.12). 

The Son was in perfect conformity with the Father at all times; and when Christ calls us to come and follow Him, He is calling us to do as He did, and live a life of complete conformity with the Father.  The reality is that we cannot do it alone, but this is not an excuse for us to use in escaping our responsibility, for Jesus also said, “The Son can do nothing of Himself,” (John 5.19) and He told His disciples, “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15.5).  Jesus was able to work the works of God because “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2Corinthians 5.19).  We too are able to work the works of God, because Christ is in us, and we are in Him, and capable of doing all things (cf. John 17.20-26, Philippians 4.13). 

The Apostle Paul’s discussion of the “new creation” in 2Corinthians, moves on to a discussion about the process of reconciliation and to our own responsibility for the lives around us.  We are responsible for maintaining a life of conformity or connectedness to God through Christ; and, when we are so connected, the works of the Father are fulfilled in our lives and in the world around us because He speaks and works through us.  When we speak and act, we do so as His Ambassadors, and an Ambassador can only say and do that which He has been specifically instructed to say and do; he is not allowed to put in his own two-cents (cf. 2Corinthians 5.17-20).  An Ambassador must be an exact representation of his sender and in complete conformity with his sender’s will. 

In the example of Jesus, He called the disciples to follow Him, then He transformed them from followers into leaders, and finally He sent them out to do exactly as He had done.  The leadership of Christ is found in His declaration, “I am the Light of the World” (John 8.12) and the leadership image we bear of Him and His leadership commission to us occurs when He declares, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5.14).

 

“You are the light of the world”

Matthew 5.14

 

 

Light provides leadership.  If we are lost and in darkness, when the light appears, we will follow the light, for we trust that it will lead us to safety.  In the gospel accounts, Jesus declares that He is “the Light of the world” (John 8.12), yet He also tells His disciples that they too are “the light of the world,” (Matthew 5.14).  John’s gospel says, “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying,  “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”  (John 8.12).  The meaning seems clear:  As we follow the Light—Jesus—we have light for our path through the darkness of this world, and we are transformed into His image, so that we possess within us the Light of the world Himself who shines through us.  Our life in the new creation (“the light of life”) reflects the True Light who is Jesus.  In other words, our thoughts, words, and deeds will reflect the person of Jesus and we shall do everything that He does, exactly as He does, for He is doing it through us.

What does light have to do with leadership?  Everything!  Let us look at the words of Jesus again, “I am the light of the world, he who follows Me shall not walk in darkness.”  The implication of these words is clear:  We follow Jesus because He is light.   Light is a beacon of hope that calls us to follow it when we are lost and in darkness.  Light serves as our guide and comforter, giving us direction and encouragement.  Light changes our perceptions and our perspectives, illuminates the world around us and within us, and helps us to gain knowledge, insight and wisdom.   These words describing the qualities or attributes of light are the same as those that describe the attributes of leadership.  This fact should not surprise us, for light, life and leadership each proceed from a single source—Jesus the Christ.

As an interesting aside, John Maxwell, in his book “Relationships 101” tells about a scientific experiment with laboratory rats.  Scientists dropped a rat into a bucket of water in absolute darkness to see how long the rat would swim before giving up and drowning.  The answer was, “just over three minutes.”  Next, another rat was dropped into the same bucket of water, but this time a ray of light was allowed to shine into the bucket.  The rat who was in the light swam non-stop for 36 hours—quite a difference!  The mere presence of light inspired a laboratory rat and apparently gave him the hope necessary to continue his struggle for life.[10] 

The words of Jesus to his disciples are quite profound for their simplicity and their enduring truthfulness.  If we want to live, we must follow the light; and as we do, that same light begins to shine forth from within us so that others may also see it, be drawn to it, and follow it.  Leadership, therefore, is rooted in our first becoming a follower of Jesus, and in receiving the light of life from Him.

We must understand that the words of Jesus are declarations—statements of fact that applied to each of his disciples at that present time and continuing into the future.[11]  Further, Jesus also said, “As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world” (John 9.5).  This verse, coupled with the others on this topic, seems to imply that when He removes Himself from this world, that the world will begin to sink back into great darkness (John 9.4); yet, His light will continue to shine in this world because His disciples are also “the light of the world” (cf. John 8.12).

Finally, the light came to the disciples as their possession because they were following Jesus, for the declaration of Jesus is “he who follows me” (John 8.12).            This act of following Jesus is important because it is in this action of continual obedience to His calling (“follow me”) that we obtain the light and every good thing that He has for us.[12]  In this act of becoming a follower of Jesus, each disciple was being trained and instructed to be a leader in the same manner and possessing the same substance as Jesus, as the light of the world.[13]  The final commission and assignment of the disciples into their leadership roles is summed up in Matthew 28.18-20 with the words “all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.   Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  My point here is to emphasize that when we talk about the ministries that flow out from the great commission, that ministry is always the servant followership of Jesus being transformed within the individual into the servant leadership of all of the people with whom we come into contact.

 

Leadership by Example

 

“Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine,

and learn from those who follow our example.”

The Apostle Paul, Philippians 3.17, New Living Translation

 

 

We have already discussed above that Jesus established the pattern of leadership by example, both in His own life and ministry and in the lives and ministries of the disciples.  Jesus said that whatever He saw the Father doing, He did the same thing; and He taught His disciples to follow in His steps (cf. 1Peter 2.21).  In the Scripture verse above, the Apostle Paul also boldly tells the believers to pattern their lives after his own life—to live as he lives—to think, to speak and to act as he himself does in this world.  Paul seems confident that his own character and life in this world is a proper pattern or example for others to observe and follow as they live their lives.  In another verse, Paul provides detail and says that believers must imitate him as he imitates Christ (1Cor 11.1); and finally, he says to be imitators of God (Eph 5.1).  These verses appear to form the concept of leadership by example, which we shall now investigate. 

We must ask the question “Is it really possible to simply mimic another person’s behaviors and thereby become like them in substance?”[14]  The answer is “no,” for the substance and ability to perform works that are pleasing to God is entirely a spiritual function and comes to us directly from Christ in the new creation and is deposited into our lives through the operation and leadings of the Holy Spirit.  It is my firm conviction is that all believers (that is, all who are a new creation in Christ Jesus) are called to be leaders in some capacity for a specific duration, and for a certain group of people. 

A basic definition of a leader is “one who has followers,” and I believe that we all have followers—people whom we lead and for whom we are responsible for a time.  We lead our children, our families, our fellow employees, our communities, and sometimes organizations such as our companies or our churches.

This call to leadership carries with it a heavy responsibility, for each leader must be a living example of Jesus before the world—modeling His thoughts, words and deeds at all times.  Further, the Scriptures tell us “let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment” (James 3.1).  Teaching is an aspect of leadership, as was the commission given to Ezekiel as a watchman (Ezekiel 3.16-21).  Ezekiel was given a leadership responsibility and was told to warn the people of the errors of their ways.  What Ezekiel was required to do was to become a very unpopular person, and if he failed in his task to warn, then the blood of the sinners would be on his own hands—he would be responsible to God for them.  Leadership, then, is not a popularity contest, and it is true that leadership is often a lonely responsibility.  

Let me say, that those who are in leadership positions and enjoy their ability to lord it over the people; as well as those who take pleasure in receiving adulation and honor from the people, are not leaders according to the word of God; rather, they are foolish shepherds and hirelings.  We who are of understanding know that the authority to act, and the praise, glory and honor due, belong to Christ alone.  Our example of meekness should be like those elders before the throne, who cast their crowns at the feet of Christ and gave all glory and honor to Him alone who is worthy to receive it (Revelation 4.10-11).

Performing such a greatly important task as leadership is completely impossible by human effort alone and requires the leader to be a fully submissive follower of Jesus at all times.  This leader is also one who is sensitive to the moment-by-moment leadings of the Holy Spirit—

the Great Enabler of our lives in this world.

 

Conclusion:  Following in His Steps

 

          Whether we are a parent or child, prayer partner or deacon, usher or security chief, teacher or administrator, pastor or board member, bricklayer or business owner, we are called to exhibit the light of the leadership of Jesus in this world within that capacity.  Today, within the church of Jesus Christ, we have a very important question to ask; which unfortunately has become cliché.  In the not too recent past, I literally cringed whenever I saw the engraved armbands for sale in Christian bookstores and heard people exclaiming the words, “What would Jesus do?”  I would think to myself, “they are not Jesus and cannot know what He would do in any given circumstance, and even if they did know, they would never do it!” 

          My attitude softened as I studied for this paper, for I actually sat down and read an electronic copy of a book given to me more than 20 years ago by a Christian friend, called, “In His Steps,”  which I had failed to read at that time.  In this fictional story, a group of individuals (and later a whole town) is transformed by asking themselves, (within the context of their own lives), “What would Jesus do?  If he were in my circumstances?” and then do exactly that!  The beauty of this question is that it was entirely up to the individual to ascertain the answer from Jesus Himself through daily humility and prayer.  The individual costs for the souls who chose to follow Jesus were extremely high in some cases, but these follower-leaders remained true to their callings and they followed Jesus, wherever He led them.  Their faith was severely tested and God used them as the earthy leaders of His revival within that town.  Each person provided leadership in a different way; and, their seemingly disparate actions worked together for good, culminating in transformed lives, each of which brought glory, honor, and praise to Jesus. 

          In the modern era, one of the greatest world leaders is a man that is usually not associated with our leadership concepts.  We see Billy Graham as a former pastor, an effective preacher, teacher, and evangelist, and even as a great administrator; but Billy has always been a simple follower of Jesus Christ who has been used by Christ to lead and encourage others to this same relationship with God.  Billy has always been a man without pretense who always had his goal in the forefront of his mind.  His goal was to lead you to Christ no matter who you thought you were in this world.  Billy was blessed by God to be an earthly Ambassador and during his many years of service.  He has been a beacon of hope and inspiration to world leaders and to the common person.  Billy has been a man exhibiting the true light and perfect peace of God, who has learned to give to others out of the excess of benefits given to him by God.

          Saint Bernard of Clairvaux spoke eloquently on this topic in his 18th Sermon on the Canticles, saying:

“If then you are wise you will show yourself rather as a reservoir than as a waterpipe.  For a pipe spreads abroad water as soon as it receives it, but a reservoir waits till it is filled to overflowing, and thus communicates, without loss to itself, its superabundant water…In the church at the present time we have many waterpipes, but few reservoirs.  These through whom the dew of heaven distils upon us are so great in charity that they wish to pour it forth before they are themselves filled with it.  They are more prepared to speak than to hear, they are quick to teach what they have not learned, and they long to preside over others while they do not as yet know how to govern themselves.”  Bernard of Clairvaux, “18th Sermon on the Canticles.”

 

Leadership is following Jesus plainly and simply.  It is actively waiting and listening for His call, humbly setting aside our worldly priorities that we might be filled to overflowing, and that we might discover our service for the King and do it.  Leadership is a continuum that begins and ends with God; and the only value added in the process is the joy of all Heaven as we willingly and obediently move forward together with Jesus along the path where He leads. 

We must come to understand that we have received the privilege of carrying the light of leadership at a specific time and place, and for a certain group of people whose lives we touch in this world.  This leadership privilege carries with it a great responsibility; and we must acknowledge that we can never accomplish the mission alone; rather, we must follow and remain connected to Jesus and each other.  We must ensure that we remain true to our own calling, and we should never attempt to evade our own responsibility nor usurp the authority given to another.  We must not become puffed up with pride, nor weakened by doubt, fear, or worry.  Whether our current responsibility is considered small or great within this world, we must follow Jesus and lead the people in the exact the manner He has given us.  As we do, God will be glorified in us, and we in Him.  To God be the Glory Forever and Ever, Amen.

Scripture Index

 

Old Testament

Genesis 1.26-28; 2.5,15; 4.7

Exodus 4.17; 7.1

Numbers 12.7; 20.8,11-12

Deuteronomy 31.2; 34.7

1Samuel 17.28-31

Esther 4.14,16

Jeremiah 25.9; 27.6

Ezekiel 3.16-21

Daniel 3.1-25; 4.30,31-33, 34-37

Habakkuk 1.6,11

Zechariah 13.7

 

New Testament

Matthew 5.14; 28-18-20

Mark 10.42; 14.27

Luke 22.25

John 5.17,19; 8.12; 9.4,5; 14.6; 15.5; 17.20-26

Acts 2

1Corinthians 2.10-16; 11.1

2Corinthians 1.20; 4.7; 5.17-20

Ephesians 5.1

Philippians 3.12-16; 4.13

James 3.1

1Peter 2.21

Revelation 4.10-11, 12.10

 

Resource Materials and Bibliography of Works Cited

 

 

CBS News.  “Bush’s Final Approval Rating: 22 Percent,” January 16, 2009, Available from:

http://www.cbs.com/stories/2009/01/16/opinion/polls/main4728399.shtml.  CBS, Inc.

Accessed January 18, 2009.

Friberg, Timothy and Barbara.  The Analytical Greek New Testament, (AGNT), Grand Rapids,

MI:  Baker Books, 2001.

Friberg, Timothy and Barbara. Neva F. Miller. Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament,

(ANLEX), Grand Rapids, MI:  Baker Books, 2000.

Holy Bible.  Spirit-filled Life Bible, (NKJV), Jack Hayford, Gen. Ed., Nashville, TN: Thomas

Nelson Publishers, 1996.

Giuliani, Rudolph W. Leadership, New York, NY: Miramax Books, Hyperion, 2002.

Iacocca, Lee.  Catherine Whitney.  Where Have All the Leaders Gone?  New York, NY:

          Scribner, Simon and Schuster, 2007.

Jones, Laurie Beth.  Jesus CEO: Using Ancient Wisdom for Visionary Leadership, New York,

NY:  Hyperion, 1994.

Maxwell, John C.  Developing the Leader Within You, Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson

Publishers, 1993.

Maxwell, John C.  Real Leadership: The 101 Collection, Nashville, TN: Nelson Business,

Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003.

Maxwell, John C.  The 21 Indispensible Qualities of a Leader, Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson

          Publishers, 1999.

Maxwell, John C.  The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson

Publishers, 1998.

Mendes, Elizabeth.  “Americans’ Satisfaction at New All-Time Low of 7%,” October 15, 2008,

Available from:  http://www.gallup.com/poll/111169/Americans-Satisfaction-New-AllTime-Low.aspx.  Gallup, Inc.  Accessed January 2, 2009.

Sheldon, Charles Monroe.   In His Steps, Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1999.

Smith, Perry M.  Rules and Tools for Leaders:  A Down-to-Earth Guide to Effective Managing,

          New York, NY:  Perigree, The Berkley Publishing Group, Penguin Putnam, 2002.

Strong, James.  Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Nashville, TN: Baker Books, 1978.      

The American Heritage College Dictionary, Fourth Edition, New York, NY:  Houghton-Mifflin,

2002.

Webb, James.  A Time to Fight: Reclaiming a Fair and Just America, Broadway Books, New

York, NY:  Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group, Random House, 2008.

Winston, Bruce.  Be a Leader for God’s Sake, Virginia Beach, VA: School of Leadership

Studies, Regent University, 2002.


[1] Mendes, Elizabeth.  “Americans’ Satisfaction at New All-Time Low of 7%,” October 15, 2008, Available from:  http://www.gallup.com/poll/111169/Americans-Satisfaction-New-AllTime-Low.aspx.  Gallup, Inc.  Accessed January 2, 2009.

[2] Post-script update:  Bush’s approval rating continued to fall and the final rating poll taken by Gallup scored him at 22% approval, the lowest of any departing US President since Gallup began taking polls 70 years ago.  See “Bush’s Final Approval Rating: 22 Percent,” January 16, 2009, Available from:  http://www.cbs.com/stories/2009/01/16/opinion/polls/main4728399.shtml.  CBS, Inc.  Accessed January 18, 2009.

[3] The most frequent title given to Moses is “Moses the servant of God, or Moses the servant of the Lord.”

[4] This is the title of Lee Iacocca’s book on leadership.  Iacocca is a secular business leader who has written a timely and strong critique of America’s leadership failures.  Iacocca’s book is refreshing for its frankness, and though his aim is to highlight the secular leadership shortcomings, he references, as a man of faith, the lack of spiritual leadership.  Virginia Senator Jim Webb echoes the same crisis in leadership in his book, A Time to Fight: Reclaiming a Fair and Just America.

[5] In Genesis 2.15, we see that God placed man into the garden to “tend and keep it.”  These two words commonly mean to “cultivate” and to “protect.”  This instruction to mankind also includes the “tilling” of the ground as mentioned in Genesis 2.5.  This is significant because the word for “till” in Hebrew is “ebed” which is most commonly translated as “servant,” such as in “Moses the servant (tiller) of God”.  When man is properly performing his God-given duties he is both serving the Lord and exercising dominion over the earth at the same time.  Servant followership of God becomes servant leadership over the earth and its creatures—they are two sides of the same thing, for one act of obedience fulfills both aspects.

[6]  One of the disturbing aspects of the leadership books, programs and seminars is that the purveyors of this knowledge each believe that they have discovered the leadership secrets and solutions for today, when in fact they have done nothing of the sort.  On the contrary, there is actually nothing new under the sun, and they are repackaging the same old knowledge, but mixing it with unfruitful perspectives.

[7] Immanuel Kant wrote extensively about our “concepts” and “categories of understanding,” especially in his “Critique of Pure Reason, (1781); and he discusses the “Ding an Sich” (thing-in-itself), noumena, phenomena, and other aspects of human reasoning.  My own view is that leadership is like a noumenon, a human conception that helps us to travel along the pathway to the actual apprehension of the thing-in-itself (for a noumenon and the ding an sich are not strictly synonymous).  This apprehension, however, is beyond human reasoning ability—beyond the intellectual—and is sourced in the spiritual alone.  In traditional leadership discussions what is being described are phenomena (laws, traits, principles, etc.) and their interrelationships, which help us build a concept of leadership as noumena, which ultimately takes us to the ding an sich—i.e. God revealed in Jesus (as a way of speaking).  Jesus’ statement in John 14.6, then, is leadership as noumena, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father but by Me.”  Following Him is implicit, and His call is simply “follow me.”  His command “go ye therefore” is a commission to lead in the same manner as they themselves have already followed.  This helps us understand that they too possess all of the power and authority they need, because they have been transformed and sealed (which things were made effective in them when the Holy Spirit was fully imparted to them at Pentecost).

[8] We often say that Satan is a leader who has followers, but in my definition of leadership, he is not a leader but a counterfeit and a deceiver.  Satan displays himself as an angel of light, but he is not the genuine article.  I must ask, what is the opposite of leader?  It is not follower, for the opposite of follower is rebel.  Can one truly provide “leadership” in the opposite direction?  The closest words I can find as opposites of leader or leadership are:  opposer, contender, resister, subverter, diverter, and detractor, each of these words describe Satan and the Bible directly labels him the opposer, but these words seem deficient as opposites for leader and leadership, and some have coined the term “anti-leader” to solve this problem.   I would suggest using the terms from Greek drama, protagonist and antagonist.  These words are fitting, for the protagonist was always first in order and appearance—the one to speak first and to dialogue with the chorus.  An important fact concerning the protagonist is that in the Greek dramas there could be only one protagonist, who is the “advocate” (a title for Christ) for the good and righteousness.  Further, tracing the etymology of protagonist takes us to the Greek roots protoV,  (protos, meaning first or principle) and agein, (agein, meaning to lead or drive, See The American Heritage College Dictionary, protagonist).   The antagonist can be more than one person and literally means “adversary,” one of Satan’s titles.

[9] Such use of deception is one of the reasons why George W. Bush ultimately failed in his presidency.  After 9/11 he seemingly acted properly by entering Afghanistan to eliminate the Taliban and the Al Qaida headquarters operated by Osama bin Laden, but he then used the label “terrorist” and applied it to Saddam Hussein as a pretext for war in Iraq.  He seemingly followed Hitler’s dictum and made completely different opponents appear as if they belonged to one category—“terrorists.”  As an aside, let us also understand that labeling and categorizing in this manner is one of the names of the great accuser and deceiver Satan, when he is described in Revelation 12.10, by the Greek term kathgoroV, kategoros, literally meaning “one who speaks down” and most often translated as “accuser.”  Our English word “category” derives directly from the Greek kathgoreo, kategoreo.

[10] I cannot resist the opportunity to have a little fun here.  If the scientists of men know how to give good light to their rats that they might struggle and live; how much better light will your Heavenly Father give to you His children that you too might struggle and live; and so shine among men that they might see you and ask you how they too can receive this light and live?

[11] In Matthew 5.14, “You are the light,” the verb are in the Greek NT is este (este), and is in the present tense, active voice and indicative mode; meaning that at that time, the disciples were continuously being the light of the world as a matter of fact.

[12]“Follow” in the Greek NT is akolouqew  (akoloutheo), which literally means to go along behind, or come after, and is formed from the word a (or ha, meaning same), and the word keleuqoV (keleuthos), which is one of the Greek words for road, path, or journey, from which we gain the perspective that following Jesus is literally taking a journey along the same path with Him, specifically in obedient discipleship—learning and doing everything that Jesus does.   In the gospels, when Jesus called His disciples He simply said, “Follow Me” without any further specification as to what exactly this journey with Him entailed—the details and discoveries came later.

[13] For example, looking at Matthew’s gospel account, from chapter 4 through chapter 28, each disciple was trained in every aspect of Kingdom leadership.  The commissioning ceremony and oratory provides a sort of keynote address which highlights the most important elements of their tasking and not the most minute details, for each disciple as he went out would have unique circumstances that he would encounter along the way—and what mattered (then as now) is that they each possessed the core values and leadership principles of Christ (the substance) which became fully activated when the Holy Spirit was poured out within them in Acts 2.  My point here is to emphasize that when we talk about the ministries that flow out from the great commission, that ministry is always the servant followership of Jesus being transformed within the individual into the servant leadership of all of the people with whom we come into contact.

[14] The Greek word used for “pattern” here is “imitate” in the KJV, and the Greek NT word is summimhtai, summimetai, literally meaning "to be a follower together with (me).”  This word is derived from mimhthV, mimetes, commonly one of the words for “follower.”  Our English word “mimic” is borrowed directly from this Greek word.