Kingdom Focused Leadership
There are many different leadership styles, models, and examples. The greatest example and the one Christians should follow is the leadership example that Jesus shown throughout His ministry on earth.
The example of leadership that Jesus provided is what many call servant leadership. Jesus lead by example, for instance in John 13, as Jesus is finishing up His last Passover meal with the disciples, He stops and washes their feet. This was a task that was performed by the lowest of servants or slaves. Jesus did this to model the type of leadership He wanted the disciples to learn.
In Matthew 20 Jesus states that He did not come to be served but to serve others. Christian leaders must understand this example that Jesus has given. It is not what others can do for you as the leader but what you can do for them as their leader.
In the book Lead Like Jesus, the authors state, "Jesus is not only the greatest servant leader but also the greatest visionary, the greatest team builder, the greatest team motivator, and the greatest change agent of all time. In fact, we cannot think of any attribute of leadership that Jesus did not model for everyone as He trained His disciples."1
Therefore, as Jesus is the greatest of all, as leaders we must keep our eyes focused on Him in all that we do, in all the discissions that we make, in all the ways we go, and in that we say. It is to be all about Jesus, in our daily life, in our spiritual life, and even in our leadership.
In society, people move up the corporate ladder by stepping on others, but in the Kingdom of God, people are leaders by serving others in love. Jesus addresses this in Matthew 20:26-27, “It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.” (NASB) In the book Lead Like Jesus, the authors state, “For followers of Jesus, servant leadership is not an option; servant leadership is a mandate. Our servant leadership is to be a living statement of who we are in Jesus, an identity evident in how we treat one another and how we demonstrate the love of Jesus to the whole world."2
As leaders we must understand and see that we cannot do it alone. All through the Bible there are examples of leadership, but in Exodus 18, we see that Moses is doing leadership all on his own. As he tries to lead and workout the problems among the Israelites, he is working from day light to dark and is not making much headway. Moses' father-in-law Jethro comes to Moses and tells him he is going to wear himself out continuing the way he is leading. Jethro suggest that Moses call on others to help him lead, and the cases the other leaders are not able to handle can be brought to Moses. Therefore, Moses sets up leaders in each tribe, leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and of tens. As leaders, we need to take this advice also. A pastor cannot do it all and do it well. The pastor needs to develop leaders within the church to help lead. Developing leaders in the areas that they know the most. Deacons, trustees, music, discipleship, evangelism, and all the other areas. The pastor then can work with those leaders to develop their specific area, instead of trying to do it all on their own.
A leader can find great examples and even the perfect example of leadership within the Bible. The great leaders in the Bible are seen from the beginning to the end. As already mentioned, there is Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Solomon, Nehemiah, Paul, Peter, James, and so many more. The perfect example as already mentioned is Jesus.
There are lessons to be learned from all the great leaders in Scripture. A good leader will realize that no leader can do everything on their own. A good leader must enlist others to join them, and must inspire others by sharing what God has revealed to them.3
1. Ken Blanchard, Phil Hodges, and Phyllis Hendry. Lead Like Jesus: Lessons from the Greatest Leadership Role Model of all Time (Nashville, TN: W Publishing, 2016), xii.
2. Ibid., 14.
3. Benjamin K. Forrest and Chet Roden. Biblical Leadership: Theology for the Everyday Leader (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2017), 270.