R. Ruth Barton once eloquently stated: “We set young leaders up for a fall if we encourage them to envision what they can do before they consider the kind of person they should be”[1]
Fortunately for us as Christian leaders, we have an example of leadership from one who has gone before us, in fact: “The Lord Jesus Christ is God’s final word on leadership� God the Father communicated leadership principles through His Son.”[2]
Through his leadership, Jesus models the character that is required of a leader for us and shows us what kind of person we should be as a leader. Namely, what character qualities we should embody and live out in our lives.
“He encouraged. He chastised. He forgave. He spoke with authority and lived with authenticity. He never gave up on those who He led even if it meant His own death. Every leader would be wise to learn from Him, live like Him, and follow His leadership principles.”[3]
Not only does the example of Jesus give us insight into the character qualities of a Christian leader, we can also find example throughout the Scriptures. Paul in his writings to the New Testament churches provides us with insight into the selection of local church leaders. Paul’s focus is not on the external appearances, for instance how charismatic the leader is, instead:
“Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.”(1 Tim 3:2-7)
…the emphasis is on the character of the potential leader, as such this is the critical subject to examine.
From this passage, and the example of Jesus throughout the Gospels, we can draw out three areas of a leader’s character to examine. Firstly we will consider the sincerity of the leader, not sincerity for sincerity’s sake, but the sincerity of the leader in what they say and what their actions say. Secondly, we will examine servanthood as a lifestyle of the leader. And thirdly, we will look at integrity as a key quality of the Christian leader. Today more then ever, the integrity of the Christian leader has been the object of focus by the media, most often due to the lack thereof.
If sincerity is a key characteristic of a Christian leader, then what should they be sincere in? The answer may seem all too obvious, that we should be sincere in our love for our Lord Jesus, and our faith in him.
Toler and Brecheisen remind us of John the Baptist when we are talking about a sincere personal faith. Out in the desert, he was calling a nation to repent of its sin and be baptized. He was a leader to his people, speaking with authority to those around him. When challenged about what his credentials were: “John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” (John 1:23)
The strength of John’s leadership came from his sincere personal faith in the “power and promises focused on and flowing from the Messiah. And his message to the masses about the Christ was always the same: ‘He must become greater; I must become less’ (John 3:30)”[4]
Our power and authority as Christian leaders is not given to us by man, rather it is given to us as by-product of our relationship with Jesus. We can see this necessity of personal and sincere faith in Christ from his own words. In the book of John, Jesus reminds us that apart from him, we can do nothing:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.“(John 15:5 emphasis mine)
“There is no bypass. Anyone who would seek to influence others for Christ must take a direct route to the Cross. A personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:12) is the great prerequisite for Christian leadership”[5]
As we follow Jesus’ leadership, we realize the sincerity of His work. Jesus was sincere in his purpose, sincere in his service to others, sincere in his communications and sincere in his relationships.
For myself, I see the sincerity of His work best on the Mount of Olives before He was captured to be put to death. Before His arrest, Jesus went about His Father’s work, whether it be teaching, healing, restoring or befriending. During this time Jesus’ focus was on the Kingdom. This is the same as we see Him on the Mount of Olives where we can see His true sincerity. The words “not my will but yours” echo out through the ages to say “I am not stopping just because it is hard!” I am about my Father’s work.
If we can muster half Jesus’ sincerity, the very gates of Hell will not overcome us as we go about our Father’s work.
The second characteristic of a Christian leader we will examine is Servanthood, or servant leadership. It appears to be an oxymoron in our culture that the leader should be in a place of service. I have worked for two US Fortune 500 companies, both leaders in their respective fields; in fact they both resided in the top 20 of this grouping. My experience of their leadership has been far from experiencing service. Although hardly an objective view, their leadership came from the top down, their concerns were not for those they led, but for the ephemeral wishes of the shareholders and their own profit.
It is refreshing to see a view of leadership that doesn’t involve dictating or the imposition of a leader’s will while being above their own laws. We can see this refreshing style of servant leadership in the example of Jesus. In his own words: “Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant” (Matt 20:26) and “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all” (Mark 9:35)
“ALL true work combines [the] two elements of serving and ruling. Ruling is what we do; serving is how we do it. There’s true sovereignty in all good work. There’s no way to exercise it rightly other than by serving.”[6]
I will draw from some of the insights Wilkes offers these into becoming a servant leader. [7]
Humble your heart. If those who are exalted will be humbled, and those who are humble will be exalted, a servant leader must cultivate a life of humility. “Servant leaders humble themselves to the mission entrusted to them. They also wait expectantly for God to exalt them-in God’s timing. Servant leaders trust that the Host will choose those he wants at the head table of leadership”[8]
First be a follower. The servant leader should not seek status among the earthly church or among those in heaven (we can think of James and John seeking to sit at Jesus’ right and left (Mark 10:37)). Rather the servant leader should first seek out and follow Jesus: “our natural tendency [is] to equate leadership with position. Jesus, on the other hand, taught that suffering for him comes before reigning with him”[9]
Find greatness in service. Service is not where we want to find ourselves as leaders. If you are the leader of a bowling team, an auto mechanics shop or a Fortune 500 company, being the leader may bring some allusions of greatness, we are better than the rest because we are in charge. We are encouraged by Jesus, Paul and a host of Christian leaders to see that there is another way to lead and find meaning. “Greatness begins with those who become servants to the mission of the group and those teamed with them to carry out that mission”[10]
Share the responsibility and authority. A servant leader needs the ability and insight to know when to let go of what has been entrusted into their stewardship and empower those they lead to continue with the mission. An example where this is especially important is the cell church model. Here small units are encouraged to grow and multiply and seek those lost, but this could not be accomplished if those leading a cell decided they did not want to relinquish control and allow the group to become independent. In a similar way, Jesus equipped his disciples and sent them out on their own to carry out his mission. “He shared both responsibility and authority with them to make disciples of all people.”[11]
As I have said earlier, the integrity of a Christian leader is of paramount importance.[12] Not only because we heed the warnings of the proverbs:
“The integrity of the upright guides them,
but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.” (Prov. 11:3)
But because of our integrity, the world latches upon our actions and attempts to use them as a weapon against us. How can we as leaders say one thing, do another and expect to be trusted? Paul understood this well and this is why his criteria for leaders are so strict. He didn’t put these criteria up to hinder us because “anyone who seeks to be a leader seeks a good thing.”(1 Tim 3:1) He put these criteria there as a protection for ourselves and Christ’s church.
Is it to be read that a leader will not make a mistake, public or private? No, but the leader must have the courage and strength to stand up and admit his mistake publicly. “Character involves doing what’s right because it’s the right thing to do-regardless of the cost”[13] These characteristics are integrity.
Without integrity, we as leaders, can have no moral authority and our ability to influence the lives of others positively is diminished. Stanley offers a helpful illustration here:
“Every leader wears two badges: one visible, one invisible. The visible badge is your position and title. The invisible badge is your moral authority�Moral authority is the credibility you earn by walking your talk. It is the relationship other people see between what you claim to be and what you really are.”[14]
The credibility of a leader has a direct effect on how people relate to the leader. Credibility is gained through the old clich� of “walking the talk”. “Credible leaders have the personal habits, values, traits, and competencies to engender trust and commitment from those who take their direction.”[15]
Two examples of credibility or integrity in a leader is Mahatma Gandhi “who claimed, ‘My life is its own message.’ He said, ‘You must watch my life, how I live, eat, sit, talk, behave in general. The sum total of all those is my religion.’”[16]
Perhaps an even more relevant example is found in the Apostle Paul. From the day of his conversion, Paul had integrity problems. On that Damascus road, he had set out to imprison Christians and all knew it. The only way Paul could gain the trust of those early Christians and future disciples was to live a life consistent with what he now preached. So consistent was he, that he was able to pen these words in regards to living the Christian life: “Therefore I urge you to imitate me.” (1 Corr 4:16)
By examining the lives of those who have gone before us, and examining what Scripture identifies as important, we have examined three critical character qualities of the Christian leader. Firstly we considered the issue of sincerity of a leader in their personal relationship with Jesus. We looked at the words of John 15:5, that apart from Christ, we can do nothing, because he is the source of our authority.
Our second consideration was servant leadership as a lifestyle of the leader. Drawing from the insight of Wilkes, we see how service as a way of leadership helps to keep a leader humble and focused on firstly being a follower of Jesus and allowing his example to flow through to others by our example.
Finally we reflected on integrity as a key character quality of the Christian leader, identifying that our moral authority and credibility come from allowing our actions to match our teaching, or practicing what we preach.
“Character is what makes you a leader worth following”[17] But we must not loose sight ourselves of whom we are following and why we are following Him. We must not loose sight of Christ’s love for us because it is the acceptance of His love into our lives that allows us to see the kind of person we should be.
References
Stanley, A., The Next Generation Leader Sisters: Mulnomah, 2003
Toler, S. and Brecheisen, J., ‘Making Christ Your Pattern’ in The Pastor’s Guide to Growing a Christlike Church Kansas City: Beacon Hill, 2004
Wilkes, C., Jesus on Leadership Wheaton: Tyndale, 1998
Farmer, K.W., Christian Leadership The Pamphlet Club; Federal Literature Department of Churches of Christ in Australia, No. 325, September 1983
Ulrich, D., ‘Credibility x Capability’ in The Leader of the Future San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996
[1] A. Stanley The Next Generation Leader (Sisters: Mulnomah, 2003), 111
[2] S. Toler and J. Brecheisen ‘Making Christ Your Pattern’ in The Pastor’s Guide to Growing a Christlike Church (Kansas City: Beacon Hill, 2004), 33
[3] S. Toler and J. Brecheisen ‘Making Christ Your Pattern’ in The Pastor’s Guide to Growing a Christlike Church (Kansas City: Beacon Hill, 2004), 33
[4] S. Toler and J. Brecheisen ‘Making Christ Your Pattern’ in The Pastor’s Guide to Growing a Christlike Church (Kansas City: Beacon Hill, 2004), 34
[5] S. Toler and J. Brecheisen ‘Making Christ Your Pattern’ in The Pastor’s Guide to Growing a Christlike Church (Kansas City: Beacon Hill, 2004), 35
[6] C. Wilkes Jesus on Leadership (Wheaton: Tyndale, 1998), 2
[7],[8] C. Wilkes Jesus on Leadership (Wheaton: Tyndale, 1998), 25
[9] C. Wilkes Jesus on Leadership (Wheaton: Tyndale, 1998), 25-26
[10] C. Wilkes Jesus on Leadership (Wheaton: Tyndale, 1998), 25
[11] C. Wilkes Jesus on Leadership (Wheaton: Tyndale, 1998), 26
[12] K.W. Farmer, Christian Leadership (The Pamphlet Club; Federal Literature Department of Churches of Christ in Australia, No. 325, September 1983), 2. style=’mso-spacerun:yes’>� Keith Farmer lists integrity as a primary emphasis of a Christian Leader
[13] A. Stanley The Next Generation Leader (Sisters: Mulnomah, 2003), 113
[14] A. Stanley The Next Generation Leader (Sisters: Mulnomah, 2003), 117
[15] D. Ulrich ‘Credibility x Capability’ in The Leader of the Future (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996), 215
[16] D. Ulrich ‘Credibility x Capability’ in The Leader of the Future (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996), 215
[17] A. Stanley The Next Generation Leader (Sisters: Mulnomah, 2003), 112
