What Does the Bible Have to Say about Leadership?

By amazon Thursday, December 5, 2019 Comment Edit

We must allow Scripture to guide us as leaders without losing sight of all the other wisdom the Bible provides to us.

When Jesus washed their feet and put on his outer clothing, he reclined again and said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you are speaking rightly since that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:12)

In the Gospel of John, Jesus gives us perhaps the best definition of what biblical leadership should look like. He shows us the importance of servant leadership, laying it out for us in Scripture.

Before diving deeper into more Scripture that discusses servant leadership, I want to emphasize that the Bible is not our personal book on leadership. There are biblical texts that teach us about leadership, and leading without the guidance of Scripture is not a healthy idea, but the Bible was not intended to be a leadership textbook.

In this way, we must allow Scripture to guide us as leaders without losing sight of all the other wisdom the Bible provides to us.

With that said, I want to look at a few passages where we get a better image of what biblical leadership should look like.

The Gospels: Being among our people

Luke 22 teaches us that leadership means walking alongside our people. As the disciples debate who should be considered the greatest among them, Jesus reminds them that they should not follow leadership styles of the time.

Instead, they should be among their people, serving them, just as Jesus did when he walked among us on Earth.

In the same way, in John 21 Jesus tells Peter to feed his sheep. “‘Do you love me?’” Jesus asks. “Feed my sheep,’’ he instructs. This is another example of Jesus reminding us that as leaders, we need to live life with ...