Learning About Leadership

2023-09-04

I always wondered about good leadership. What is it? I admit that I had very bad views of leadership. I always wrongly assumed that leadership was about tyranny and making other people do what you want. Even after being a Christian for years, and knowing Matthew 20:25-28, I subscribed subconsciously to this view.

I naturally didn’t like leaders in many cases. I envied them. They had all the power and I had to be their peon. They had all the ideas, and my ideas were worthless. They were better than I. I wanted their position and authority. I wanted to have them to do my wishes. I didn’t always consciously believe these things, but the feeling was often there to some degree.

You can tell my view was a very evil approach. It was a lack of love and fullness of pride and cruelty. This is the egocentric view of leadership: Others exist to serve me. Many leaders operate this way, and many do not. Then I heard a lot of talk about servant leadership. Many of those people did not look like servants. What does it all mean?

So, I decided to investigate what true leadership is a little bit. To a degree, we all lead something in some way, so I started reading. Part of my problem is that I have read a good amount of Bible but have not applied anything He says about leadership to my life. There is a disconnect because of my previous views and experiences. How should I define leadership?

A theme came out in my reading: Leadership is having vision, communicating that vision, and establishing a strategy, delegating authority, and empowering people to make that vision happen.

Well, that’s nice, but is it Scriptural? It seems that it is. Jesus’ final command is the Great Commission, and one account records this:

And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:7-8)
  1. Jesus had a vision. That vision was world evangelization so that as many people as possible would be saved.
  2. Jesus communicated that vision. He explained that they would go throughout the world to be His witnesses.
  3. Jesus established a strategy. His disciples would wait in Jerusalem for power, start being witnesses where they were situated, and then successively move out further until the work was done.
  4. Jesus delegated authority. His disciples would go in the authority of the Son of God.
  5. Jesus empowered His people. They would not go anywhere until they were fully equipped. This equipping was the Holy Spirit, who would indwell them and empower them to do a task they otherwise could not do.