Biblical Perspective of Leadership

Although I have written a lot on leadership in the past and its relevance to immigrant pastors’ ministry as documented in literature; I feel compelled to still present the following thoughts especially in the context of the biblical and theological consideration of immigrant church growth here. The perspective here is that God’s people move with their influence. Leadership is all about influence. To be an effective leader, one needs to careful study the life of the most influential leader that ever lived – Lord Jesus Christ’s leadership model. The Lord Jesus Christ was transformational, authentic and indeed a servant leader. Any leader, irrespective of the sphere of influence: – homes, workplaces, churches, and communities will do well if they glean from the Master of the universe. The authors of lead like Jesus hit it point blank when they posited that the core of Jesus’ leadership style is “LOVE”. Any leader that aspires to succeed like Jesus need this unconditional (agape) love as a core value to be the why, how, and what of all he/she does. In Matthew 22:37-39, 1Corinthians 13, John 3:16, 1John 4:16-18 we understand the power and the characteristics of this unconditional love. This love-based leadership requires that leaders love those in their circles of influence so much that they help them move from who they are to who God wants them to be, and that process can be painful. 

In the book, the Irresistible Church: 12 traits of a church heaven applaud; author Wayne Cordeiro explains how vitally important it is to have this unconditional love flowing and that one evidence that influencers love deeply is that they serve.

Leaders who want to stay on track, lead effectively and successfully must take to heart the principles applied by the Lord Jesus during his earthly ministry. They must be able to stratify their circles of influence in the manner Jesus had it as presented in Figure 7.

Figure 7: Jesus’ Spheres of Influence