Biblical Leaders
Moses was a critical leader in the Bible and possessed many leadership qualities. Moses was called to serve as God’s under-shepherd and oversaw the Israelites provision, protection, and guidance throughout the 40-year desert dwelling (Laniak, 2006; Howell, 2003). He was devoted to depend on God in his weakness to provide his strength. Moses had faith in God and Glorified God in his leadership (Exodus 15:1-18; Hebrews 11:23-24); he articulated God’s vision for the Israelites (Hebrews 11:26); he listened and responded to the needs and concerns of the people, and he inspired and influenced a nation. Moses’ long-suffering was evident in times of conflict and constant complaining by the people of Israel.
Joseph was an outstanding leader in the Bible. Joseph’s interpretation of Pharoah’s dream provides the opportunity to save the Egyptian people and his family (Genesis 41:25-36). Joseph advises Pharoah on resource management, appoints overseers over the land, and takes one-fifth of the land’s produce (Genesis 41:34-36). Joseph developed actions, plans, and achievable goals when he gathered up all the resources for seven years (Genesis 41:47-49). Joseph clarified, planned, monitored operations to ensure efficient use of resources (grain) when the seven years of famine arrived (Genesis 41:53-57). In the end, Joseph’s leadership skills saved Egypt and the Israel Nations.
Nehemiah was an ambidextrous leader who understood and could use both leadership and management. Guttel, Konlechner, and Trede’s (2015) research indicated that business success and survival are contingent on a leader’s ability to be ambidextrous and balance exploration (leadership) and exploitation (management). Nehemiah sought to Glorify God, and he was a man of prayer (Nehemiah 1:4-11). Before his journey, Nehemiah understood the uncertainty and risk of the journey and embraced challenges (Nehemiah 2). Nehemiah first surveyed the walls to fully understand the project and develop actions and plans (Nehemiah 2:15-16). After surveying the wall, Nehemiah then inspired people to build the wall (Nehemiah 2:17-20). Then he delegated the building of the wall by establishing a chain of responsibility, roles, and responsibilities (Nehemiah 3-4). Nehemiah listened and responded to the needs of the people (Nehemiah 5). He established clear responsibilities, roles, policies, and procedures to solidify the progress on the wall and the return of the people (Nehemiah 7-13).
The Apostle Paul was also an ambidextrous leader who could embrace leadership and management. The Epistles are replete with examples of Paul inspiring people (Acts 13:13-44) and then establishing the rules and procedures (1 Timothy 3:2-7). Paul was a courageous leader who unafraid to stand up for his belief and faith in Christ when he stood up to Jerusalem Council against circumcising for the Gentiles (Acts 15:1- 35; Sanders, 2007). He counted it all as joy to serve Christ. Paul also displayed humility in how he dealt with each of the churches he started. When Paul was persecuting the church, his zealousness was his strength, but after his change on the road to Damascus, his meekness was his strength (Galatians 6:1, 2; Corinthians 3:12; Colossians 3:12).
Throughout His ministry, Jesus was persistently trained, developed, and instructed His disciples and followers through parables, actions, and words about what it meant to follow and serve (Matthew 5:1-12; Matthew 10:5-42; Matthew 13:1-58; Mark 1:17-18; Mark 6:7-13; Luke 6:20-49; John 2:13-25). Jesus enabled His disciples and followers to develop and become leaders to carry His message and ministry after He left. Christ encouraged the heart and was transformational (Kouzes & Posner, 2017; Bass, 2005; Burns, 1978). A Christian leader should gain leadership wisdom from the trials and triumphs of the Old and New Testament biblical leaders, synthesize, and infuse the qualities they displayed into their life and leadership (Howell, 2003).
Finally, A Christian leader is grounded in the Gospel and the Scriptures as the guide for leadership. A Christian leader can look at the immutable and unchanging Triune God and understand that God is in control by remembering the simplicity of the Scriptures and a thorough understanding to be still and know that God is their refuge and strength (Psalm 46).
Dr. Thomas S. Narofsky, President
International Baptist Church Ministries
References
Agosto, E. (2005). Servant leadership: Jesus & Paul. Chalice Press.
Bass, B. (2005). Bass and Stogdill’s Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research & Managerial Applications, 3rd Ed., The Free Press, New York, NY.
Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. Harper & Row.
Güttel, W. H., Konlechner, S. W., & Trede, J. K. (2015). Standardized individuality versus individualized standardization: The role of the context in structurally ambidextrous organizations. Review of Managerial Science, 9(2), 261-284.doi:10.1007/s11846-014-0156
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2017). The Leadership Challenge: How to keep getting extraordinary things done in organizations. (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.