Leadership

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The Need for Godly Leaders

Oswald Sanders correctly observes, “Real leaders are in short supply.” One reason is that church work demands much sacrifice while offering few rewards in this life. Even so, God’s people grow under humble, sacrificial, spiritual, and authoritative leaders.

Samuel Brengle describes how such character is developed:

Spiritual leadership is not won by promotion, but by many prayers and tears. It is attained by confession of sin and much heart-searching and humbling before God; by self-surrender, a courageous sacrifice of every idol, a bold uncomplaining embrace of the cross, and by an eternal, unfaltering looking unto Jesus crucified. It is not gained by seeking great things for ourselves, but rather, like Paul, by counting those things that are gain to us as loss for the sake of Christ. This is a great price, but it must be paid by the leader who would be not merely a nominal, but a real spiritual leader of men — a leader whose power is recognized and felt in heaven, on earth, and in hell.

The Example of Jesus

Immediately after washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus explained his action: “For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you” (John 13.15). We grasp even more the significance of this acted parable when we realize that this is the only recorded words of Jesus in which he gives an example to follow. His example is service; the King bows as a slave to provide for his people. Jesus’ master principle for leadership is service. Matthew 20.26-28: “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Godly leadership never lords authority over people; it always serves and blesses. This is the need of the time and the example which Jesus left for us to follow. The Apostle Paul provides another beautiful example of servant leadership: “We work with you for your joy” (2Corinthians 1.24). Godly leaders, serving in the strength which God provides, work with people for their joy.

The Design of the Church

Biblically, leadership takes many forms, not all of which are official or formal. The student who refuses to participate in gossip leads her peers by providing a godly example, and the wife who displays respectful and pure conduct leads her husband to submit to God. In this sense, everyone can lead.

But God also set up a structure of formal leadership in the church by creating the offices of elder, deacon, and pastor. The power for all of these offices is entirely and exclusively spiritual; the state exercises force; the church cannot. Christ Jesus ordains church officers for the edification and government of his people, for the propagation of the faith, and for evangelization of the world.

We invite you to use the following links for further study on the nature of church leadership as well as for meeting the officers whom God has given us at The Church of the Covenant.