Godly Leadership Series - Introduction

I’m not naturally gifted in leadership. For all my gifts, leadership is not one of them. Nevertheless, as one called to be the leader of my family, I have found it necessary to study godly leadership so I can do the best I can for them in the name of Christ.

This has not been an easy endeavor.

First, I was in the Marines and naturally promoted into the ranks of non-commissioned officers. As such I was effective as a leader when men had to do what I told them. I didn’t have to convince them except that typically when they saw that my directions yielded results, they had no problems following. That was a matter of demonstrating substance. Now, as a civilian, I typically must elicit the cooperation of others since there is no disciplined mandate for them to follow me. Too often I’m challenged by potential followers on the basis of preference rather than substance. Most people think preference is important. There’s always more than one way to accomplish something and when I have had the opportunity to lead, I’ve been doubted when I leave matters of preference up to others while I dictate matters of substance. At work, I have the privilege of determining the substance of a schedule while my boss implements it. So my part of the plant leadership is one of substance while my boss handles it by matters of preference (often dictated to him from corporate leadership).

Second, there are still some things that frustrate my understanding in the area of leadership and there has been spillover of this frustration into other areas of ministry. Particularly, doing ministry involves some measure of leadership in the utilization of gifts that one has been given.
This struggle involves some insights that might be helpful in the way that we encourage each other in ministry. The next several posts are a series that investigates Christian leadership and the way that we go about making decisions that honor and glorify our Lord.

The assumptions that I make in this series are that potential leaders are already Christians, that they are relatively mature in their faith, and that they are generally conservative in their theology (high view of scripture).

The links here can be used as an index:

1. Being a Godly Follower


2. The Role of the Holy Spirit – Cessationism vs. Continuationism


3. The Role of the Holy Spirit – Desiring God


4. Leadership and Authority


5. Leadership and Submission


6. Theological Tension on Ministerial Leadership


7. Don’t Waste Your Mediocrity


8. Mentoring the next Generation of Christian Leaders