What Is Leadership?

Ask Pastor John
Episode: 25
Transcript: www.desiringgod.org/interview...

[@exploringtheologychannel1697]

Leadership is following Christ as others follow us.

[@nmm5214]

Godly leadership is letting God Lead through whomsoever God has appointed

[@Here2Comment]

I disagree...just because God appoints someone as a leader doesn't mean the person is necessarily godly or will be godly. If that was the case then all leaders would be godly because He appoints all leadership Rom 13:1 & 1 Peter 2:13-14. However, we are called to submit to them, but when that leader is doing something ungodly then we are not to partake NO MATTER WHAT. Daniel is a perfect example of this...he submit his life to ungodly kings but was willing to accept death when that king wanted him to do something that would defile his conscience against God. We must live the same way in this world...with all leaders.

[@The_True_]

Well said. When I was young I fell away from the church when all I received was fire and brimstone legalism that ultimately made me feel without hope and doomed. But now, decades later, by the grace of God I have found a new church that remembers to give the good news with the bad, and the gospel is given properly about salvation apart from works, which then leads us to the good works God has ordained for us and guides us to by the leading of the Holy Spirit. I was in the deepest darkness, and Jesus pulled me out into the light. All praise and glory be unto God for His grace and mercy on me, a sinner.

[@VoDitas]

Why do you need Church when you have Jesus? and why do you need the Bible when you have the Holy Spirit?

[@The_True_]

@@VoDitas Why would I not want to read the word of God and assemble with the church? The Holy Spirit calls scripture into our rememberance to guide us, the word is a light to our path. Man shall not live on bread alone, but by every word breathed by God.

[@PeterCianci]

I believe that Christian "Leadership" is applying Godly Wisdom, Discernment, Courage and Vision by setting examples and instilling trust that causes others to follow.

[@VoDitas]

why follow a human when you can follow jesus?

[@PeterCianci]

@@VoDitas Because Jesus set the example for us. How must one lead in a business? How do I lead my family? Through applying the Lord's principles and modeling Christ's examples.

[@philipbenjamin4720]

Here John Piper defines leadership as “acting and speaking so as to create a following toward a goal”. And he then says that in Christian leadership the goal is defined by scripture. But how do I speak and act in order to create a following? Following God already involves speaking and acting consistent with his character. Is there anything beyond this that I must do to be more than just a Christian - to be a LEADER Christian? Do any particular strategies or human attributes enhance leadership? There are two levels of going wrong on this issue. The most extreme is to act as if being a Christian and being a leader are completely separate things. If you like that it’s one thing to be a Christian and another thing to know how to market Christianity to others. Leaders who believe this go into a completely different gear when they talk about leadership. They speak and act as if Jesus is the model for being a Christian but they believe that he isn’t of any use in seeking to market faith in the modern world. The second less extreme position is to say that Jesus is our example of leadership but then to attribute ideas about leadership which aren’t true to who he is - such as I believe is being done here in saying that leadership seeks to gain a following. Jesus didn’t speak or act in a way designed to build a following. I certainly concede that he sought to speak in a manner designed to make what he said memorable - sayings and parables designed to cause people to grasp and not forget ideas. But beyond that I concede nothing. And even this aspect of Jesus deserves no special mention because his being accessible to people is part of his being of godly character. Like God he seeks to make himself known. If leadership was how John describes here we would expect to see the Bible talk about leadership as a specific gift. But it doesn’t. Why? Because leadership cannot be distinguished from simply being a faithful believer. So I’m going to dare to say that leadership is the exact opposite of what Piper is saying here. Leadership is choosing to follow God in words and actions (and motives!) without regard to whether it creates a following. That’s what the cross is. It is Jesus’ greatest leadership (although it isn’t a moment in time - it includes his total life submission) and yet at the point of his death Jesus arguably had no followers. No-one wholeheartedly embraced Jesus’ character then. Or now. It’s therefore impossible to separate godly leadership from isolation. We have problems seeing leadership as nothing more than obedience because we see leaders with enormous followings - and others with few - and we begin to draw mistaken conclusions in comparing the two. We may for example see charisma, or EI - emotional intelligence - or intellect which enables a person to be able to sum up ideas with clarity - and we therefore believe that these things must be part of leadership. Taking each of these three in turn: -charisma cannot be a reason why people who might not otherwise end up serving God do so. If it was the case then on the day of judgement unbelievers could express objection that the truth never came from the mouth of anyone sufficiently dynamic to cause them to change direction -emotional intelligence is a buzz word for something that is different from character. If it was another word for character we’d simply talk about character - it isn’t. Emotionally intelligent people deliberately avoid presenting themselves in a way that will cause others to stumble. But this has no long term godly consequences - whereas those who are faithful in character will ultimately be seen to be so by those who search for the truth. Seeing someone as godly is itself a form of revelation from God - a product of wisdom as opposed to carnal judgements. -to see why intellect makes little difference to leadership we need to compare the power of ideas that are merely knowledge - which aren’t a Spirit revelation arising from obedience - with ideas that are - with wisdom. The best intellect can do is to dress up knowledge in a way that appears to make it seem more transformative. It should be mentioned that there are some people who profess a faith who have a frightening capacity to mimic those around them. A preacher may be extremely gifted at making up ideas which match the tone or style of those whose ideas get acceptance. The reason why some leaders who profess a faith have enormous followings is because the position they take in relation to the truth is one which matches the intended direction of those who appear to follow them. They aren’t leading such people - they are following them. These people are experts at matching their approach to the carnal priorities of those who appear to follow them - they accurately understand the implications of their holding particular priorities - they also recognise in what exact ways people are willing to serve God up to a certain point. In it's less intense form it will be manifested in changing one's theology to particular accepted positions - for example such a person might sense that to be in leadership in The Gospel Coalition it would help if they were a Calvinist. I mention this example because I don't know a leader in The Gospel Coalition who isn't a Calvinist, yet I don't see anyone except John Piper attempting to defend Calvinism (although he isn't really doing that either - he isn't addressing the most common and compelling arguments for Arminianism being presented by people such as Leighton Flowers and Mike Winger) - a sign that these beliefs aren't really held with much conviction. So in the church we have door A leaders, door B leaders, and door C leaders. If more people plan to walk through door C than A or B, and you position your “leadership” to match those intending to walk through door C, you will appear to be a leader with a large following. PS Churches whose leadership is dominated by university graduates may well have been sucked into thinking of leadership in a way that is incorrect. And the same goes for when a church's leadership is dominated by talkers. To be apostolic (the highest form of leadership) involves doing more than talking - it involves making oneself less - which can be done just as much in service as in speaking. I'm not saying that the word of God shouldn't be central in the life of a church. I'm saying that to say that is to say something different from saying that all leaders should be wordsmiths.

[@GuruDesaPelosok]

Luar biasa. Thank you.

[@user-ov8po1zt5x]

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[@aubrey9584]

nice

[@gabriellehanna749]

How do I ask Pastor John my own question? 😂😂

[@colmwhateveryoulike3240]

You can email them. You'll find a button at the bottom of this page www.desiringgod.org/ask-pastor-john or you can email [e-mail] directly.

[@VoDitas]

If Jesus was real you would not need a leader or the bible or John Piper videos.

[@ianjones2731]

Oh he is real and despite the epic ignorance of your comment (no offense) you are here which is great and shows that you are searching for truth..i truly hope you find it.

[@VoDitas]

@@ianjones2731 i dont pretend to have found the truth, thats the difference.

[@PeterCianci]

Clearly, this is cynical and it "appears" you don't the know Lord nor have you read the Bible? Just an assumption, no offense.

[@VoDitas]

@@PeterCianci If you know the Lord, why do you need christian leadership? its just an honest question.

[@Haiburidu]

@@VoDitas Jesus told His disciples. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." Skip 2000 years... that commandment hasn't changed because the Word hasn't changed. A disciple cannot be lead without a leader..and a leader cannot lead without a disciple. So in conclusion, we, as Christians all require a spiritual leader. Not just any spiritual leader. But one that has been following the Word of God and one whom God had anointed as a leader.