Effective leadership from a biblical perspective is a God manifested character to influence and serve others through Christ’s interests to accomplish God’s purposes. In a Christian community, leaders should be guided by the Holy Spirit to collaborate and adopt good attributes to execute their duties without fear. Jesus demonstrated effective leadership. The scripture supports transformational leadership as the most effective leadership approach to impart positive change in the communities.
First, leaders must shape their characters through discipline to be unbiased in serving God’s love and justice. From a biblical perspective, humility, service to others, selflessness, sacrifice, courage, and integrity are every Christian leader’s characteristics. Jesus taught his disciples that authority and service in the kingdom of God are about submission and service. Leaders should apply God’s principles in everyday decisions in a Christian context. The attributes of leadership are God-given, and believers should manage all resources God brings into their lives to better his creation.
In Christian leadership, decision-making should be underpinned by Biblical foundations. Exploring the grace of God in decision-making leads to mutually beneficial outcomes. Leaders should collaborate in decision-making, as demonstrated by the Christian Apostles council of Jerusalem. When the spirit of repentance leads Peter, he seeks counsel from the other apostles on the issue. In Acts 15:2, “After Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate within them, Paul, Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and elders” (Barker et al., 2020). Even after claiming superior wisdom and authority, Paul and Barnabus also seek advice from the Christian community for mutual decisions.
The bible emphasizes cooperation in leadership. In the book of Romans, Paul teaches leaders to consider themselves as a part of a larger body in serving God. In Romans 4-5, Paul teaches, “For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another” (Barker et al., 2020). The verse highlights the importance of connecting with other leaders and followers. The command to authentic leaders is to not think too highly of oneself but rather form healthy interdependence. Leadership should incorporate diversity and inclusion demonstrated in 1 Corinthians 12: 4-27 (New Revised Standard Version) to bring together unique talents and strengths.
The need for transformational leaders is clearly expressed in the attributes from the scripture. Transformational leaders work to influence their followers’ vision and character by committing to cooperation. Transformational leadership is distinguishable from authoritative and transactional styles of leading. Autocratic leaders make decisions based on their ideas as well as judgments and don’t believe in the spirit of cooperation key to transformational leadership (Parrott, 2010). Unlike transformational leadership, which inspires subordinates, transactional leadership focuses on personal benefits.
Drawing from the biblical perspective on leadership, I can utilize transformational leadership to serve, encourage learning, and drive change. The attributes of humility, selflessness, sacrifice, courage, and integrity will enhance my character as a leader. Seeking scripture guidance in making decisions will enable me to solve problems effectively to build substantial social capital. Cooperation with other followers and leaders to promote inclusion and diversity will reinforce togetherness, harmony among the people, and progress in the society.
References
Barker, K. L., Strauss, M. L., Brown, J. K., Blomberg, C. L., & Williams, M. (Eds.). (2020). NIV study bible. Zondervan. Web.
Parrott, R. (2010). The longview: Lasting strategies for rising leaders. David C Cook.