Leadership models matter because they influence how we think, and how we think determines how we act. Are there distinctive principles that should mark we lead in God’s work? If so what are they?

To focus the question more, let’s ask, “What is that makes leadership in a Great Commission movement unique and different from leadership in other areas of activity?” The only way to answer this question is to dig into the same book that gives us the Great Commission: the Bible. What can the Scriptures teach us about what makes leadership in God’s work unique?

Rather than looking at specific texts, I’d like to “open the lens” and consider the grand sweep of the Bible’s “leadership story” across the whole span of our creation’s history. The diagram below attempts to capture the main principles.

The Bible’s Leadership Story
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Staring from the top we have:

(1) God’s decisions in eternity (right and left) followed by

(2) Creation (on the left) and the renewed creation in the New City (on the right);

(3) Our world’s collapse into sin (left) with final judgment of sin (left);

(4) The penalty for sin on the cross in humility but one day he will return in glory (right).

Our unique time (in the center marked by the red arrow) is an age during which God is calling people to join his new human community. Those of us who follow Christ are entrusted with this invitation and empowered by His gift of the Holy Spirit that Jesus sent to counsel and empower us for this task. Read More