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Question To Ponder

Posted Oct 31 2010 by Jonathan Brink in  with 12 Comments

Was Jesus a leader?

What say you?

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About the Author

Jonathan BrinkI am an business development and communications consultant. I am also the senior editor and publisher for Civitas Press. I recently published, Discovering The God Imagination: Reconstructing A Whole, New Christianity. (Civitas, 2011)View all posts by Jonathan Brink →

  • @Jimmy_C

    No, not in the understanding of leader we have in popular culture today. The church has adopted a view of leadership based on the principles of corporate strategy. Our view of leadership has been twisted and we now see and teach leaders to be corporate ceos instead of simple servants. Please, do not call me a leader but, hopefully you can call me a follower of Jesus.

    • http://jonathanbrink.com Jonathan Brink

      So Jimmy, are you saying that Jesus was not a leader? Or are you saying he was a different type of leader? Because by your own definition you are following him.

  • David

    No question at all. Jesus was in fact the model of a leader. He did this by example time and time again. Leading His men, serving others, putting others first, His relationship to the Father, His Mission, His great teaching, His Love of people, Knowledge of Scripture and so much more all combined to make Him the greatest leader the world has known or ever will.rnrnCEO’s and the World could learn much from His leadership and methods. There’s a great book called “The Training of the Twelve” by A. B. Bruce that deals with some of His leadership. Great issues discussed in this book. Should be a book Required for those who feel called to Ministry. rnrnPeople say they desire to be a Christ Follower…That tells you something….rnrnIt’s a no brainer.

    • http://jonathanbrink.com Jonathan Brink

      David, haven’t heard of the book but I’ll keep it in mind. So is Jesus’ leadership different than the CEO type approach you contrast?

      • David

        I’m surprised you havne’t heard of the book. It’s almost a classic. You need to think about looking at sometime. rnrnI think many newer CEO of the last 10 years or so are looking more to colaborative leadership and not onlt that but really serving their people to help them get their jobs done. There’s been a big change in the leadership arena the last few years and many CEO’s are making that Change. Some of that is a result of Christian CEO’s and applying Biblical principles. Proverbs is full of relational issues and good for the business culture.rnrnGreat subject to explore. I also think many Business practices that are tried and true are good for the Church as many Pastors never get any Business training at all. If you running either a small Church or big Church you need at least some Business sense as well as good people skills and not juts knowledge of how to preach Gods Word.

        • David

          Guess that didn’t answer you question Joanthan. Sorry. Yes the leadership style of Jesus I think is much different. Most people (leaders) gather people around them to get their agenda accomplished. I think Jesus gathered men around him so they could get their ministry accomplished. I think of 11Tim 2:2. thats juts one aspect. Another is colaborative leadership. This is starting catching on in the world but Jesus used it with His men a lot. Another one of His styles is really serving others and caring about them and knowing them. Although in some companies this is also starting to happen it’s far to small a number. Jesus cared about people first. Great principle for Business if you want faithful and skillful people around you. Jesus gave his men a Vision and Mission greater than themselves. I think thats what people desire. To be part of something bigger than themselves. Again some CEO’s use that prinicple in their style of management and business by ensureing their people know what the mission and vision of the company is and how they contrinute to it each day. This is a vital part. So many other issue that Jesus did. Most all of them delt with knowing and caring and serving others. The Business CEO’s are starting to catch that in some companies. I think it’s great ! rnrnThe other side is that there are Business factors that can bennifit the Church as well. Like Position decriptions for staff. So many Churches don;t have a clue on staff assignments and what a position description is or how to implement it. A good employee evaluation system. Another weakness of the Church. So many people think they can do just what takes to get by in Church or give little or no effort. That doesn’t work in the business world and the Church can learn from that. So there a lot of examples. From how money is handled, people relations, Mission and vision, advertisment, and even branding. Hope this gives you an idea of what I ment.

  • Joy

    I’m with Jimmy_C. The last church I attended before leaving…the leadership talked more about leading, innovation and strategic planning over serving and giving power away. Was Jesus a leader…yes…but so different from what is championed and marketed to the body today.rnrnI think people followed Jesus because he was truly compelling…He certainly didn’t assemble his disciples in the same way I’ve seen leadership confered upon people in the church today. Look at the dudes he chose for His ‘leadership team’. From what I can see…those guys were hardly ‘up and coming, edgy, popular or already making a name for themselves around town which seems to be a prereq from what have I observed.rnrn

    • http://jonathanbrink.com Jonathan Brink

      Joy, do you see Jesus engaging anything out front in terms of being creative, innovative and leading the way?

  • http://thetheologyofjoe.wordpress.com/ Joe

    Depends on your definition of ‘leader’ I suppose. Given that he said the ideal was for a leader to be least and servant of all, I’d say probably not if your definition is associated with contemporary leadership styles.

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  • http://openmindedconversations.blogspot.com/ jshmueller

    “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.”rnrnIf that’s not leadership, then I don’t know what is.

  • Jxpxus

    no, jesus was the first follower

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