LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Assignment Title: The personality of the Christian leader
Course: CHMN 699 - Internship
Student: Kristine Sage
Date: January 29, 2022
Professor: Dr. Joel Breidenbaugh
The personality of the Christian leader
Many authors have written in depth about personality characteristics which make for an effective
leader. However there is no agreement to a single type of personality which can be designated
‘leadership material'. There is some suggestion that have included intelligence, integrity, selfassurance
and individuality, but even these are not essential. The fact remains that a person may be a leader in
one situation and not in another.
Douglas McGregor wrote in his examination of the nature of leadership: ‘is not a property of the
individual, but a complex relationship among these variables'. It is this that makes its study so
rewarding, and enables a far greater number of people to take some leadership role than is often
imagined. Berkely D. James, asserts that human beings are influenced by two important components,
nature and grace. The influence of nature is seen in people‘s intellect, temperament, and gifts. The
influence of grace is seen in the touch of God harnessing and enhancing these natural factors so that
people are readied for focused service10.
Effective leadership depends on the right person being in the right place at the right time; it is both
personal and contextual. A leader emerges from within a certain set of circumstances at a particular
time. The selection and placing of the right person in the right place is an important part of the overall
leadership of a church and much time and prayer should precede such decision. It is not surprising the
Christ spent the night in prayer before choosing the twelve disciples. But leadership is not only a matter
of personality and context. First, Christian leadership is a charism of the Holy Spirit and we need to
examine its nature. Secondly leadership need to be trained.
Charismatic Leadership
A German sociologist, Max Weber introduced in his work a term Charismatic leadership. He
described certain leaders as having exceptional qualities that enabled them to motivate followers to
achieve outstanding performance. Charisma is a Greek word meaning “gift bestowed by the gods.” As an
adaptation of a theological concept, Weber’s model was an explanation for what sometimes happens in
complex organizations, especially in times of crisis, when a leader was granted a special gift of
extraordinariness by colleagues and subordinates instead of paternal or divine authority that was
general expected in that era. Charismatic leaders are generally spurred to action by ideology and vision,
or by crisis. Many times they are strong willed people, motivated, excited by new possibilities and have
energy. They usually take on hero status with their followers, employees, and sometimes nations.
Charisma is the work of the Holy Spirit in Church leadership. The Anointing of the Holy Spirit is the
prerequisite for those who wants to lead. It is the presence of the Holy Spirit who propels and bestows
on leaders the gift of leading and serving. The power and the presence of the Holy Spirit in a leaders will
enable them to accomplish mighty things. Acts 1. 8 shows what happens when a leader is filled by the
Holy Spirit, lead with power and God led vision and grace, preach the word that bring salvation by Jesus
Christ only and excels in everything as led by the power of God
Charismatic leaders have weakness which may include failure to delegate, unpredictability, and
freedom from inner conflicts that most leaders have with hard decisions, and insensitivity to others can
cause failure with this leadership style. Although no universally accepted set of behaviours and traits
defines charismatic leadership, Church leaders must settle their view on the spiritual gift of leadership,
and how that fits with their view of the apostle, prophet, evangelist and pastor-teacher gifts. If
leadership is primarily a spiritual gift, then finding the person/people with this gift and determining
through church how they will exercise it is the key task. People who are unable to build solid, lasting
relationships will soon discover that they are unable to sustain long, effective leadership11. One’s
comprehensive view of how spiritual gifts work in the church should be consistently applied to
leadership along with other spiritual gifts.
As a leader, the pastor should know his position in a church and never try to be like someone else
or he will always be second best12. Robert House's “four phrases” describe a certain style of church
leader—dominant, influential, self-confident, strong sense of moral values. This is likely only one type of
church leader, not necessarily the best type. It certainly represents the style of leadership most
promoted by the church growth movement and most mega-church leaders. Just using the term
charismatic does not make a style essentially Christian. Yet, through history, many of the most effective
church leaders have had this style.
Can a person develop a charismatic style of leadership or are you born with it (or gifted with it at
conversion)? Even if this style is preferable in some circles, an un-charismatic personality can still
become an effective leader. This style of leadership seems to emerge especially in times of crisis. It
appears an uncharismatic person can become a charismatic leader as a situation may demand it. All
styles of leadership have their dangers, but charismatic leadership seems to have more.
The Bible (Ezekiel 34 verses 2 - 5) show us the consequent dangers of the hero status—often
accorded a charismatic leader. “Scripture speaks to other potential dangers, including over-controlling,
making followers dependant, being narcissistic and/or self-centered, over confidence in self, and
insensitivity to others. The Prophet shows how the leaders ruled harshly and brutally, scattering the
flock of God. Could it be that charismatic leadership styles are both most effective and most dangerous
to the church leader?
The terms “Charisma” and “Charismatic leadership” are often seen as religious terms. They are, but
they are not limited to religious or church leadership. However, seeing charisma as a “gift from God” is
certainly relevant to the church, for leadership is often seen as a spiritual gift in the church. That is,
many Christians see God bestowing a gift of leadership on certain Christians. In this instance, leadership
is not so much a position (like pastor or elder) but a gift God has given to a certain individual. With this
“spiritual gifts” approach to leadership, one assumes a pastor would have such a gift, but the crunch for
many church leaders comes when there are several people in a church—ministerial and lay—claiming
this gift.
Some implications of charismatic leadership theory for church leadership: Church leaders must
settle their view on the spiritual gift of leadership, and how that fits with their view of the apostle,
prophet, evangelist and pastor-teacher gifts. If leadership is primarily a spiritual gift, then finding the
person/people with this gift and determining through church polity how they will exercise it is the key
task. One's comprehensive view of how spiritual gifts work in the church should be consistently applied
to leadership along with other spiritual gifts. D.T. Niles described the leader as being caught up in a
‘momentum apart from himself’ and many leaders will identify the feeling of being out of control of
their own ministry and being swept along in the purpose of God. The leader must share the heart and
mind of God, identify with his will, and look at the world with his eyes. If we do not have this width of
vision we shall become petty and parochial and pernickety. And this vision comes from God. Like the Old
Testament priest the leader's sole is to stand as a bridge between God and the people - praying for the
people to God and explaining the ways of God to the people.
The training of leaders
Many of the African Christian Church leaders have had no formal ministry or had a little training in
ministry. In actual fact education or formal training was not encouraged in some cases. As a result many
church leaders led the church because of passion to serve or to fill the gap, while others were
nominated through election processes and others began to lead the church out of the need of
leadership. It is for this reason the church could not attract vibrant exciting young leaders. Whether
leaders are born that way or emerge from a particular situation, their leadership potential can be
increased. There are certain fields where training is particularly important: Knowledge of self. Leaders
have to be aware of themselves as people and know what effect their actions have on others. Paul's
injunction to ‘think of yourself with sober judgement' is particularly important for those whose decisions
affect many. Although they may have their limitations, personal questionnaires have their uses when
done with the help of another person who knows us well.
Apostle Paul encouraged Timothy to expand his knowledge. He said “study to show himself
approved to God”. Leaders have to keep a flexibility of mind and approach to new problems. Intellectual
muscles need exercising. This may mean reading the latest books and theological periodicals, but in
experience this area is one of great guilt for most ministers: they would like to read the scholarly
volumes but find that their library is full of books with makers which never go beyond page 40. Reading
may be important, but still more important is to think rigorously and theologically though the practical
situations and problems which the everyday life of any church will present. The probing mind will always
be seeking reasons for people’s actions and better ways in which they can be helped. It will be seeking
the will of God and following it, taking the vision and turning it into reality. Research done in many black
churches found that two-thirds of the people had left school, did not finish their high school education
for one reason to the other. This made the leaders reflect on the sort of training material the groups
were being asked to cope with and subsequently to alter the whole learning programme into something
more appropriate.
When personal leadership is combined with the call to ministry one realizes that Christ
demonstrated leadership. To be effective in leadership the leader should benchmark his style of
leadership with that of Jesus Christ. Jesus chose, developed, and equipped followers who turned into
leaders. The disciples went on and became successful in ministry because Jesus pushed His followers
forward without waiting for them to demand responsibility, position or office. Because leadership is an
acquired skill, there is a need for people who are well developed in leadership to help the pastor in the
everyday duties of the church. The people mentioned should be trained into formidable teams and be
empowered to do the work of the ministry. The Great Shepherd has called all people to serve as under
shepherds13.
There is a common feeling that action-directed thinking is in some way inferior to academic
learning, but it can be just as demanding and may be a good deal more use. The Church leader need to
constantly reflect on his leadership his interaction with people and the general development of his
ministry. The danger of unreflective leadership is that there is no careful deliberation about anything,
and the church just responds unthinkingly to events as they occur. The result is a ministry which is
purely reactive and never proactive, pushed and pulled by every pressure.
A leader needs wide experience and the ability to profit from it. They need a breadth of experience
of different churches and denominations, and the widest legitimate knowledge of life. There is some
evidence from industry that several moves in the early part of a person’s career leads to a deeper
experiences than if he or she has been confined to only one branch. Many companies deliberately move
personnel for this among other reason.
It cannot be over emphasised that education or formal training will help the church leader to be a
better a person and leader, to think, to plan to, perform his duties well and also to understand that
Ministry work evolves rapidly , particularly in this times where technology seems to be ruling. Therefore
a leaders has to be equipped, knowledgeable and experiences A leadership is a skill and a church leader
has to know about more about leadership, particularly around his subject matter, the bible. It may
sound obvious, for after all, a doctor needs to know about medicine, and a lawyer about law. A leader
should abide through prayer, reading of the Bible and walking in the Spirit. By learning to trust in God
more, the leader should guard against sinning and always ask the question: Have I come to terms with
its reality?14 However there has been a great reluctance among those called to lead to learn the skills of
their craft. This is as true in industry and the professions as in the life of the church, but much work has
been done on management in recent years, and Christian leaders should not be too proud to learn from
it. After all we use the knowledge of the psychologists in our counselling of people and the design of the
architect in building a church extension. The challenges with many African Church leaders have not yet
seen the advantage of this skill. It is the call and anointing of God that separates a church leader from
other leaders and has to show the abilities as empower of God The way in which such training can be
acquired depends upon what needs to be learnt. Self-awareness can come about from days spent in
prayer and discussion with a Christian friend or spiritual director. Leadership skills can be learnt from
books and courses. Wider experiences can come through a wisely used sabbatical, or a deliberate
attempt to widen one's viewpoint. One church has taken this seriously and insists on the minister taking
a whole Sunday off every two months in order to visit other churches and see how others worship: they
say he comes back with freshness and new ideas, and they enjoy the visiting minister or taking the
services themselves.
