LEAD510_Old Testament Biblical Leadership Theme Report

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Old Testament Biblical Leadership Theme Report

LEAD 510

INTRODUCTION

The Old Testament speaks to leaders such as Moses, Solomon, Joshua, David, and

Joseph. c All these leaders demonstrate leaders having the ability to distinguish between

right and wrong, displaying restraint, as well as displaying integrity.

c c c c The biblical leader helps his or her followers to discover the overall strengths as

someone who follows God. c He or she gives the answers to the questions to whether the

leader is a strong Godly leader, above average Godly leader or even a poor Godly leader. c

exceptional has had to occur in the person's life. c A Godly leader first must have a

personal relationship with God, by trusting in Him and obeying His commands.

this is done by accepting Christ as personal Savior and recognizing that we are all born

sinners. c Roman 3:23 states, "For all men have sinned and have missed the shining-

greatness of God." c Christian leaders have an understanding that their good works or way

of life is not enough to save them, and Christ had to pay the price for all our sins.

Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2003), 15. c

God’s vision with complete, unquestioned obedience. c Genesis 12:4 says, “So Abram

departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. c And Abram was seventy-

five years old when he departed from Haran.”

Abram was the first of the patriarchs to be led and to lead by the will of God and

be in complete obedience. c Elmer Towns said, “Abraham took significant risks in leaving

back on the right track. Ezra 10:11 states, “’Now therefore make confession to the Lord

God of your fathers and do His will; separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and

from the pagan wives.’”

Ezra found that those that were supposed to be holding the strongest to God’s

covenant laws were not and had taken pagan wives and were mixing with the “people of

the land.” c Ezra became upset, tore his clothes, and pulled out his hair. c He then came up

with the solution to get the people of Jerusalem back on track with God. c He called for

them all to gather together, if they didn’t show their land would be confiscated and they

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would be separated from the people, and he told them to give up the pagan wives and

lifestyle and get right with God. c So, they confessed, and Ezra set them on a new course

towards favor with God.

face of failure or rejection. Exodus 14:31 says, “Thus Israel saw the great work which the

Lord had done in Egypt; so, the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and His

Finally, Israel, after the most dramatic display of God’s power, was released, and they

escaped from Egypt, and God got them safely across the Red Sea. c If the leader doesn’t

face challenges that make the vision look impossible, then the vision isn’t from God. c A

great leader must be persistent to succeed, especially through the difficult challenges. c

Towns says that, “Followers will never go farther than their leaders.”

Another biblical leadership theme in the Old Testament is identifying, nurturing, and

training new leaders. c Deuteronomy 31:7 states, “Then Moses called Joshua and said to him

in the sight of all Israel, ‘Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people

to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause

them to inherit it.’”

Every great leader knows that his or her time will come to an end, and so they need

to have an apprentice to be his or her successor. c In fact, they need to have several

successors, so the vision and goals of the ministry are multiplied. c This is important for

ministry growth, especially ministries that have had long-time leaders at the head. c Moses

knew that he was not going to be crossing the Jordan with the rest of Israel, so God told

Joshua in front of the entire congregation to give Joshua the credibility he needed to lead

them forward. c Great leaders identify, train, mentor, counsel, and announce their successors

for smooth transitions.

CONCLUSION

There are times that a great leader must set a new course for the ministry. c This is

seen when a new pastor takes over a dying church, or a new leader comes in to re-organize

a ministry that is faltering. c The decisions are usually difficult. c However, the leader sees

that the God’s vision for the ministry is to get back to the right place and on the right road

to health and sustainability. This is a lonely position for the leader if there is an

unwillingness to change, but one that can gain followers quickly when they see positive

changes.

or practice servant leadership styles? c There are many organizations, volunteer groups,

charities, businesses and church congregations that are attempting to grow strong servant

leader strategies. c Many of these groups are failing.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Forrest, Benjamin K. Forrest and Chet Roden. Biblical Leadership: Theology for the

Howell, D. N. Servants of the Servant: A Biblical Theology of Leadership. c Eugene OR:

Malphurs, Aubrey. Being Leaders: The Nature of Authentic Christian Leadership. c Grand

c c c c c Rapids: Baker Books, 2003.