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Leadership 510 Discussion Boards
Biblical Foundation of Christian Leadership (Liberty
University)
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LEADERSHIP 510 – Discussion Boards
Nehemiah – Motivator and Mobilizer
Reading Servants of Servants by Howell has been an interesting study on leadership
accompanied by Biblical Leadership by Benjamin K. Forrest and Chet Roden. As I studied, I
found that I had things in common with all the leaders, however the one I most felt drawn to was
Nehemiah. According to Howell he was a motivator and mobilizer.1 My life mission has been
Ephesians 4:12 “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the
body of Christ”2 Discipleship and motivating people for the work of the ministry, as winning
and discipling others has been my mission for a long time. Just as Nehemiah surveyed his
situation and defined his mission, I saw a long time ago that one of the greatest areas of the
church was the lack of discipleship. My dad as the pastor would take a group of people out and
knock doors, people would give their lives to the Lord. They would stay for a little while and
then they were gone again. I saw this in churches that we attended as well as churches my
parents pastored. Then my husband and I started pastoring a couple of churches that had been
around for a long time, my heart was sad as they were interested in being a social club and not
really doing the work of the ministry. The mission was and is very clear and defined. Just as
Nehemiah knew what he had to do. One of the churches that I worked for I was able to head up
the discipleship and while there I saw many people have a true encounter with Jesus, find their
purpose and began to follow a life mission statement. They all included winning people to Jesus,
disciplining and teaching them to do the same. I know that it can be done, it is about building the
broken walls of their lives and allowing Jesus to bring healing and fighting the good fight of
faith. 1 Corinthians 16:13 says, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be
strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” Forrest and Roden says, “Leaders submit their
authority (and responsibility) to the sovereignty of God.” This is something no matter what
leader you are drawn to, this is a great statement as a leader we must submit ourselves to
the sovereignty of God.3
Bibliography
Forrest, Benjamin and Chet Roden, Biblical Leadership Theology for the Everyday Leader, Grand Rapids,
MI: Kregel Publications, 2017.
1 Don Howell, Servants of the Servant: A Biblical Theology of Leadership. (Eugene, OR: WIPF & Stock
Publishers, 2003), MyWsb.
2 Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the New American Standard Bible
(Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2008).
3 Benjamin Forrest and Chet Roden, Biblical Leadership Theology for the Everyday Leader (Grand Rapids, MI:
Kregel Publications, 2017), 258.
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Howell, Don, Servants of the Servants: A Biblical Theology of Leadership, Eugene, OR: WIPF & Stock
Publishers, 2003.
Hi M,
I have always loved the story of Gideon, because God saw something in Gideon that he did not see in
himself. My favorite part of the story is when God sent and angel of the Lord who said in Judges 6:12
“The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior.” God is calling him a warrior and Gideon just didn’t see it. He
needed affirmation of who he was and what he was. Forrest and Roden said, “Leaders, always need to
seek advice and counsel from advisors. God’s wisdom, however, must always take precedent over that
of human advisors, as man is prone to pride and earthly influences, and only God’s wisdom is pure in its
motivation (James 3:13-18).”4 God never leaves us the same, we are always growing. In sharing your
story God was calling you to more because He knew that you could do it, even when you did not see it
in yourself. In my purpose classes I taught, I told everyone that God stretches and grows us because it is
all part of becoming more like Him. We lay down our old and walk in the new with Him. It is awesome
that you give all the glory to God. I encourage you be confident in who God has created you to be, walk
in the boldness of the Lord and know that He has called you and it will always be bigger than you, so
you can continue to depend on God and not yourself.
Thanks for a great
post, Ness
Hi H,
One thing that I have learned over the years is that leadership and desperation can cause you to do
things you never dreamed you would. Sometimes leaders make decisions that they never thought they
would do, and desperate people can do the same. If you are ever in a place where you have a desperate
leader it can be trouble. The one thing that stood out to me that Howell wrote about Joseph was,
“Though his entire adult life (age 17 until his death at 110) is spent in a pagan land and he serves in the
upper echelons of leadership in a secular government, Josepha maintains his spiritual identity as a loyal
son of Israel.”5 I think Joseph understood who he was, he did not doubt or was not trying to find
himself, he understood who he was. The time that we live in I think makes us question who we are
rather than understanding who we are. As a Joseph leader, you need to know who you are then like
Joseph you can walk through your life with the integrity because you will not compromise who you are
as a servant of Jesus Christ, a Son of God and a leader of His servants and children. Howell also said that
his moment in history was “dignified with greater meaning beyond the immediate.”6 Loki in the Avenger
movie had one of the best lines in the movie (even if he was a bad guy) when he exclaimed that he was
“burdened with
4 Benjamin Forrest and Chet Roden, Biblical Leadership Theology for the Everyday Leader (Grand Rapids, MI:
Kregel Publications, 2017), 103.
5 Don Howell, Servants of the Servant: A Biblical Theology of Leadership. (Eugene, OR: WIPF & Stock
Publishers, 2003), MyWsb
6 Ibid.
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glorious purpose.”7 Understanding who you are gives you the ability to stand for something greater than
yourself. If you know who you are and understand your purpose you can accomplish great things like
Gideon and Joseph.
Thank you for your
post. Ness
G,
When I think about David, like you I love his thirst for being in the presence of God and his ability to
worship during the “times of adversity.”8 I love your heart and ministry to the various countries and
using the gifts that God has given you. There is another thing that I love about David, when he messed
up, he was quick to repent and not offer rationalizations for the reason he failed. When he did this, it
kept his heart after God even when David hurt. Your story regarding forgiveness shows that you
desire to walk in this as well to keep your heart right and walk in the presence of God without
hinderance.
David also was patient, he knew God had anointed him king, but he still served the current king and was
faithful to him even when Saul was trying to kill him. It is important to let God work out his plan in your
life and not allow others or yourself to push into it before you are ready or before the timing of God is at
hand. It is about staying in his presence and being faithful to the promise of God. Howell said,
“faithfulness to God’s covenantal purposes” and goes on to say that “the reign of David becomes the
standard of measure for other kings.”9 As you live out your purpose following God and staying in His
presence and following the plans of God even when it is hard, you can also be an example to others of
what you should do as an able minister of Jesus.
Thank you for your
post, Ness
Servant Leadership is a Lifestyle.
7 Loki of Asgard Quotes, https://ww.goodreads.com/author/quotes/7011528.Loki_of_Asgard
8 Don Howell, Servants of the Servant: A Biblical Theology of Leadership. (Eugene, OR: WIPF & Stock
Publishers, 2003), MyWsb
9 Ibid, Mywsb.
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1 Peter 5:2-5 says, “shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under
compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with
eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to
the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with
humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”10
This verse explains servant leadership and especially the last part of the verse that talks about
clothing ourselves the humility towards one another. “To obey Jesus’ call to servanthood would
involve a radical surrender of one’s natural pursuit of comfort, wealth, and recognition.”11 It
calls us to die to ourselves Galatians 2:20 says, I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no
longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith
in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Philippians 2:3-7 says, “Do
nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as
more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also
for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who,
although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”
This is the attitude that we should take as leaders. I believe that servant leadership is all about
kingdom thinking, I am serving so that I can see more people come to know Jesus and teach
others to do the same, thus we are growing the kingdom. It is not about my own success but the
success of Jesus and seeing Him lifted up in my church, in my community and in my home in
front of my children. I am a servant called by God. Howell says, “greatness in God’s kingdom
consists in imitating the Son of man who came not to be served, but to serve.”12 Servant leadership is a
lifestyle that should be used every day whether at church, work , school, grocery store or at home.
Brian,
You are so right that the greatest gift or act of service we can give someone is forgiveness. It is in this
forgiveness that we can reach them with the love of Jesus. When you are in leadership, forgiveness
needs to be your middle name because it is easy to take down the leader in words, actions or deeds.
Being a leader is about speaking into their lives and one of the greatest ways to have the ability to speak
into someone’s life is to serve them. It opens doors of opportunity that might not have been open
without the act of service. John Maxwell says, “Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It
is about one life influencing another.”13 Steve Sjogren in his book Conspiracy of Kindness and Servant
Warfare is all about kindness or servant evangelism as a way to open doors to speak into peoples lives.
True leaders are not leaders that force them selves into that position, but those who earn that position
10 Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the New American Standard Bible
(Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2008).
11 Don N. Howell Jr., Servants of the Servant: A Biblical Theology of Leadership (Eugene, OR: WIPF &
Stock Publishers, 2003), Wipf.
12 Ibid., Wipf.
13 John Maxwell, Developing the Leader within you 2.0 (Nashville, TN: HarperCollins, 2018) Kindle.
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through being a servant. It is only through this servant status that we can share what Jesus has done in
and through us.
R,
Thank you for your post. You are right it is easy to allow selfishness into our ministries rather
than selflessness. Becoming a servant is hard because it is dying to ourselves. Philippians 2:3-7
says, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one
another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal
interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in
Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a
thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in
the likeness of men” explains the attitude that we should approach leadership with. If Jesus
came as a servant, should not we his followers be the example of servant leadership just as he
was. John Maxwell says, “Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one
life influencing another.”14 It is this influence that is made available to us with others through
being a servant.
Thank you,
Ness
G,
Thank you for your post. You are right being a servant is difficult. You mentioned Dr. Myles
Monroe and one of the things that Dr. Monroe said that influenced my life, is “God is a God of
purpose and everything He does is on purpose.” This can also apply to leadership, God is a God
of purpose and gave us a plan for leadership it is called being a servant. Philippians 2:3-7 says,
“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as
more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also
for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who,
although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”
If we can understand the purpose of leadership and the purpose of a servant that we can walk in
the purpose for which we were called. God is a God of purpose and Jesus came as a servant so
He could change the world forever through serving His creation. How much more so should we
as believers seek to serve and not be served. It is a way to open doors of opportunity that we
might not ever be able to walk through otherwise. Walking as a servant allows us to speak into
others’ lives that we might not ever have had the opportunity to do except we loved them enough
to serve them.
Thank you,
Ness
14 John Maxwell, Developing the Leader within you 2.0 (Nashville, TN: HarperCollins, 2018) Kindle.
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Every leader struggles to balance “being” and “doing”. Describe a conflict/crisis that has
occurred in your life and provide 1–2 “lessons” that God has used to develop you as a
leader/person. You may previously have only seen these conflicts and crises as problems in your
life, but with time you now realize how essential they are in shaping and molding you as a
leader. Note the biblical pattern in II Corinthians 1:3–4 and II Timothy 3:10–11.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all
comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in
any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
2 Timothy 3:10-11 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance,
persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what
persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me!
James 1:5 says, “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously
and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
Ministry is difficult, but God is faithful. My husband and I know that we are called to
ministry. We have always served and were faithful in many ministries and understand how
important it is to be an armor bearer for the leaders. To pray for them and help them with the
ministry that God has entrusted to them. We have a pastor’s heart and have served in just about
every position in a church from the janitor, to the parking lot attendant, worship leader, youth
pastors, office worker, staff pastors and recently senior pastors. So, the conflict/crisis that I am
going to share is one that is fresh. Three years ago, we were invited to serve as the senior pastors
of a church in Colorado. It was so exciting, and we knew that was where God wanted us. It was
a board ran church. When we went up there, we told them that our desire was to see God move
in a mighty way and that we are big on community outreach and discipleship. We also explained
that we were a team and worked well together. We also told them that we liked to think out of
the box and were contemporary. They informed us that we were behind us one hundred percent
and that was what the wanted. We knew to go in and turn to boat slowly to build relationships
and teach the Word of God. When we first started, I stayed in the back ground a lot, because
there was a lot more resentence with them regarding women in ministry. I was ok with that
because I know that if you are faithful, your gifts will always make room for you. I prayed,
loved on people and did my best to build relationships. What I soon learned was that I was an
outsider and they had all been in the community all their lives and they did not easily let others
in. My kids were picked on and bullied the entire time, we worked with them and learned a lot
about forgiveness as well as standing up for ourselves. The first year went by and the new board
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members were put on the board. My husband and been very faithful, the pastor before had done
some questionable things that made them not trust pastors as much, so we were really trying to
bring healing and restoration. When the new members came on the board, they told my husband
that I was not to help out at all unless they gave me permission (which I was not doing anything
any way because they did not need me to help with anything). Then they told my husband that
they wanted him to let them know what he was going to preach so they could give him pointers
on how to better teach the bible. They informed him that he was their subordinate and had no
authority at all within the church and he needed to ask them permission on everything including
his messages. We prayed and prayed and asked God to give us direction because we loved these
people and knew God wanted to do something there, but they refused. They would not do any
outreaches to the community because it was not important. We had prayer every Wednesday
night, which was one of the first things we started when we first got there. My husband asked
them why the board members who were the elders and the ones who prayed for people at the
altar why they never came to prayer. They told him that they did not feel the need to come to
pray because they were ok just as they were and did not feel led to get involved in prayer for the
church. It was the craziest things I had ever heard. My husband after trying to come to terms
with how to work with these new board members finally just told them that he loved being there
pastor but could not work within these guidelines. He asked for help from the district office, to
which he was told they could not help us. Please hear me, we left on good terms. My husband
told them that he would help out until they found someone, or we found a new position and the
agreed. They agreed but then came to him a month later after we started the process and told us
that we had given our two weeks’ notice and that we should be out of the house by November 1.
We were searching for what was going on. So, we packed and moved with no place to go. My
dad was a pastor and I have seen many things in a church, but this was the strangest by far.
My heart was sad because this was my husband’s first time being a senior pastor and he
really struggled with it. Praying and asking God to help him learn what he might could have
done different. I have been behind the scenes of churches all my life and have seen a lot of
things that happened to my dad from members, elders and board members. He taught me about
forgiveness and trusting God. It was a hard lesson.
As a pastor it is really hard to know when to just be and when to do something. We
could have stood up to the board and caused a lot of pain in the church, but we knew that was not
what God wanted us to do. It would have caused a church split because there were many who
would have helped us. We prayed and ask the Lord and really felt that we went through this with
grace, honor and love. We loved on all the people up until we left and even afterwards. We did
not share with the people all that was going on because everyone was related to everyone in the
church and would have made no difference except to start family feuds. James 1:5 says, “But if
any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach,
and it will be given to him.” This experience allowed us to walk in love, wisdom and leave
without destroying the church. They now have a pastor from the area, they accept him because
he was raised in the area and was not an outsider. Which is what we were praying for as we
were leaving. He is making headway with this area that we could have never made. I think we
helped bring healing because of the last pastor and laid the groundwork for the next. I am happy
with how we handled it. We learned to really trust God even when you want to show how you
are right and others were wrong. It is important to see more than the moment as a pastor but to
see the past and the future as it relates to the moment. God is faithful to help in any situation
even
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one that breaks your heart. It is great because God is the healer and can put it back together
again and help to make you stronger.
W,
Thank you for your post and sharing your story. I am sorry to hear of the loss you have
experienced but the way God has carried you through is beautiful. Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord
is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” You are truly a
testimony of how God can bring good out of tragedy. God is faithful and although the loss you
feel with your family, God is sustaining you and drawing you closer to Him. Being a chaplain is
an amazing job, my husband loves working in chaplaincy he is working on finishing his CPE
training this fall.
Thank you for you post.
Ness
R,
Thank you for your post. I think many of us get stuck at the semi-colon there and not entering in
the God’s rest. You are so right in being faithful with the small things and God will give you
more, it will never be more than you can handle. Falling into being overwhelmed can be easy but
not what God desires for us. Galatians 5:22 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.” Part of being faithful is walking in the fruit which is
joy but also peace and patience which are both invaluable in ministry. I pray that you continue
entering into the rest of you Lord.
Ness
A,
Thank you for your post and for your work with teens. My husband and I have worked as youth
pastors for several years it is an amazing ministry. You must work with teens in various stages of
development, their parents also working through their teens various stages of development.
There is always lots of drama with the most amazing potential for passion for Jesus and the
possibility of changing a generation. I love youth ministry, but you are right since they are just
learning you must always keep a high standard that they can learn to reach all the while praising,
encouraging and helping them learn what a disciple is and how to do life with Jesus. If we can
teach them how to live their lives following Jesus as a true disciple, you have some of the
greatest potential unleashed for the Lord.
Thank you for a great post.
Ness
