LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY

New Testament Themes

Submitted to Dr. xxxxxxx in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the completion of

LEAD 510-xxx

Biblical Foundations of Leadership

by

xxxxxx xxxxxx

August 4th, 2019

 Introduction

Leadership can be a bit of a broad topic, with many different ways of interpreting or

going about how to lead a group of people. The Bible and the leaders it entails are no different,

in terms of the quantity of different kinds. However, one can argue that Jesus does give us the

ultimate example of what it means to be a Biblical Leader, since we are called to be like in Him.

Even our identity as “Christians” means ones that emulate Christ. Jesus shows that a Biblical

leader should humble, vulnerable, and self-sacrificial.

Romans 12:16 details a command from Paul about humility, “live in harmony with one

another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position, do not be

conceited” (NIV). Humility is an important part of a Christian’s walk with God. Pride has no

place in the heart of a Christ, and can ultimately lead to sin. James 5:16 gives us advice on being

transparent, “Therefor, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may

be healed. The prayer of the righteous person has great power as it is working” (NIV). We are

called to be vulnerable and transparent in our sin with one another, to be open and vulnerable

with fellow believers, and not hide our sin. Transparency comes from having God like integrity

to confess sin that we know no one else knows about. We are also called to be self-sacrificial in

our actions to help others and further the kingdom of God. We are meant to be servant leaders

that are called to be servants first and foremost. This is something that I feel like some leaders in

the church forget to emulate. Jesus gave his disciples an example of what he expected his

followers to be like in John 13. Jesus’s actions by washing his disciples feet perfectly show the

acts of being humble enough to serve his disciples, vulnerable to do a job meant for slaves, and

be self-sacrificial.

Humility
 Humility is something that Christ expected from all his followers. As Christians, we are

called to submit to the authority of God and His will for our lives. In order to be a fully devoted

follower of Christ, one needs to have a humble spirit. John 13 tells the story of Jesus taking the

time to get on his knees to wash the feet of his disciples. This was an act that was usually

reserved for that of a slave or servant of the household. Even by today’s standards, washing

someone’s feet is considered an extreme act. Yet, back then it would be an even more disgusting

act, since people back then wore open footwear and walked on dirt roads for traveling. This

means that someone volunteering to wash the feet of others, let alone one’s own students, was an

act of extreme love and humility. The creator of the universe, was willing to wash the feet of his

student who he knew would deny him 3 times before his crucifixion, because Jesus wanted to

show what it means to truly love and serve one another. W. Hall Harris III claims that “the foot

washing therefore represents an act of humble service for others, symbolic of the humiliating

service Jesus will render in laying down His life for others- which is why the foot washing is

necessary if the disciples are to have a share of Him.”1 Harris indicates that the disciples were

given a share of Jesus from this foot washing. Harris uses a Greek word, meros, when discussing

the concept of “share.”2 This word translates to a part assigned to one or destiny. Thus, Jesus was

paving the way for what it means to be a servant leader for the apostles and their future church

planting. Jesus knew the humiliation and torture he was about to take on in the near future, and

he still took the time to teach and serve his students out of love. Jesus was humbled enough to

follow God’s will to prepare the disciples for the sake of His Church.

1
W. Hall Harris III, Biblical Leadership: Theology for the everyday Leader (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel
Publications, 2017), 356.

2
Ibid. 355
 Self-Sacrificial Love

This is another theme from the New Testament that I think is important to discuss. We

know Jesus was self-sacrificial in his ways both on the cross and when he was washing his

disciples feet. Some scholars, believe this was an intended connection by God to foreshadow

Jesus’s humility and self-sacrificial love to die on the cross, similar to how Mary anointed Jesus

in John 12:1-8 was foreshadowing his body being anointed for burial.3

We see Paul discuss this self-sacrificial love and setting an example of it in Philippians.

Paul states in Philippians 2:5-11 that the people of Philippi should emulate the attitude of Christ

(2:5), who was God, but did not did not consider equality with God (2:6). Paul is discussing

Jesus’s preincarnate glory, but goes on to talk about Jesus’s status as a slave.4 For Jesus did not

take his divine self for granted, but considered himself nothing and took on the nature of a

servant (2:6-7). Accepting utter humiliation by dying a criminal’s death on the cross in

obedience to God’s will (2:8). Because of Jesus’s humility and self-sacrificial love for man, God

has exalted Jesus’s name above all other names (2:9-11). Hellerman states that the message

behind this passage about Jesus’s humiliation and exaltation for the sake of mankind is “the very

heart of his (Paul’s) philosophy of ministry as an apostle and church planter.”5 Hellerman goes

on to discuss the translation from the original Greek translation of this passage, as it indicates

that Paul wasn’t focused on more the nature of Christ and his divinity, but what Christ chose to

do with it, which is sacrifice for others.6 Christ freely discarded his outward image of glory and

3
Ibid. 356.

4
Ibid. 414

5
Ibid.
splendor to take on the image of a criminal by dying on the cross. “From the highest status in the

universe to the utterly humiliating position of a crucial slave- all so that you and I could be in

relationship with God and his people.”7 God does not reward and honor those who use their

higher status for their own betterment, but honors those who relinquish their status to serve their

neighbor.

Love as the Ethical Core

Paul shows us in his ministry that deep relations are a vital aspect to a thriving ministry.

Paul was very close to that he did ministry with, and often called them brothers or loved ones. It

is from Paul that we see that a Biblical Leader or Pastor must have a true and genuine love for

his neighbor. Paul declares that “the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your

neighbor as yourself’” (Gal. 5:4). As well as in Romans 13, Paul discusses that all of the

commandments are based from the central core of loving your neighbor.8 You would not cheat

on, murder, steal from, or even covet against someone that you genuinely care for. The kind of

love that Paul is addressing here is most likely associated with the word philia, which is a love

for a brother. Paul even says in in his letters to the Corinthians, “and if I gave away all my

possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing” (1

Cor. 13:3). God cares about the motives of our heart more then he does about our actions. If we

end world hunger, but do it for financial gain or to be remembered in history for it, and not out of

the love to see our fellow brethren no longer starve. In the eyes of God, we have done nothing

6
Ibid.

7
Ibid. 415

8
Ibid. 431
that is righteous. Paul even wrote an entire chapter in 1 Corinthians that goes into excessive

detail of what it means to love.

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does
not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing,
but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:4-6 NIV).
Conclusion

In conclusion, being a biblical leader isn’t easy, it requires humility to know that what

who we are in this world, status wise, doesn’t matter, all that matters at the end of the day is

God’s kingdom. Pride has become second nature for people today. In a society today that is so

fixated on things like how much influence one has, or one’s clout. Being a true biblical leader is

knowing to put these worldly obsessions to the side, and know that the only influence that has an

eternal impact is God’s. We need to remember that there is no such thing as a task that is beneath

us, or a job that is too menial, if the results are someone knowing God’s love.

Being a biblical also requires self-sacrificial love, that is willing to put the needs of others

before their own. It is ultimately not letting one’s pride affect the impact we can have on

people’s lives, and helping them become fully devoted followers of Christ. Paul did this when he

let others take over the church he planted, as he says in Ephesians, he is equipping the saints for

the work of ministry (4:12). Hellerman believes that John the Baptist is the best example of what

it means to not let one’s pride get in the way of God’s ministry, “he must increase, but I must

decrease” (John 3:30).9

9
Ibid. 419
 Paul emphasizes that this kind of love needs to be the ethical core of ministry. Paul

commands to the Corinthians, “be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). Paul takes

the time over and over again to point people to the character of Christ, and his humility and love.

Both Paul and Jesus saw that those who they did ministry with were family, and that is

something that biblical leaders need to do as well. Even taking this further and seeing that the

neighbors they both know and don’t know as family as well. We are called to be imitators of

Christ, just like Paul was, and we can do that by first loving our neighbors.
 Bibliography
Harris III, W. Hall. Biblical Leadership: Theology for the everyday Leader (Grand Rapids, MI:

Kregel Publications, 2017)