Leadership Is Discipleship

“Jesus called them over and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’”
Matthew 20:25-28 (CSB)

What is a leader? Good question. In fact, it is a question that has driven academics, authors, and practitioners to answer in a myriad of ways. Leadership authors Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus report over 850 different definitions of leadership.[1] Here are some for you to consider…

“Leadership is the process of persuasion or example by which an individual (or leadership team) induces a group to pursue objectives held by a leader or shared by the leader and his or her followers.”[2]

“Leadership over human beings is exercised when persons with certain motives and purposes mobilize, in competition or conflict with others, institutional, political, psychological, and other resources so as to arouse, engage, and satisfy the motives of followers.”[3]

“Leadership is influence, the ability of one person to influence others.”[4]

“A Christian leader is someone who is called by God to lead; leads with and through Christlike character; and demonstrates the functional competencies that permit effective leadership to take place.”[5]

“The central task of leadership is influencing God’s people toward God’s purposes.”[6]

All of these have their merits, and have some commonalities, but may I suggest one more that I have come to love and embody? This definition speaks specifically to leadership in a Christian context (as do some above) and moves the leader and those who follow beyond personal and organizational goals to something deeper. Here it is…

Pastors and authors Henry and Richard Blackaby say that “[spiritual] leadership is taking people from where they are to where God wants them to be”.[7]

In other words, leadership is discipleship. There can be no Christian leadership without discipleship and no discipleship without leadership. The two are inextricably linked. To try to lead without making disciples takes us off mission and limits our ability to impact the world for the gospel. To try to make disciples without leading creates church attenders/members, but not people who imitate the character and life of our Lord (Ephesians 5:1-2). Our ultimate goal, whether you are in vocational ministry or not, is to move others onto God’s agenda by leading them to fulfill the one thing Jesus asked us to do, make disciples. Jesus said as much when he declared to his disciples,

“Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
John 14:12-14

So, if Christian leadership is tied directly to discipleship, then who is a leader? Another good question. Let me answer that in two ways. First, in one sense, all believers in Jesus are leaders. Every believer has been given a command and a context for leadership. The command most of us know. It is found in Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:14-18, Luke 24:44-49, John 20:19-23, and Acts 1:4-8, and is popularly called the Great Commission. This commission is not just for pastors or church leaders, but for everyone who claims Christ. It is every Christ-follower’s new purpose, mission, and vocation in the world. Our context varies based on person and calling, but each believer has been commissioned to take the gospel to the world and make disciples in the missionary location in which they have been placed. That may be in their family, school, workplace, government, the arts, sports teams, etc. Regardless, all Christ-followers are missionaries, in all places at all times. We have been sent by Jesus into the world to deliver his message and call people to follow him (John 20:21).

The apostle Paul puts this in proper biblical and theological context for us. He says,

“From now on, then, we do not know anyone from a worldly perspective. Even if we have known Christ from a worldly perspective, yet now we no longer know him in this way. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, ‘Be reconciled to God.’ He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:16-21 {emphasis added}

Second, of course, there are specific offices within the context of the church that demand a different kind of calling and set of leadership skills. Those who are pastors, ministers, elders, or deacons inhabit a space in the leadership/discipleship dynamic that sets the example for those they lead and helps create pathways, strategies, or plans to help lead people onto God’s agenda in making disciples. Again, Paul says,

“And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.”
Ephesians 4:11-13

This was the Apostle Paul’s main objective in his ministry. In Colossians 1:28-29, he says, “We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. I labor for this, striving with his strength that works powerfully in me.” As such, the mantle of leadership in the disciple-making process hangs heavy on those who have been called to lead the church. But Jesus’s word brings encouragement and consolation as he proclaims,

“Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”
Matthew 11:29-30

In other words, leading others to make disciples is a hard, long work that tests patience, fortitude, and definitions of success, but when we take up Jesus’s “yoke,” or His mission, we find in the end that it is more than worth it.

So, if all Christ followers are leaders based on a common call and a specific context, then how do we lead? Well, Jesus said that the greatest among you will be your servant (Matthew 23:11). As we saw in the opening scripture (Matthew 20:25-28), Jesus redefines leadership in light of servanthood. In other words, to lead well in the kingdom of God, as we make disciples in Jesus’s name, requires a servant’s mind and heart. C. Gene Wilkes, in his wonderful book Jesus on Leadership, says that to be a servant leader means that the leader serves the mission and leads by serving those on mission with them.[8] As such, he offers seven principles for effective servant leadership based on how Jesus led. They include:

Jesus humbled himself and allowed God to exalt him.
Jesus followed his Father’s will rather than sought a position.
Jesus defined greatness as being a servant and being first as becoming a slave.
Jesus risked serving others because he trusted that he was God’s Son.
Jesus left his place at the head table to serve the needs of others.
Jesus shared responsibility and authority with those he called to lead.
Jesus built a team to carry out a worldwide vision.[9]

Sounds like discipleship to me!

May we all be leaders who make disciples and disciples who lead well.

This post originally appeared at: Leadership is Discipleship — The Bonhoeffer Project

[1] Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus, Leaders: Strategies for Taking Charge (2012), 4.
[2] John W. Gardener, On Leadership (1990), 1.
[3] James MacGregor Burns, Leadership (1978), 448.
[4] Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer (2017), 29.
[5] George Barna, Leaders on Leadership: Wisdom, Advice and Encouragement on the Art of Leading God’s People (1998), 25.
[6] Robert Clinton, The Making of a Leader: Recognizing the Lessons and Stages of Leadership Development (2012), 183.
[7] Henry and Richard Blackaby, Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God’s Agenda (2011), 38.
[8] C. Gene Wilkes, Jesus on Leadership: Timeless Wisdom on Servant Leadership (1998), 18.
[9] Wilkes, 11-12.