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Transforming the Leader
Moral character and virtue play a significant role in leadership. Current research is growing more and more convinced of the vital role that spirituality and ethics play in leadership. One theory that gives more attention to this than most any other is servant leadership1. Servant leadership comes from moral love (agape) and is expressed in…
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The Paradox of Power and Service
Servant leadership is seen as a paradox of leading through giving up power and serving others. This oxymoron is usually framed as a contrast of power and service. A biblical understanding of human sinfulness and salvation reveals, however, the real contrast is not power versus service, but service versus self-interest. The opposite of true servant…
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Leadership Under Authority
My doctoral colleague, David Wright, posted the following in a recent discussion forum: “…leadership is never totally mastered and leadership means being led…When I consider the topic of leadership I have the following portion of scripture as a foundation: And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And…
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Living this love is not so easy
Newly knighted Bono’s confession: “My understanding of the Scriptures has been made simple by the person of Christ. Christ teaches that God is love. What does that mean? What it means for me: a study of the life of Christ,” Bono says. “Love here describes itself as a child born in straw poverty, the most vulnerable…
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Biblical Insights of Leadership, part 1
Leadership is a fundamental Biblical activity. There are at least three insights from Scripture that offer a glimpse of what leadership is in the biblical perspective. Part 1: Dominion and creativity. Man (species, not gender) was given responsibility over both the environment (Genesis 2:15) and other life (naming of animals in Genesis 2:20). Fundamental to humanity’s purpose…
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Vision is Not From the Leader
I like Thom Rainer’s insights into vision in the church. Rainer writes that one thing breakout churches have “in common [is] a vision that ‘discovered’ them rather than a painful search to find out God’s specific plan. Vision is a commodity in the popular press of leadership, both secular and religious. Many definitions and perspectives…
