Leadership in the Local Church: Discerning Practical Value and Developing Theological Foundations
Exaggerating the monumental leadership role of Moses among his people, the Israelites, is perhaps nearly impossible.
Moses dominates the Penteteuchal narratives from the second chapter of Exodus to the last chapter of Deuteronomy. Throughout the Old Testament he is portrayed as the founder of Israel’s religion, promulgator of the law, organizer of the tribes in work and worship, and their charismatic leader through the deliverance, covenant at Sinai, and wilderness wanderings, until Israel was poised to enter the promised land.7
Moses’ leadership is all the more marvelous in light of his initial rejection as a leader and a judge and his own reservations concerning his ability to lead the Lord’s people (Exod. 2:14; 3:11). Bruckner suggests that Moses exemplifies “Gifted human leadership” as “crucial to God’s work in the world”.8 In any case, Moses demonstrates the decisive difference leadership makes in God’s redemptive program.
The life of Joshua teems with leadership themes. Harris suggests one of the main messages of the book of Joshua is leadership. It teaches that “courageous and committed leaders win battles” and that “believers receive rest from enemies and security when they fight for God and his chosen leader”.9 In Joshua “God is the Savior who gives Canaan to the tribes” and Joshua is “God’s chosen agent who leads the tribes to victory”.10 The book of Joshua tells how God develops and defines leadership. In the call of Joshua, the Lord describes his schematic for successful leadership (1:1-9). Although Joshua makes mistakes, is sometimes manipulated, and may not always model the ideals of leadership, his success “teaches that leaders ultimately can succeed with guidance from God and respect from their subordinates”.11
The priests of Israel were to lead them in the worship of Yahweh. The Israelites were continually “confronted by Canaanite cultic practices,” making it essential for them “to learn the proper ways to worship Yahweh”.12 Yahweh is holy and must be worshipped as holy. The biblical concept of holiness is derived from qadosh, meaning “set apart.” Originally signifying that God is separate or transcendent, it came to apply as well to that which was set apart for religious purposes and, therefore, holy or sacred. Because God is set apart from sin and sinful humanity, holiness also signifies moral excellence.13 The cultic rites and sacrifices presided over by the priests dealt with the dilemma of sinful people approaching a holy God. In a very real sense, the primary responsibility of the priests was to lead the people into the presence of God by way of worship.
During the time of the judges, observes Mary Evans, “leadership was intermittent, often local, and dependent on the character and gifting of those called by God to lead his people”.14 Israel had no centralized government during this period and no “national” leader. When the perennial problem of oppression would become too harsh, the people would call on God, and he would raise up deliverers or saviors from this or that tribe or province (Judg. 6:12; 11:8-11). The English word translated “judge” is from a Hebrew stem (spt) that might more correctly be translated “leader” or “deliverer.” The leadership provided by the judges was charismatic and nondynastic.15 Hildebrandt observes that, characteristically, these deliverers were charismatic figures endowed with supernatural power, or “extraordinary qualities and gifts,” enabling them to act as divine agents delivering the people of God in crises.16
“The prophet was not simply another religious leader in Hebrew history, but one into whom God’s Spirit and God’s word had entered and taken possession” (Ezek. 37:1, 4).17 The two primary Hebrew words for “prophet” were ro’eh and nabi’. Ro’eh, translated “seer” in English, signifies both an ability to see into the spiritual realm and to foresee future events. The title suggests one who sees from the perspective of God himself. Nabi’ is the main Hebrew word for “prophet” and signifies speaking under inspiration from God. A prophet was a spokesperson for God who “poured out words under the impelling power of God’s Spirit”.18 Men and women who acted as God’s spokespersons in such situations clearly were instruments of divine guidance and spiritual leadership.
Mary Evans observes that politics had become a major concern by the time the monarchy began to develop in ancient Israel. She notes that prior to Samuel’s ministry “leadership was intermittent, often local, and dependent on the character and gifting of those called by God to lead his people”.19 By the time of Solomon, things had drastically changed. “Leadership, although still acknowledged as being appointed according to God’s choice, had become more institutional than charismatic, with the leader’s authority stemming as much from the office he held as from his own character and gifting”.20 She suggests power is an integrating perspective for interpreting 1 and 2 Samuel’s account of the origins of the monarchy in Israel. The concept of power is a major motif in the writings. The rise of the monarchy is set in the context of the search for adequate leadership, the question of the rightness or wrongness of the monarchy, the issue of succession, the way leaders cope with or respond to power, and perhaps most importantly, the relationship between God’s sovereignty and human power.21
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