Who Leads?

Lately, I've been thinking about Jesus and leadership. One question I have been asking myself is, "Does Jesus ever address leadership issues among his disciples?" I've been directed to a few verses where Jesus appears to be addressing the form of leadership among his disciples, or he is at least commenting on how the disciples should interact with each other. I would consider the disciples the early leaders of the church, and, therefore, I consider Jesus' comments regarding how they should relate to each other as comments on the type of leadership his body should mirror.

I'm not sure what comes first... leaders and then organizational structure built around the leaders or organizational structure and then leaders that mold to the organization. I tend to lean towards the former. If its the former, then leaders in the Kingdom of God have a critical impact on the form of the church, and this issue is not to be dealt with lightly. If its the latter, then we need to be sure about the teaching on the organization of the body. Either way, the idea of leadership has to be dealt with.

The way I see it, we can view leaders in the Kingdom of God in one of two ways. First, we can consider a leader a person who exhibits the character/quality of Jesus and His teachings and responds to life as Jesus would without regard for the traditions and demands of any organization. Second, we can consider a leader a person who has been trained to fit into the organizational office and functions in accordance with its demands while trying to exhibit the character/quality of Jesus. Can the two be combined? Probably, but I'm not ready to concede that yet. Am I splitting hairs by making them separate? Maybe, maybe not. Again, I'm not ready to make the judgement. What I am ready to do is to take a long hard look at what the Bible teaches.

I think I should start with the gospels since no one would know better how leadership within the Kingdom of God should look than Jesus. What did He teach His disciples? I know of at least once when two of the disciples asked to be leaders at His right and left hands, and Jesus made a point to correct their concept of leadership. That's what I am trying to get a grip on. I'm on the hunt for encounters like that and other teachings within the gospels that might give me some insight into the concept of leadership within the Body of Christ.

I'm sure there are other "leadership" verses in the New Testament, but right now I want to start with these. The following verses are the ones I am currently thinking about:

1. Matthew 20:25-28
2. Luke 22:25-26
3. Matthew 23:8-12

I have not reached any solid conclusions yet, and I would like to solicit comments from any readers concerning these verses. Once I have pondered them for a while, I'll post again.

Brandon

What is "Soma Redux"?

Follow me through the maze...

Soma: Greek for "body." Body as in "the body of Christ" (i.e. the church).
Redux: "Brought back" as in re-opened for discussion.

Under the leadership of the Spirit every generation must take a fresh look at Scripture, history, and the best scholarship, and come to grips with what it means to be the body of Christ. This blog is a practical mean to that end. It is a forum for discussion about anything related to being the Church of Jesus Christ.

Doors are open

The "Soma Redux" doors are now open.

I pray that this will be a profitable outlet for discussion (and fun).