Reference no: EM133382973

OVERVIEW

Leadership is a hot topic in both ministry and the business world. In fact, there is so much writing on leadership that it seems like everyone must be a leader. Determining the difference between biblical leadership as a spiritual gift and someone's common ability to lead is important
to differentiate. In today's culture it seems as if the lines between the gift of leadership and everyday leading are blurred. One way to begin to study biblical leadership is to study the ideal of biblical leadership that is Jesus Christ. All other biblical leaders fall short. David, although a great leader at times, ultimately is a bad shepherd as Nathan rebukes him for his adultery and murder. Later Jesus is named the Good Shepherd in John 10 who lays his life down for his sheep and knows them by name. One of the problems with leadership pragmatism today is the idea of leadership being found in a "to do" list of character traits. If I do "A", then "B" will happen. The problem is, what happens when you just don't want to lead? Pastors and employers struggle to be perfect, even though is it impossible to lead well all the time. In Don Howell's book, Servant of the Servant, he takes a realistic look at numerous leasers of the Bible. This is a great book as it compels students to observe the positive and negative leadership traits of heroes like Moses and David. He also examines leaders who don't finish well like Samson and Saul. The point is, as you prepare for this paper is that all human leaders fall short and need to be redirected to the gospel of Jesus Christ. In Christ, one can observe and begin to put into practice proper leadership. That is what this paper challenges you to explore and write about.

INSTRUCTIONS

Your paper needs to be a 1,000 - 1,500 - word research paper. Each paper must follow current Turabian guidelines. Using the example of Christ as a leader (Howell, Chapters 14 - 16), explain how Christ is the perfect example to follow when it comes to the 5 foundational areas of the leader: power, purpose, passion, priorities, and pacing (Kraft, Part 1). Make sure that your paper moves from the theoretical to a real-world application. Upon conclusion of the paper you must attempt to bring your philosophy of leadership full circle and back to the foot of the cross. In other words, in spite of you how is God allowing you to learn to lead like Jesus?