First and last principles of leadership

In any year in America, you will find various Christian conferences and events aiming to teach us how to do better at ‘leadership’.

Interestingly enough, the venerable management consulting firm McKinsey is now itself emphasising leadership (indeed ‘servant leadership’) as opposed to, or in replacement of, ‘management’. It is hard to think poorly of a tendency that encourages people to lead in a servant way.

Christ rules the church and He rules by His word: Sometimes it is said that everything rises or falls on leadership. I remember Tim Keller opining – in some event or other when I was listening to him – that while (of course) preaching is a significant gift, in some ways being able to lead is as important for ministry impact, if not more so. I wasn’t quite sure what he meant at the time, and I may have misunderstood him, but it struck me as an arresting thought, like so much of what Tim Keller said. More recently, I have remembered a lesson I was taught by the first senior pastor to be brave enough to hire me onto his team (Peter Baker), who passed on to me a pearl of wisdom from David Jackman: ‘Christ rules the church and He rules by His word. If we are to be leaders, it is only so that we might facilitate Christ’s leadership, and that leadership is thereby exercised through His word.’