“Leadership” seems like a buzz word among Christians these days. Between the newness of the study of “leadership,”[1] and the fact that there is nothing inherently Christian about “leadership,” some Christians express concern that the emphasis on leadership makes churches unknowingly bring secular business theories (by which they mean anti-Christian theories) into the church.
One might also argue that the Bible talks more about “pastors” than “leaders” or “leadership.” In actual fact, however, in most English translations of the Bible, the word “leader” in its various forms occurs many times, whereas the word “pastor” is only found once (Ephesians 4:11).
Yeah … I know. (If you don’t believe me, click here).
Problems with “Leadership”
Regardless of this inconvenient truth, some ideas of “leadership” probably are anti-Christian. For example, if a “leader” is only concerned with growing an organization (more people, more money) or if leadership equals exercising control over people like Vladimir Putin, then I could see why someone could be concerned about an emphasis on “leadership.” But there is clearly more than one way to lead.
Christian Leadership
Leadership generally (always?) involves power. So when a Christian leads, they must exercise their power following the example of Christ. Given this, many Christians will rightly promote “servant leadership” since Jesus “did not come to be served, but to serve” (Mark 10:45, compare Matthew 20:25). And when you follow his leadership example, you “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility [you] value others above yourselves” (Philippians 2:3).
Pastors as Leaders?
But should pastors be concerned with leadership?
One might think the role of the pastor is simply to “preach the word” (2 Timothy 4:2). Indeed, back in the day, many Pentecostals referred to their pastor as “the preacher,” probably even more often than as “the pastor.”
One might also think the primary role of the pastor is caring for the souls of the congregation. Indeed, the Greek word translated “pastor” literally means “shepherd”—it is the exact same Greek word as the “shepherds” that went to see Jesus when he was born. Shepherds do have a responsibility to care.
But shepherds also have a responsibility to lead. After all, it’s impossible to shepherd souls if you aren’t constantly shepherding them (that is, leading them) back to Jesus.
The Pastor Should Lead Toward…
I’m not leadership guru (of course, by definition “gurus” are not Christian…bwa ha ha), but I know that leadership involved influencing others toward a particular goal. It involves helping people focus on a mission or aim and clarifying a vision of what that aim looks like and why it is better than the current situation. It also involves planning and setting strategy for how to reach that aim, and then carrying out the plan and evaluating if the plan is achieving the desired results.
When it comes to pastoral ministry, let’s suppose—hypothetically speaking—that the mission of the church is found in Jesus’ so-called great commission to “make disciples” (Matthew 28:19), or simply to “disciple” people (the word “disciple” in this verse is actually a verb in Greek, not a noun). If this is the case, then surely a pastor should ensure that discipleship is happening among those they pastor. This involves leadership.
Alternatively, let’s suppose—hypothetically speaking—that the mission of the church is summed up in 5 purposes: evangelism, ministry, discipleship, worship, and fellowship (taken from The Purpose Driven Church). If this is the case, then surely a pastor is responsible to ensure that their church is engaged in these activities.
All of this involves leadership. For example, a pastor would need to clarify what it means for Christians to be discipled. This is clarifying the vision. Then the pastor would need to determine why, how, or if that vision isn’t fully a reality, and make plans for how to take the church in the necessary direction—perhaps through teaching, motivating people, training people, making spending decisions, making programming decisions, etc. This is setting a strategy. This is leadership.
But Not Just Pastors
To be clear, the health and mission of the church is not solely the responsibility of the pastor(s) or other paid staff. Churches needs many leaders.
Churches need worship leaders who will not only guide people through singing songs, but truly lead others to worship the King of kings. And churches need people in youth and children’s ministry who will not only entertain and teach kids Bible stories, but will also lead children and youth toward experiencing a vital relationship with Jesus.
Pastors Aren’t Just Leaders
Does the Church need Pastors or “Leaders”? The question is not fair—it sets up a false dichotomy. Churches need both.
Pastors are not just leaders. And a good leader, isn’t necessarily a good pastor (let us not forget that!).
At the same time, if churches are to stay faithful to the mission God has given them, they need pastors who will lead.
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You might also be interested in these posts:
- The Holy Spirit and Leadership: 7 Biblical and Theological Observations
- Missional Vitality and the Future of the PAOC
- Pentecostal Women in Ministry: Ambiguity and Affirmation in the PAOC
Andrew K. Gabriel, Ph.D., is the author of Simply Spirit-Filled: Experiencing God in the Presence and Power of the Holy Spirit as well as three academic books, including The Lord is the Spirit. He is a theology professor at Horizon College and Seminary and serves on the Theological Study Commission for the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. You can follow him on Facebook or on Twitter.
You reference Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Church in your article…..would just encourage you to give the well-researched youtube documentary “Church of Tares” a sober viewing, and some prayerful consideration.
Thank you for this article! Yes, we need pastor leaders!
So very true! Thanks for bringing this much needed, balanced approach to an often contentious subject.
Rev. Frank Patrick
Church Consultant
Thanks, Frank.
The pastors and board at our church are going through “Doing Church as a Team”. Leadership is addressed specifically in the later chapters in the book, I am seeing leadership issues arising in the opening chapters that I have already read. If Christianity became illegal and the church driven underground here in Canada, I wonder how quickly the faithful would discover their leadership abilities. I wonder what leadership looks like among those Christians who risk their safety as they gather a few at a time to worship together.
Good questions!
(For some reason my initial reply did not post, so I am re-posting.)
While I agree with your main point, that we need pastors who will lead, I think in your effort to create a controversial start you _far_ overstate your argument.
You reference the English Bible only having “pastor” once, but it is the Greek Bible I think we should be more concerned about — and it has the same word (translated into “shepherd” in English but referring to pastoral ministry) multiple times in: Acts 20:28 (in verb form), 1 Peter 5:2, 4, and Jude 1:12 (speaking negatively of pastors who feed only themselves).
Then, of course, we have to consider what an “elder” is (“Elder” is used 22x outside of the gospels and Revelation to refer to elders in the church). In 1 Timothy 5:17 “elder” obviously includes what the role you refer to as “preacher” (since some of them “have the work of preaching & teaching,” though the passage also implies that some elders do not have this work).
These elders are obviously also leaders – they “direct the affairs of the church.” So that doesn’t preclude pastors being leaders of course, but it makes your distinctions a bit of a stretch.
I agree–there are various terms for leadership roles in the church, and they all involve leadership. That is my primary point. It is not an either/or issue.
You say that the word “leader” is used in its “various forms” many times, but don’t define which words you consider to refer to leaders. The actual word “leader” is not actually commonly used to refer to those overseeing the church in English Bibles, being used only 4x in the NASB after the gospels (Acts-Rev), of which 2 are references to those in leadership. One of the gospel references to “leader” in the NASB says, “And do not be called leaders; for only One is your Leader, that is, Christ.” (Matthew 23:10; of course, other translations translate this “teacher” which is the more literal meaning.) If we look at Greek terms for leader, forms of hegomai is used 3x in Hebrews. prostamai is used 8x, but in most cases it contains the idea of “to care for” more than to lead.
The emphasis in the Bible is more on the responsibility that our “leaders” have to care for and to serve those God has given them the responsibility for, than that we need to have a vision and direct people towards it. Probably that is because God is the one with the vision and we are just supposed to encourage people to fulfill it.
That’s true.
The word Church and Pastors does not exist in the original manuscripts. The words Ekklesia and Elders are very different. We have ben lied to and mislead.