The Christian Leader

What comes to mind when you hear the word leader? Perhaps you think of headmasters at school, ancient royals, modern day politicians or current world leaders. But does this idea of leadership match with what the Bible calls leaders to be?

First, let’s establish what a leader is and why leaders are important. A leader is someone who leads a group, organisation or country. Furthermore, leaders are important because they guide their people and set the standard for them to follow. This implies that a leader must both uphold a strong standard and a clear direction in which to take their followers. On the other hand, the leader also needs a team and in turn, that team needs to follow the leader fully.

For example, let’s take Alexander the Great and his army. Without his army, Alexander the Great would not have been able to overcome any other army, let alone a different country. Alexander the Great needed an army if he wanted to succeed. However, without Alexander the Great’s guidance and leadership, his army would not have been able to coordinate itself to conquer another country. The army needed to listen to guidance from their leader in order to succeed.

In this same way, leaders need a clear direction and to uphold a strong standard. For Christians, we uphold the Bible as our standard and our direction is to fulfil God’s Will for our lives. However, here we arrive at a difficult question: how do we know what God’s will is for our life? Or in other words, what is our calling? This is a whole other topic which I’ll leave for another article. In this article however, we’ll explore a Biblical character who God used as a leader for His people, Israel, and identify the characteristics of a Christian leader.

David was a famous leader in the Bible that was used by God to fulfil his purpose for Israel. Originally, humans were created to showcase God’s glory. Psalm 19:1 writes that “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” Why is our purpose to ‘declare the glory of God’? “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him.” – Colossians 1:16.

In his many war victories, David led Israel to turn back to God by setting his standard and direction in God’s Word and Will. However, it wasn’t always this way. The Bible records that David had humble origins and was never destined to be king at birth. In fact, he was a shepherd boy, coming from an ordinary family in a small town.

To everyone around him, he was nothing special. But God had plans for David, as he does for each and everyone one of us. From a young age, unbeknownst to David and his family, he was being prepared to shepherd the people of Israel. While David’s brothers were warriors in the battle field, David learnt to protect his sheep from wild animals. Lions, bears and threats to his flock were no match for David. I think we can imagine that it was beyond David’s dreams to one day defeat a giant enemy warrior and later become the king of Israel. 

However, when the time was right, God sent His prophet Samuel to anoint David as Israel’s next king. To the human eye and even to Samuel, David was just an ordinary kid. Definitely not a king. It was clear David’s warrior brothers would suit the role much better. But here God reminded Samuel:

 “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

– 1 Samuel 16:7 (ESV) – 

What a powerful, encouraging reminder! Though sometimes we don’t feel as if we have any chance of being something great, God has a plan for each of us that is beyond our thinking.

As the story progresses, we can see how David grows closer to God. It wasn’t perfect, but in everything, the ups and downs, David still clung to God. In short, David’s life ultimately fulfilled God’s purpose for Israel: to show God’s glory on Earth. So, how was David shaped to be a Christian leader? What was his standard and what was his direction? Psalm 86:12 and Psalm 119:15-16, which David wrote, reveals his answer:

“I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.”

– Psalm 86:12 (ESV) –

“I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.”

– Psalm 119:15-16 (ESV) –

God’s Word was David’s meditation (constant thought) and delight. Spending time in God’s Word helped David to stay on track and fulfil his purpose. God’s Word was David’s standard and God’s Glory was David’s clear direction.

Before finishing this article, I would like to note that not every person is called to be a leader. Yes, God has a plan for each of us, but that doesn’t mean everyone is called to be in the spotlight. Remember Alexander the Great and his army? Without an army, Alexander the Great, the leader, would be powerless. But without Alexander the Great, the leader, the army couldn’t function. To some, God calls them to be a leader on a grand scale, such as a politician. To others, God calls them for ordinary roles, but to lead small groups of people to lead them back to God. Not all of us can be the leader. If that was the case, there would be no army. To many, God calls to be members of the army, just like the multitudes of soldiers in Alexander the Great’s army.

This analogy of the army can also be likened to a human body. There are many parts to the body; the eye, the nose, the mouth, the ears etc. Every part is important in its own way and no part is ‘more important’ than the other. In the same way, soldiers in an army are of equal importance to their leader. Read about this in 1 Corinthians 12:12-30.

David was an excellent leader in the Bible, but if we look further, Jesus was the perfect leader. We should look at Jesus’ actions towards others as our example. Jesus was humble, servant hearted and disciplined for godliness.

Being a leader doesn’t mean we make everyone do the work and we simply make the decisions. Being a leader means also getting on our knees and washing other people’s feet (John 13). Leaders should lead and serve. Leaders not only lead the battle, they fight it too. If I was to write about Jesus’ as our example, this article would not be finished. So, take time, like David would, and meditate on Jesus.

Now remember:

– God’s word should be our meditation (constant thought) and delight

– The Bible should be our standard and God’s Glory our direction. This applies to leaders as well as everyone

– Not everyone is called to be a leader but God still has a plan for each and everyone of us

I hope this article can be an encouragement both to those who are leading and those who are following.

– This article is inspired by Tim. Always remember to look to Christ as the perfect leader. Sometimes you will fail and sometimes you will do amazing. But, in all this, remember who provides for you and who gave you the gift of leadership (Matthew 25:14-30). Remember your army, remember your God.