The biblical view might be better represented by Thomas Jefferson’s observation that “Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on [public office], a rottenness begins in his conduct.”Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Tench Coxe, 1799. But if any secular organization can achieve the same results using the same “guaranteed” methods, where is the witness to God’s existence? 6:15; Mic. John Valk, associate professor of worldview studies at Renaissance College, University of New Brunswick, Canada, speaks of leadership for transformation from a Christian worldview perspective. For centuries this idea was reflected in a tradition of the church. The overconfident leader, on the other hand – as in the case of Moses – easily falls prey to carelessness and invites disaster for his people. ... provide an education with a solid Christian foundation and to ensure that every SOE program completer understands the implications of a biblical worldview for the field of education. [14] Jim Collins, interview (on the website for the National Association of Convenience Stores), at www.nacsonline.com/NACS/Resource/ Corporate/cm_010901a_ir.htm. The tragic fact, Schaeffer says, is that in many Christian organizations, “there would be no difference whatsoever.”[9]. As I have processed through my own leadership philosophy, I have arrived at this definition of biblical leadership: Biblical leadership is meeting someone where they are, and taking them where Jesus wants them to go. Bad shepherds are those who exploit other people’s gifts and talents to meet their own needs and advance their own agendas, instead of asking what is good for the sheep themselves. To use biblical language, God charges shepherds (whether in the pulpit or in other forms of leadership) to feed the sheep, not to fleece them. [16] Schaeffer, No Little People, in Complete Works, vol. The same pattern is evident in the lives of Gideon (Judges 6:15), Saul (I Samuel 10:21, 22), Elijah (I Kings 19:10), and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:6). It is either based on sound biblical truth or it is based on a secular foundation. They give cognitive assent to the great truths of Scripture, but they make their practical, day-to-day decisions based only on what they can see, hear, measure, and calculate. [3] Douglas Sloan, Faith and Knowledge: Mainline Protestantism and American Higher Education (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1994), 241. Churches and parachurch ministries may generate a great deal of publicity, hold glamorous conferences, attract huge crowds, bring in large donations, produce books and magazines, and wield political influence in Washington. [2] Schaeffer, No Little People, in Complete Works, vol. But the activities that were truly led and empowered by God, in obedience to His truth, whether the results were visible or not, will sparkle as gold, silver, and precious stones. 3, 44ff. At Phoenix Seminary, President Darryl DelHousaye is known for asking his staff, “How can I help you? “They are deeply infused with an American capitalist culture concerning the gospel,” writes historian Joel Carpenter. A Christian school is a community and one should see a loving, caring, Christ-centered environment. 12:5). There is the often-unnoticed problem of excluding a Christian worldview from an academic topic. Day by day, they are to make choices that would make no sense unless the unseen world is just as real as the seen world. In other words, he realizes that genuine leadership is a matter of service and self-sacrifice. Death and failure are the paths to victory (Matthew 16:25). Used by permission. Having defined worldview study in terms of ideas, they had never even considered its relation to practical areas. There is nothing shameful in hiring someone to do things that you cannot do for yourself, says top-ranking journalist David Aikman. If you and I do not have the courage to confront worldly and sinful practices in our own ranks, what makes us think we will have the courage to stand against powerful secular leaders? The only way the church can establish genuine credibility with nonbelievers is by showing them something they cannot explain or duplicate through their own natural, pragmatic methods–something they can explain only by invoking the supernatural. But having a Christian worldview is not just about answering intellectual questions. The same contradictory pattern often emerges in the way Christian churches and organizations function–in their management of the workplace itself, treatment of employees, and leadership style. In story after story they demonstrated that the reluctant leader is probably the best candidate for the job. As Schaeffer put it, “with God there are no little people,” which means we cannot treat anyone as a mere means to other goals. [19] Kurt Senske, Executive Values: A Christian Approach to Organizational Leadership (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 2003), 11, 22, 24-26. It’s a place where the poor are rich (Luke 1:53), the foolish wise (I Corinthians 1:25), and the weak strong (II Corinthians 12:9). Ask how he treats his support staff. When she started her new job, however, she was disappointed to discover exactly the same dynamics at the parachurch ministry. August 6, 1999, at www.heritage.org/Research/Religion/HL643.cfm. Start the business meeting with prayer, by all means, but then employ all the up-to-date strategies learned in secular graduate schools. Clearly, the claim that everybody needs to be a leader or that everybody should want to be a leader is inconsistent with the Spirit of Christ’s kingdom. [12] Quoted in Lee, “Forty Best Christian Places to Work.” See John D. Beckett’s Loving Monday (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2001) for additional ideas on how businesses can enact policies that express genuine respect for workers as made in the image of God. “Rather I will talk to the secretaries, the office staff, the janitors and cleaners and ask them what it is like to work with you. It doesn’t take a genius to see that this has some pretty radical implications for our normal human assumptions about “leadership.” The disciples ran smack into these implications on at least two noteworthy occasions. Many groups are Christian in what they profess but not in the way they operate. When people lead from a biblical worldview they seek God’s will in everything. Cited in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, 268. What does genuine biblical "leadership" look like? Leadership is a simple concept, and yet simultaneously incredibly complex. How can I help you succeed?”[11] The best organizations regard the nurturing of their own employees as a spiritual mandate. To build a sound Christian educational program, the foundation for that program must be a biblical worldview. A Christian worldview has implications for understanding history. They “ape the world” in its publicity and marketing techniques, manipulating people’s emotions to induce them to give more money. Take Moses for example. When Kurt Senske was only thirty-six years old, he took over leadership of a company that was losing money rapidly. 28:30; Mic. An executive at a Washington think tank once worked at a Christian ministry where the atmosphere was so negative that he developed stress-related physical symptoms. Galatians 5:14 states, “For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (NIV). Leadership Journal 3 (Module 4): Identify the leadership strategies that Nehemiah used to remove barriers and make things happen. [13] Organizations like CBMC (“Connecting Business Men to Christ”) and the Christian Labour Association of Canada bring a biblical worldview perspective to the world of business and industry, demonstrating that biblical principles actually work in guiding day-by-day decisions and procedures. This is the Christian servant leader’s higher purpose. Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Tench Coxe, 1799. A true leader shies away from his calling because he knows there’s nothing in it for him. But having a Christian worldview is not just about answering intellectual questions. Every Christian needs to be equally convinced that biblical principles are true not only in some abstract sense but in the reality of our work, business, and personal lives. Christianity 9 to 5 © 2021. Schaeffer writes, “The Lord’s work done in human energy is not the Lord’s work any longer. These … He understands that the perils, the anxieties, and the sleepless nights will be endured not for the sake of personal gain, but for the benefit of somebody else. 10:15). One early example of nurses caring for others is found in Exodus 2, when midwives would not kill infant boys because they feared God more than they feared Pharaoh. It is scandalous that Christian ministries and publishing houses often turn a blind eye to this form of deception, especially when it involves top-selling names. The study uncovered forty organizations that rank highest in worker satisfaction. The church as a whole then loses the benefit of their gifts. That will tell me far more about the kind of ministry taking place in the church, and whether you are the kind of leader Christ desires for His Church.”[17]. If we aspire to a godly, holy love for others, we must be willing to take the risk and practice loving confrontation. So they tend to measure their own success as disciples and servants of the Lord by the size of their ministry.”[7]. If we become aware that a ministry or business is violating biblical principles, we need to stop being enablers and start calling people to accountability–even if it means paying a price. We must never forget that going along with unbiblical practices is not only wrong, it is unloving. The Journal of Biblical Perspectives in Leadership (JBPL) is a refereed scholarly journal that aims to provide a forum for international research and exploration of leadership studies focused on the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. In answer, the Lord said (among other things), “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. This is the ultimate danger of doing the Lord’s work in the flesh: It may eventually lead to outright sin. These patterns can be physically unhealthy as well, producing stress-related ailments that result in absenteeism and reduced productivity. Every worldview has an approach to figuring out what should be considered right and wrong, but the basis for understanding it does not come from any kind of empirically provable foundation. Taking responsibility for our own work–accepting both the credit and the blame, the benefits and the losses–is a crucial element in human dignity. Douglas Sloan calls this “the inner modernization of evangelicalism.”[3] That is, we have resisted modernism in our theology but have largely accepted modernism in our practices. . “Before I begin,” he said, “I want to thank the two people on my staff, Mark Rodgers and Sydney Leach, who did the research for this lecture and wrote it.” He then proceeded to deliver the lecture. Should we shrug this off as benign deception? It is something, but it is not the Lord’s work.” p. 260. All Rights Reserved. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave” (Matthew 20:25-27). Nancy Pearcey is the Francis A. Schaeffer scholar at the World Journalism Institute where she teaches a worldview course based on the study guide edition of her book Total Truth, which won the 2005 ECPA Gold Medallion Award for best book in the category of Christianity and Society. In the East, where the Confucian tension between shame and honour is a worldview pillar, biblical models of authority and leadership can become supplanted by cultural traditions. . A biblical worldview is based on God’s agenda As a Christian leader, I have a committed relationship with Jesus Christ. ResourcesIf a title is currently unavailable through Focus on the Family, we encourage you to use another retailer. God who has acted in history in past events will also act in history to consummate this age. And God will set them as jewels in our heavenly crown. Excerpted from Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from its Cultural Captivity by Nancy Pearcey, copyright 2004, pages 361-376. Leadership Journal 4 (Module 6): What are some examples of “aping the world”? Consultants and professors Norman Shawchuck and Roger Heuser, in Leading the Congregation, reveal themes of change during traditional church seasons (p. 128). What does this mean in practice? Sadly, many Christians live much of their lives as though the naturalist were right. Without really thinking, we begin to stretch the truth to enhance our image and attract donors. Ethics is, in plain terms, simply the study of morality. This explains why many Christian churches and ministries today continue to treat areas like business, marketing, and management as essentially neutral–technical fields where the latest techniques can simply be plugged into their own programs, without subjecting them to critique from a Christian worldview perspective. In the New Testament, Paul advises, “Let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor” (Gal. Each letter creates a crisis mentality that is enhanced by melodramatic anecdotes, fake highlighting in the margins, and a signature produced by a machine. Even secular businesses are starting to recognize these principles. Since the entire foundation of Nat… In short, where is a Christian worldview perspective on marketing and fundraising? Christians can be infected by secular worldviews not only in their beliefs but also in their practices. Below are some lessons we might learn from Nehemiah’s leadership example. 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