If you read the Old Testament, in some sense, leadership is a major theme that runs throughout. The judges and kings of Israel were leaders, and we have example after example of good leadership and bad leadership.
Further, God says in Jeremiah 3:15 that he will give the church “shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and insight.” This is in contrast to the shepherds that scatter God’s people and rule them harshly and for their own personal benefit (Jeremiah 23:1-2; Ezekiel 34).
Again, I’m not saying that the church has completely failed in developing leaders.
There are many, many solid pastors and other leaders throughout the church. But I am saying that we haven’t done nearly as good a job as we can — and should. We need to do better. And perhaps, it is actually prophesied that this will continue to happen more and more (Jeremiah 3:15; Isaiah 32:1-2).
The key to doing better is to recover the doctrine of vocation.
Ironically, by recognizing the value of all vocations before God, we gain the framework for understanding what effective leadership really looks like in the church and how to develop it better.
