The Theological Calling of Leadership
Theologians G.K. Beale and John Walton point out that the calling of humanity was meant to push the way of life within the Garden of Eden out into the unsubdued world outside of the garden.
In Beale’s words, people were called “to extend the geographical boundaries to the garden of Eden until Eden extended throughout and covered the whole earth.” Walton adds, “Moving out of the garden would appear a hardship since the land outside the garden was not as hospitable as that inside the garden.”
In other words, we see that in the beginning there was shalom inside of the garden, but not outside of the garden. Shalom is the holistic flourishing of the world like God made it to be. The world outside of the garden was not fallen or sinful, but it was not yet flourishing like it could flourish under the good leadership of humanity. Adam and Eve were called to extend shalom from Eden outward, ever expanding the boundaries of God’s loving rule.
Thus, we can infer that effective leadership subdues and stewards. It subdues chaos within systems and processes, then stewards those systems and processes to work the right way. Leaders step into a given situation, subduing and stewarding that situation so that it ends up looking more like the world like Jesus intended.
Now, we need to remember that Bible is not a leadership manual, and that Jesus is not our leadership guru. We need to draw theological principles of leadership, rather than slapping biblical prooftexts onto the latest bestselling leadership or self-help book.
At the same time, leadership is a concept clearly developed in the Bible. It’s true that “leadership” is not a term you find across the pages of the Bible. The term Trinity is not either—Tertullian gave us that—but the concept is clearly taught in Scripture. The concept of leadership leaps from page after page, beginning in Genesis.
And when we look at God’s purposes in creation and across the story of the Bible, we see that leadership is a process of influencing a group to use their God-given gifts for a Christ-centered purpose, led by the Holy Spirit.
Change leadership is a specific focus of the general concept of leadership. Change emphasizes the fact that leadership subdues hindrances to growth and stewards effective processes of growth. We step into situations that require change leadership because God calls us to subdue chaos and steward health. We step into contexts where the organization or church is basically running for the benefit of the staff or the congregation rather than the mission, and we lead toward change. We do so both for the sake of the mission, and ultimately for the glory of God.
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I didn’t start out knowing exactly how to effectively lead change. I had to learn. But, my point is that you can learn to be a leader—and particularly a change leader. You can learn leadership and grow in leading change, rooted in the theological reality of the Bible and drawing from best practices from the past and today.
Today, we have many good resources available, and not just mine, but I do have a course on change leadership at RightNow Pastors+. I’ve taught this course at the graduate level for years, in the United States and all over the world. This new version is designed for pastors and church leaders in the midst of their callings to lead change in their churches and organizations.
Change leadership is more needed today than ever. It requires deep awareness of the purpose of God, and passionate commitment to the mission of Jesus. In the rest of this series, we’re going to learn what it requires, how to pursue it, and why it’s worth it. And it is indeed worth it.
Ed Stetzer is dean and professor of leadership at the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. His change leadership course is available at RightNowPastors+.
