Leadership encompasses the act of leading a people or an organization. In contemporary society, there are many types of leaders, religious, political, and economical. All of the leaders mentioned above play a critical role in our lives. The Bible indicates that our leaders are there to serve the people and fulfill the will of God. However, this is not always the case, as some of the leaders opt to follow other ideologies and doctrines that are misleading. Further, we as the believers of Christ are assumed to be disciples, and hence we are expected to abide by all his sayings. This is in spite of the fact that the world has changed and the believers are now faced with numerous challenges such as persecution, capitalism, and other social ills. As such, the Bible has scriptures in the New Testament as well as the Old Testament that are aimed at guiding leaders as well as all the followers of Christ. Specifically, the New Testament discusses about the leadership that follows the Kingdom of God. Such a leadership follows certain beliefs and doctrines. We learn of how one can become a leader in spite of the fact that one feels weak and vulnerable. In so doing, one has to ensure that they can amicably solve all the differences that occur to ensure peace and harmony among the group 1 . This is in line with the most exceptional fruit of the Holy Spirit that indicates we ought to love our neighbors. As such, as a disciple of Christ and a believer of the power of the Lord, we ought to follow Christ's ways, always ensure that we live in harmony and love each other in the process of leadership.
Leadership that is desirable is evident in various scenes in the Bible. The Bible is considered to be a narrative that relays information through parables and stories, which the believers can relate to. For example, the Bible says that the word is faithful and anyone who desires to be a bishop, therefore, desires a good job 2 . Subsequently, such an individual ought to have an irreproachable behavior, be sober-minded, hospitable, and not materialistic. All the qualities mentioned above were evident in the leadership of Jesus Christ, who sacrificed himself so that all our sins could be forgiven. Today, the emergence of capitalism has led to the development of new ways of going things. Capitalism ideology promotes selfishness and greed. Case in point, the bourgeoisie in a majority of the countries around the world have, over the years, accumulated immense wealth forcing the proletariats to live in deplorable conditions. 3 As such, leadership that follows in the Kingdom of God is one aimed at promoting equality, fairness, and justice, among others, to all. Jesus was a Jew, and he led the Jewish people diligently 4 . He taught them of the sovereign rule of the Lord and never at even one point did he deviate despite the numerous temptations from Satan. Moreover, Christ’s ways are those that support discipleship in the Kingdom of God. Hence, we are all challenged to preach to the world about the gospel and spread the word with the objective of bringing more people to the Kingdom. Therefore, all leaders ought to be abiding with the leadership that is strict conformity with the principles of the Bible, as failure to do so will be disregarding Christ’s teachings.
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Human interactions are always faced with numerous conflicts. This is behind the backdrop that human beings are social beings. As such, to be able to live in harmony with each other, we ought to ensure that there are effective conflict resolution methods. Good leadership is evident in the Bible, and it always led to a prosperous and harmonious society. Nonetheless, bad leadership is prevalent, and it has been used symbolically to ensure warn us of the consequences that are likely to befall a society that abhors good leadership. Case in point, the Jerusalem Council, is strategically used in the New Testament to illustrate how good leadership always navigates to ensure that solutions are found with compromising on our beliefs 5 . Globally, the majority of the societies are pluralistic and composed of people from varying facets and subscribing to divergent beliefs 6 . As such, most of these societies experience conflict on a regular basis. To ensure there is lasting peace and the people from different nations are able to live in harmony, it is imperative to employ the biblical tactics of leadership. In the book of Acts, the fulfillment of Christ words came to pass in which he had indicated that the word would be received in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria and to the ends of the earth 7 . All this happened despite several setbacks, such as the death of Stephen. Therefore, if we can always be able to promptly and appropriately solve the conflict, we can prosper. Currently, the majority of the regimes in the world have become corrupt and are now subverting justice with the sole objective of remaining in power. Such acts always lead to hatred among nations, discrimination of a given group of people, and execution in other jurisdictions. To counter this, the New Testament indicates the importance of leaders employing conflict resolution mechanisms that emulate those employed by the Jerusalem Council. Therefore, irrespective of our position in society, we ought to always justly solve our conflicts.
Leading with love is an essential element of leadership. While the majority of the countries around the world are democratic, the majority of the leaders have opted to fulfill their selfish interests contrary to the leadership indicated in the New Testament. John, one of the Disciples of Christ, is used to illustrate good leadership. In his letters to the Christians, he used polite words that indicate that he cared for the Church. Further, he was a true disciple as he relayed information as taught by Christ. He did not distort the information by trying to create his commandments. 8 He was selfless and took it upon him to write to the Church all Christ and the other 11 disciples had taught them. Additionally, in the letters, John regularly used the word ‘beloved’ to denote a close relationship with the readers. Further, he included the entire group he thought would compose the Church, namely: ladies, brothers, fathers, and young men.
Today, hatred has taken many forms. In other instances, it is fuelled and facilitated by the leaders. Therefore, this teaching is relevant to today's leaders since it calls for the promotion of love in leadership. Notably, it draws on all of us to care and love our neighbors by bringing them closer to Christ. More so, it encourages us to promote leadership that is focused on the people rather than selfishness and other undesirable things. In preaching the gospel to the world, we ought to preach the word as it is. Distortion of God's word to suit our needs or to mislead others is rebuked and ought not to happen. Further, by spreading the gospel, we will be bringing nations together and promoting God's will.
As highlighted above, we are faced with numerous challenges as a people. External forces such as capitalism have led to the emergence of undesirable traits among members of society. Leaders are now engaged in acts such as nepotism, corruption, and incitement, among others. All these acts contravene the biblical teachings of leaders. They go contrary to the lessons. As such, the New Testament mainly focuses on how leaders and followers of Christ ought to conduct themselves. First, as a follower, one should follow the teaching of Christ and only engage in desirable acts. In so doing, one ought to make rational decisions and engage in practices that conform to what the Bible teaches. Also, in our daily lives, we should purpose to live like upright men depicted in the Bible through the numerous narratives. Nowadays, the conflict has become rampant; acts such as a person killing another have become rampant. Dark forces and greed inspire all these undesirable acts. Further, discrimination, hatred, racism, and nepotism, among others, have become features of most societies. Therefore, to curb all these, we ought to adopt principles that are in line with the teachings of the Jerusalem Council. By doing so, we will promote peace and harmony among nations. Finally, we ought to love each other. The story of John depicts how we should treat others. We should be caring and passionate about other people. Further, we should spread the word to those who are yet to receive it in a clear way, which does not distort the main message. Such acts will promote unity and lead to the inclusivity of all the people, thereby promoting God's will.
Bibliography
Collins, Denis. "Virtuous individuals, organizations, and political economy: A new age theological alternative to capitalism." Journal of Business Ethics 26, no. 4 (2000): 319-340.
Forrest, Benjamin, and Chet Roden, eds. Biblical leadership: Theology for the everyday leader . Kregel Academic, 2017.
Shore, Megan. Religion and Conflict Resolution: Christianity and South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission . Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2013.
