What is good biblical leadership?

What is good biblical leadership? This is a question I've been asking myself lately. Oftentimes, I see Christian leaders referencing books that spiritualise worldly business structures, systems or strategy techniques or books about changing behaviours by forming better habits. Occasionally, I'll see books that focus on inward motivations or deeper character concerns, but these seem to be less emphasized. My conclusion is that people are more interested in how they can act like an leader, rather than actually becoming a leader which on the surface may look very similar (at times) but in reality are quite far apart from each other. I am saddened by Christian leaders who only focus on outward actions, behaviours and appearances but lack true inward Christlikeness. 

A question I've been asking myself lately is this: "If Jesus were in my position or in my circumstance or speaking with the person I am talking with at any given moment, what would He be feeling in His heart and how would this influence Him in both His words and actions?"

Too often, what I see lacking in Christian leadership is the failure to reflect the heart of God or reflecting a distorted understanding of God's heart. What I have witnessed in churches and what seemed to be emphasized more is being an effective skilled leader, rather than a compassionate good shepherd. This means driving and mobilizing people, supersedes caring for their heart and inner life. Most Christian leaders would rather motivate people into doing things for God, rather than inspiring them towards intimacy with God. Now hear me on this, I am not against people serving God, but my concern is for people serving with distorted motivations or out a religious spirit where they are trying to earn favor from God, rather than out of love and devotion towards God with the understanding that they already have everything from God. No need to earn.

If you sit under a leader long enough, you will begin to see their inner motivations. This is a given. No leader can hide their true intentions from those following them for very long and a good biblical leader will embody humility and an openness and transparency about their life. In my journey of what I've learned and reflected on in my life so far in sitting under various leaders has been: "If a Christian leader is not driven by love for God and love for people, the only thing left is their ambition." Here is a good sermon on this by J.R. Vassar. I love this video because it goes right to the heart of the matter. 

I hope you take to heart the main points from the video that, 1) Jesus is primarily concerned about our love for Him, and not our usefulness to Him and 2) Jesus is concerned about our love for His people, and not their usefulness to us. All that we do needs to be rooted in love and we need to be actively checking our hearts and asking the Holy Spirit to be continually checking our hearts for any and all loveless (selfish and sinful) motivations. And when we find or are confronted with these, repenting and crying out for more of God's love to fill us (Romans 5:5) and fuel us (1 John 4:19).  

Here are a list of books that have helped me (and hopefully will help you) to focus more on leading from a place of love, humility and dependency upon Jesus with the understanding that we can't do anything of any eternal value in His Kingdom without Him going with, even before us. These books don't try to cover up our weaknesses and limitations, but rather show the better way of inviting Jesus into these and allowing Him to transform and empower us from the inside out as we learn to continually abide in Him. These books will inspire and challenge you to become the lovingly humble and compassionate good shepherd leader that Jesus was and is.

• "The Selfless Way of Christ: Downward Mobility and the Spirit Life" by Henri Nouwen
• "The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society" by Henri Nouwen
• "The Emotionally Healthy Leader: How Transforming Your Inner Life will Deepen Your Church, Team and the World" by Peter Scazzero 
• "Under the Unpredictable Plant: An Exploration in Vocational Holiness" by Eugene Peterson
• "Leading with a Limp: Turning Your Struggles into Strengths" by Dan Allender