Fitch: “Leadership” is not biblical
Yes, the title is provocative, but the content is very good. I’m talking about David Fitch’s article “Is ‘Leadership’ Biblical? A Few Reasons to Say ‘No’” at “Reclaiming the Mission.”
By the way, David begins by saying that he is talking about “leadership” in “the way the term has become adopted into the vernacular of evangelical leadership conferences and books.”
He gives five reasons that this type of “leadership” is not biblical:
1. THE WORD “LEADER†ITSELF IS GENERALLY AVOIDED IN THE NT within the context of the church.
2. WHENEVER THE WORD “LEADER†IS USED IN THE NT – IT IS SUBVERTED BY THE CHURCH so that “leadership†takes on the element of leading by character not coercion, by submission not hierarchy in reverence for the Lordship of Christ.
3. JESUS HIMSELF SUBVERTED THE TERM “LEADERSHIP.â€
4. CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP IS DEFINED BY THE POSTURE OF SUBMISSION – TO THE WORLD THIS IS NOT LEADERSHIP.
5. THE BUSINESS MODELS OF LEADERSHIP WILL HANDICAP US FROM LEADING INTO MISSION. (emphasis in original)
Of course, David says that there is a “biblical” form of leadership. You can see that in his “reasons” above. Read his post; there is much more information there.
By the way, it is interesting to see several commenters “agreeing” with David with a “yes, but…” approach.