Biblical Servant Leadership

STEVEN CROWTHER

CHRISTIAN FAITH PERSPECTIVES IN LEADERSHIP AND BUSINESS

An Exploration of Leadership for the Contemporary Context

Christian Faith Perspectives in Leadership and Business

Series Editors Kathleen Patterson

School of Global Leadership and Entrepreneurship Regent University

Virginia Beach, VA, USA

Doris Gomez Regent University

Virginia Beach, VA, USA

Bruce E. Winston Regent University

Virginia Beach, VA, USA

Gary Oster Regent University

Virginia Beach, VA, USA

This book series is designed to integrate Christian faith-based perspectives into the field of leadership and business, widening its influence by taking a deeper look at its foundational roots. It is led by a team of experts from Regent University, recognized by the Coalition of Christian Colleges and Universities as the leader in servant leadership research and the first Christian University to integrate innovation, design thinking, and entrepreneurship courses in its Masters and Doctoral programs. Stemming from Regent’s hallmark values of innovation and Christian faith-based perspectives, the series aims to put forth top-notch scholarship from current faculty, students, and alumni of Regent’s School of Business & Leadership, allowing for both scholarly and practical aspects to be addressed while providing robust content and relevant material to readers. Each volume in the series will contribute to filling the void of a scholarly Christian-faith perspective on key aspects of organizational leadership and business such as Business and Innovation, Biblical Perspectives in Business and Leadership, and Servant Leadership. The series takes a unique approach to such broad-based and well-trodden disciplines as leadership, business, innovation, and entrepreneurship, positioning itself as a much-needed resource for students, academics, and leaders rooted in Christian-faith traditions.

More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/15425

Steven Crowther

Biblical Servant Leadership

An Exploration of Leadership for the Contemporary Context

Christian Faith Perspectives in Leadership and Business ISBN 978-3-319-89568-0 ISBN 978-3-319-89569-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89569-7

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018944428

All scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise noted: Scriptures are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD (NAS): Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, copyright© 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scriptures marked NIV are taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV): Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™. Used by permission of Zondervan

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Printed on acid-free paper

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Steven Crowther Grace College of Divinity Fayetteville, NC, USA

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1 The Foundation of Servant Leadership Theory 1 Servant Leadership According to Greenleaf 1 Servant Leadership in Twenty-First-Century Literature 3 Servant Leadership According to Patterson and Winston 5 Servant Leadership Research 8 The Next Steps in Leadership 9 Conclusion 10 References 10

2 Servant Leadership in Context 13 In the Context of Leadership Theory 13 In the Context of Followers 14 In the Context of the Business World 17 In the Context of the Church World 19 In the Global Context 21 Conclusion 22 References 23

3 The Strengths of Servant Leadership 25 Values-Driven Leadership 26 Effective and Ethical Leadership 28 Servant Leadership and Organizational Culture 29

Contents

vi Contents

Servant Leadership and Leadership Development 30 The Goals of Servant Leadership 32 Servant Leadership and the Negative 34 Conclusion 35 References 36

4 Servant Leadership in the Old Testament 39 Examples of Leaders in the Old Testament 41

Genesis: Joseph 41 Exodus 3 and 18: Moses 44 Esther 4–5: Esther 51

Instructions for Leaders in the Old Testament 52 God as the Model Leader in the Old Testament 53 Pictures of Leaders in the Old Testament 53

Shepherd: Kings, Priests, Elders 53 Suffering Servant: Isaiah 52–53 54 Levites 55

The Prophets as Servants: Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Elijah 56 The Texts of Servant Leadership in the Old Testament 57

2 Sam. 17:27–29; 19:31–40; 1 Kings 2:7—Barzillai 57 1 Kings 3: Solomon 58 Nehemiah 58 1 Samuel: David and Saul 60

The Failure of Leadership in the Old Testament 63 Judges: Samson, Gideon 63 Prophets: Elisha’s Servant 65 Shepherds Who Failed Jeremiah 23, Ezekiel 34 66 The Failure of Moses 70

Servant Leadership or Shepherd Leadership 71 Leadership Lessons from the Old Testament 71 Conclusion 72 References 72

5 Servant Leadership in the Life of Jesus 75 Instructions About Serving 76

Mark 10 76 Matthew 28 82

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John 13, John 21 84 Luke 7 87

Jesus as the Example of Servant Leadership 89 1 Peter 2 89 Phil 2 90

Conclusion 93 References 94

6 Leadership in the New Testament 97 Servant Leadership in the Book of Acts 98

Barnabas 98 Aeneas 99 Priscilla and Aquila 100 Peter as the Servant Leader 100 Instructions to Leaders 103

Servant Leadership in the Epistles 105 Romans and Corinthians 105 The Prison Epistles 113 The Pastoral Epistles 117 The General Epistles 123 Apocalyptic Servant Leadership 126

Other Leadership Issues and Models in the New Testament 127 Leadership Lessons from the New Testament 128 Conclusion 131 References 131

7 Biblical Servant Leadership 135 Biblical Concepts for Servant Leadership 135 Biblical Love in Leadership 141 The Difference and the Cohesion in the Servant Leadership Models 145 Moving from Concept to Application 146 Application in the Business World 148 Application in the Church World 149 Conclusion 150 References 151

viii Contents

8 A Call for Biblical Leadership 153 Existing Research on Biblical Leadership 153 Moving on in Biblical Leadership 154 Application of Biblical Leadership 158 Biblical Leadership: Pioneers or Settlers 159 Conclusion 163 References 165

Index 167

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Fig. 5.1 Chiasm from Mark 10:45 79 Fig. 6.1 Biblical model of leadership from 1 Timothy 3:1–7 122 Fig. 7.1 Biblical servant leadership 148 Fig. 8.1 Biblical leadership 157

List of Figures

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Table 4.1 Repetitive and progressive texture of scenes of Exodus 3:1–15 45 Table 4.2 Contrasts of shepherding from bad leadership 69 Table 5.1 Mark 10:42–45 patterns 79 Table 5.2 The progression of the life of Christ 92 Table 6.1 Contrasts for shepherd leaders 102 Table 6.2 The inner texture of I Timothy 3:1–7 119

List of Tables

xiii

Though leadership has been an issue of discussion for many centuries, as well as among recent researchers, there has been little agreement on the description of leadership. In the twentieth century, leadership has been a topic of study by researchers with no consensus on the definition of lead- ership, but only that it concerns influence in the accomplishment of group objectives (House, Hanges, Javidian, Dorfman, & Gupta, 2004). This vast array of differing conceptions of leadership has created a bewil- dering body of literature with differences from one writer to another in the field of leadership (Yukl, 2012). However, in the midst of this discus- sion has entered the concept of spirituality as found in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures and its impact on leadership. Weber (1968) based his concepts for religious leadership upon the lives of certain religious leaders, like Moses, Buddha, Mohammed, and Jesus. Nevertheless, McClymond (2001) found it striking that there was not much discussion of religious leadership among scholars in the twentieth century. Yet, with the turn of the twenty-first century, there has been a turn to spirituality in leadership studies (Bekker, 2008). This turn to spirituality has included the development of theories of leadership with a spiritual component like spiritual leadership (Fry, 2003), servant leadership (Patterson, 2003), and authentic leadership (Avolio, Gardner, Walumbwa, & May, 2004; Klenke, 2007). This turn to spirituality in leadership studies has also included distinctively Christian leadership models like kenotic leadership

Introduction

xiv Introduction

(Bekker, 2006). This is not to say that spirituality and servant leadership are the same. In addition, this does not mean that this turn to spirituality is necessarily Christian with a focus on biblical foundations for leader- ship. Servant leadership exists without the issues of spirituality. However, this turn to spirituality with a focus on biblical concepts could inform not only servant leadership but other forms of leadership as well. Many have discussed leadership in the context of Christianity and Scripture including Augustine, Martin Luther, and the writers of the Christian Scriptures (Guinness, 2000). Some of the writers of Christian Scriptures who addressed leadership were Mark, Paul, and Peter. Research has been done by some authors on the impact of the writers of Christian Scripture and the ministry of Jesus (Bekker, 2006; Self, 2009; Zarate, 2009) on contemporary leadership. Clinton (2012) developed leadership emer- gence theory based upon his broad study of leaders in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures as well.

Nevertheless, this source for leadership theory needs further investiga- tion for at least two reasons. First, this is a new area of research for con- temporary leadership that has only gained ascendancy since the turn of the century. Second, this is a broad source for research in the area of leadership and much more needs to be done to develop profundity as well as breadth from this rich resource of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures.

In response to this need, some scholarly journals have begun in the twenty-first century, such as The Journal for Biblical Perspectives in Leadership and The Journal of Religious Leadership, to promote research in the areas of Christian Scriptures, Christian spirituality, and leadership. In this area of research, there is much to be examined and gained for con- temporary leadership development and understanding. In contemporary leadership, one result of neglecting the spiritual dimension in leadership is a void of values, and in response to many public failures, a movement of spirituality is awakening in businesses across the country (Gibbons, 2008). In the context of this nexus of the Scriptures and leadership, pos- sibly there is a way to discover new models for effective leadership for the future. Many contemporary theories of leadership have focused primarily on behavior like leadership practices (Kouzes & Posner, 2017), transfor- mational leadership, and the skills or style approach (Northouse, 2015), while others focused on the culture of the organization (Cameron & Quinn, 2011) including an emphasis on changing leadership behavior.

xv Introduction

Yet, leadership is not just behaviors or styles; it involves internal issues as well. Internal issues such as character. Character is central to good leadership and character is the inner form that makes a person who he/ she is and it provides the leader’s deepest source of bearings (Guinness, 2000). The issue of personhood or ontology comes to the fore in this discussion and involves spirituality particularly as found in the Christian Scriptures. This is important in that leadership as seen in the Scriptures is ontological in that leadership proceeds from the being of the person and not just the behavior of the person. Though those like Machiavelli (1515/2016) said that internal issues such as character and integrity are not important components of leadership, writers of the Scriptures dis- agree. In 1 Peter, Peter exhorted the leaders to follow the example of Jesus—Jesus set the example of servant leadership, but this concept per- meates the pages of both Old and New Testaments. Therefore, the writ- ings of the Scripture need thorough examination for understanding teaching concerning servant leadership and leadership in general and its proper appropriation for contemporary contexts. In this search, it is pos- sible that even better models for leadership could be discovered from the wisdom of antiquity.

Leadership studies do not generally embrace theology in the process of research (Ayers, 2006). However, in the past, theology or research from the Scriptures has been a valuable source of research. Medieval theolo- gians believed that theology was the queen of the sciences (i.e. of the domains of knowledge) and philosophy was her handmaid; but in our day, theology has been largely banished from the university (DeWeese & Moreland, 2005). Theology has fallen from this place of prominence to be replaced by pragmatism and empiricism. Instead of searching for truth in theological foundations, truth is now sought in answering questions of function. Does it work in accomplishing the objectives? If something accomplishes certain determined objectives, then it is assumed that it is true and this truth is used for developing a theory. Nevertheless, this is quite Aristotelian that truth lies in the physical world. It would be more productive to find truth then apply it to the physical world, a move from internals to externals. While this sounds Platonic, it is not Platonic thinking that drives this as much as theological thinking. Thinking theo- logically is a view from the perspective of divine intention and prerogative

xvi Introduction

rather than a view from below which is anthropological—an effort to find truth as it happens—and is troubled by misshapen self-issues. Many times science asks for an outside objective viewpoint, but is that possible when we study ourselves and we are the researcher and the researched? Theology from Scripture lifts us out of this research circle so we can catch a glimpse from above concerning the human issue of leadership. Nevertheless, the- ology is not unacquainted with the necessity of circularity since no quest for truth can escape from the necessity of this hermeneutic circle, linking the encounter with reality to an interpretive point of view, so science and theology are joined in a relationship of mutual illumination and correc- tion (Polkinghorne, 2007). Scripture must be brought back to the research arena, not to displace science, but as a partner in a search for truth that is more than empirical. Science and theology are both concerned with the search for truth, and they share common ways of approaching this search for understanding as well as sharing a common conviction that there is truth to be sought (Polkinghorne, 2007). Therefore, it is in this conver- gence of science or research and theology from Scripture that truth is sought for leadership in the contemporary setting.

The ramifications for leadership from the principles of Scripture are sig- nificant. This is a way of leadership and leadership development that is not only countercultural but also sensitive to eternal issues of theology that are important. This leadership in Scripture is specifically designed for leading the church in antiquity and in contemporary settings as well. The implica- tions are that if the biblical foundation for leadership could be found, it could bring new ground for effectiveness. This then would have implica- tions for leadership in multiple contexts in the twenty-first century includ- ing business, education, and government settings as well as in the church.

References

Avolio, B. J., Gardner, W. L., Walumbwa, W. O., & May, D. (2004). Unlocking the Mask: A Look at the Process by Which Authentic Leaders Impact Follower Attitudes and Behaviors. Leadership Quarterly, 15(6), 801–823.

Ayers, M. (2006). Towards a Theology of Leadership. Journal of Biblical Perspectives in Leadership, 1, 3–27.

xvii Introduction

Bekker, C.  J. (2006). The Philippians Hymn (2:5–11) as an Early Mimetic Christological Model of Christian Leadership in Roman Philippi. Paper pre-

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