Servants and Friends: a Biblical Theology of Leadership

By Skip Bell (Ed.); Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press (2014); Reviewed by ERICH W. BAUMGARTNER

In this groundbreaking volume published by Andrews University Press, some 20 scholars examine the sacred text of the Old and New Testaments, as well as a selection of six biblical leadership narratives, to lay the foundation for a Biblical Theology of Leadership. Each of the first three sections is composed of six chapters, providing an array of fascinating studies of leadership in the Bible. The fourth section attempts to integrate the multiple facets of leadership insight unearthed throughout the various contributions into what the Editor, Skip Bell, claims to be “the most complete biblical theology of leadership available.”

Readers hoping for new insights for leadership emerging from biblical themes are not disappointed. For instance, even if you are well read in the “servant leadership” literature, you will marvel at the many facets of the servant theme Richard Davidson develops in chapter 1. Be open for surprises. Would you have thought of the creation event as a leadership act par excellence? In chapter 2, as Doukhan plumbs the depths of Hebrew thinking (rarely seen in leadership presentations), we see God, the author of life, at the “head of time” (bereshit, “in the beginning,” derives from rosh, “head,” a word often designating one who is leading), shaping beings to be filled with his life-giving Spirit to be like him. Here is God—the One without peers— creating into his own image, sharing his leadership with those he created both female and male. Humans are both like him yet different from him. In setting aside holy time with them, God gifts them with his companionship. Giving them the capacity of individuality, he entrusts to them the power to go a different way.

Doukhan’s thoughts on leadership as sharing, trusting and ultimately creating are fascinating and worth the price of the book. But this is just the beginning.

Given the diversity of books in the Bible, the texture of leadership themes is incredibly rich and complex. Each author struggled with that diversity in different ways. thus in the next chapters, Gane paints good leadership through 11 transcultural principles in the Pentateuch, while Moskala derives lessons from the narratives in the historical books of the Old testament. In looking at the wisdom literature and the Psalms, Web berding finds that leadership is more than leaders at work to accomplish something but “a means of knowing God,” even entering the ecosystem of God’s larger purpose. And Petersen points out that while the prophets decried the spiritual and social conditions of God’s people, the Day of the Lord would bring a stunning paradoxical reversal that included social justice denied by corrupt elders.

The New Testament chapters are equally rich. No other motive for leadership compares to Jesus’ life and sacrifice. He is the servant, the Christ, sent from God, and also the “Instructor” (Matt. 23:1-2), a word which could also be translated “leader,” as Johnston points out.

Servant leadership in the Gospels is portrayed as countercultural, clashing not only with the expectations of the general culture but even with those of Christ’s closest circle.

Especially interesting was Alexe’s analysis of the narrative of Peter’s transformation from overconfident disciple into spiritually mature leader, able to overcome his cultural limitations. Note how Peter’s three denials are confronted by Jesus’ three heart piercing questions before the threefold commissioning. But even after that, Peter needed a persistent threefold conversation with God and unmistakably supernatural instructions to help him overcome his exclusivist and theologically erroneous reluctance to minister to Gentiles. The nature of leadership derives from Christ’s mission to the world and is thus rooted in the Gospel. Yet, leaders deal with real-life issues that range from the celebration of salvation to the messiness of human failure and error. To finish the New Testament section, tons tad’s analysis of the book of Revelation as a book of transparent leadership reminds us that God does not operate in hiding.

While the first two sections of the book carefully sift the 66 biblical books for leadership lessons, the third section analyzes six sets of biblical stories of leadership: Nehemiah, women in the Old Testament, Jesus, Peter, Paul, and Barnabas. All of these chapters are full of insights for Christian leaders, but Jo-ann Davidson’s stands out as the only one that highlights some of the amazing contributions of women leaders: courage and vision casting through song (Deborah), leadership as learning for a royal seeker for wisdom (Queen of Sheba), speaking truth to power based on scriptural authority (Hulda  the  prophetess),  and  the sense of timing and death-defying courage of Esther. Sauvagnat’s study tracking the enduring contribution of Barnabas as a mentor and empowering leader makes for a worthy conclusion of this section. His observation that the disciples Barnabas and Paul worked with were first called “Christians”—followers of Christ, not disciples of Barnabas and Paul—is a telling commentary on the fruit of Christian servant leadership.

By the time I got to the fourth section of the book, I was delightfully exhausted. Each chapter had brought out rich insights about leadership as possible ingredients for a biblical theology of leadership. Would Skip Bell, the editor of the book, and Stan Patterson, a professor of leadership at Andrews University, succeed in creating a meaningful synthesis?

Without doubt this was a daunting task which readers will appreciate after reading 340 pages of biblical analysis. I think both of them succeeded admirably to lay out their case. Bell’s quest to develop a biblical theology that transcends culture starts with God’s relationship with his people. Leadership is thus a gift to the whole community that is shared, rooted in God’s vision for humanity and expressed in service. This gift is willing to take risks and sacrifice for others. Patterson’s reflection explores the countercultural design of communal spiritual leadership in the New Testament. Pointing to the predominant metaphor of the church as a body, he develops an incarnational theology that, in contrast to the patterns of leadership in Roman and Greek culture, is energized by the power of identification and service of love.

Servant and Friends is one of the best attempts to date to mine the riches of the Scriptures to shape our understanding of leadership. The book is well written and rich in its contributions to a better understanding of leadership from a biblical and Christian perspective. as the authors’ footnotes show, most of them stuck to their expertise. Biblical scholars usually cite exegetical sources while practical theologians tend to cite spiritual or leadership authors.

Where biblical scholars cite current leadership texts, it is often to highlight a convergence of thought, rarely to challenge current popular thinking about leadership. The emphasis was clearly on providing a sound biblical treatment of Christian leadership. In that, the authors have clearly succeeded.

I anticipate that this book will become a standard text required in seminary leadership classes. No teacher of Christian leadership can afford to ignore the rich contributions of this volume. It should be part of every pastor’s library, and denominational leaders will find rich insights for reflection on their own leadership. I also hope that this volume will spark manifold discussions on what it means to be a Christian leader, a question central to the mission of this journal.

Erich W. Baumgartner, Ph.D., is Director of the Ph.D. in Leadership Program at Andrews University, where he also serves as Professor of Leadership and Intercultural Communication and Senior Editor of the Journal of Applied Christian Leadership.