I think my fear is that we, almost unconsciously, define leadership in the flesh, rather than in the Spirit. Jesus, as Alan Knox wrote at his blog, turned the world’s view of leadership on its head (just as He did with practically everything). God does raise up leaders, but I’m not sure that we often expect the wrong things of leadership (both as leaders and as followers) just as the disciples originally expected of Jesus. I think the leaders truly are called to serve, submit, and point others to the only One truly able to lead. And, in so doing, even though it doesn’t look rational to us in our flesh, such leaders will truly be great.

Sorry for taking so long to comment here. I had read your post a few days ago, but have been limited in my time for blogging and posting lately.

In any case, I still do not want to believe we are all that far apart in our views of church leadership.

In the examples you give from the O.T. I think it is good to read them in context with other passages such as:

Judges 2.16: Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.

1 Samuel 7.15-16: And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places.

1 Samuel 8.1-7: 1And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

I should perhaps make clear, as well, that when I use the term “spiritual anarchy” I do not necessarily mean by that “spiritual chaos.” What I do mean is that God, as I understand, both in the O.T. and in the N.T. church, has raised up leaders of one sort or another in order for there to be some sort of accountability structure.

No, it was not God’s perfect will for Israel to have its own king. But, before He told Samuel this, He had already, on His own initiative, been “raising up judges.” It appears, from the context, that God’s problem was not so much with the fact that there were people who functioned in a governing role, as that the people themselves wanted to take the initiative in the way they set up the governing system, imitating the systems of the people around them.

Likewise, regarding pastoral leadership, I think it is important that we follow divine revelation in the way it is set up and practiced, and not take our cues, for example, from the secular business world. That does not mean, though, that everyone is sheep, and there are no shepherds (or under-shepherds) among them. It seems fairly clear to me that the overseers/shepherds/elders in the church had a particular role with particular responsibilities in the Body that were not shared on an equal basis with the other members. I would not call this “ruling over,” but I would call it “leading out” and “taking responsibility.”

Gideon calls all to worship the LORD, but then allows Mammon, perhaps, to become a distraction since he asks for gold. Once that seed is sown, then, when the people begin worshiping him, rather than God, he does nothing to redirect the focus.

It is very sad. Again, in our humanity… chaos. In the Spirit, In Christ… all things are possible.

Thank you for stopping by, Steve. Your voice adds much to the conversation.

What saddens me about the story of Gideon is that after the success, he appears to totally lose the focus. Alan pointed out about his son’s name, but I’m not even sure that we have to surmise about whether or not Gideon kept the right focus.

What we see immediately following what you quoted tells a sad tale:

But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you.” Yet Gideon said to them, “I would request of you, that each of you give me an earring from his spoil.” (For they had gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) They said, “We will surely give them.” …The weight of the gold earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold…. Gideon made it into an ephod, and placed it in his city, Ophrah, and all Israel played the harlot with it there, so that it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

Sad, huh?

Anyway, great post!

I work in an office with four other men. They have all commented on my blog from time to time (I think. I’m not sure about two of them.).

-Alan

And, Alan, great discussion of elders. I wish I could have been a party to that conversation. Where do you work that such a conversation would take place?

The last paragraph nailed it on the head! You articulated well what has been running around in my mind lately. I agree that leaders should point people to Christ – He is THE leader. I also think that leaders should lead with John 3:30 in mind:

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”

What a beautiful gift that God gave you today. Thanks for following Him.

Mary

It is interesting that although Gideon said, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you”, because in Judges 8:31, we see that Gideon had a son and named him Abimelech, which means “my father is king”. Perhaps there was some desire in Gideon to be king.

I’ve been having a great conversation with some of the guys in my office today about leadership in the church. I believe that Paul appointed elders in the churches to be examples for others in the churches. I do not think that elders had different functions nor were they held to higher standards. Instead, they were (are) to be examples of how all believers should live and function.

So, why point out elders if everyone is supposed to live like that? Because Jesus turned leadership on its head. People were not supposed to follow the most charismatic, best speaker, most educated, richest, most powerful, most influential. Now, in the kingdom of God, believers were to follow servants as they followed God. These servants were to demonstrate to other believers what it means to be a child of God and a citizen of His kingdom.

But of course, this completely goes against human nature. So, we still cry out for kings…

-Alan