Leadership

Leadership is Servanthood

" Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave-- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matt 20:25-28)

Submission

Submission to Christ

"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." (Matt 28:18)

Submission to God

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7)

Submission to Each Other

"Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything." (Eph 5:21-24)

• Done on the basis of mutual respect that Christ has over all of us
• Not the basis of authority we have, otherwise we would all be authorities, and Christ's authority would be meaningless
• Examining the verse in context it is clear that a fundamental recognition of Christ's authority over all of us is the basis for all the submission authorised in the bible, including husbands/wives, masters/slaves, etc.

Authority

"Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you."(Matt 20:25-26)( Mark 10:42) (katexousiazo)

"Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors But you are not to be like that."(Luke 22:25-26)(exousiazo)

" I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent."(1 Tim 2:12)(authenteo)

• The basic Greek word translated as authority in the New Testament is "exousia"
• This is the same word used by Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20 when he proclaims, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me..."
• This word is used 102 times in the New Testament, but never in reference to any church leader other than the apostles
• There are seven other words translated as "authority" by the editors of the NIV
• Similarly none of these words are used to refer to anyone in the church having an "authorative position", although they are used four times to indicate that a person should not be in a postion of authority

"These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you."(Tit 2:15)

• The word translated "authority" is this verse is the Greek word "epitage". This word is translated literally as "with all impressiveness" or "authoratively"
• Paul is telling Titus to encourage and rebuke with all impressiveness, that is, to speak authoritively as he presents the message about Christ
• He is not bestowing upon Titus a position of authority

"Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave-- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matt 20:25-28)

"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience."(Rom 13:1-5)

"Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good,"(Titus 3:1)

• Jesus drawing a contrast between the "leadership" positions of the world and what he intended set up in his kingdom
• "Authoritarian" leadership, Jesus points out, argues from position. One must submit to this kind of leadership because the leader possesses some sort of civil or legal authority
• Rulers and officials of the state have this kind of civil authority
• This kind of authority has been "established by God"; consequently those that rebel against it are rebelling against God and risk possible punishment
• This kind of authority, however, is never given to the apostles or to any other "leader"of the church

"Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other."(1 Thess 5:12-13)

• The word translated "over you" in this verse is prohistemi, which is also used in 1 Tim 3:4-5 and 1 Tim 5:17
• Prohistemi is actually a verb meaning "to assist, protect, care for or give aid to"
• In the other verses mentioned above (1 Tim 3:4-5 and 1 Tim 5:17) the word prohistemi is translated as "manage his own family" and "direct the affairs of the church"
• Both of these verses refer specifically to elders, so it not too unlikely that the reference in 1 Thessalonians is also referring to elders
• This verse asks us to respect those who work hard amongst us
• Which is easier--to demand submission and obedience based on a "exercise of authority",or to compel respect and obedience through a position of hard work,self-sacrifice and being a servant? Which attitude did Jesus want to prevail in his kingdom?
• Paul's use of the word prohistemi, translated as "over you" in 1 Thess 5:12, is meant to describe one of the "functions" of church leaders and not a "position" of authority

"Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you." (Heb 13:17)

• The word "authority" employed in the NIV version of this text simply does not exist in the original Greek text
• This was "inserted" by the editors of the NIV and is not found in any other modern translations of the Bible, including the King James Version, American Standard Version, New King James Version or New English Bible!
• Eliminating the use of the word "authority" from this verse does not diminish the need to be submissive to church leadership
• The NIV inaccurately suggests that we ought to submit to church leadership on the basis of their authority
• This submission is authorised not on the basis of any position they may occupy, but rather as a function of their example and their service to the church