What does God want in a leader?

By Matt Brown

Many come to leadership passages (especially 1 Tim chapter 3) and really drill down on the offices of the church, the context of the scripture (especially concerning the role of women), and the role of marriage in church leadership. Those ideas are important, but I want to broaden the scope a little and answer the question: What does God want in a leader? Building the Kingdom of God in this world means growing the love of Jesus in ourselves and sharing it with others. Sharing Jesus' love with others means leading. How should we lead?

Read 1 Tim 3:1-13
God wants our leaders to be loving, stable, and consistent.
We can look around us and see the presidential campaigns starting and see contradictions and obvious flaws in all of the candidates. Perhaps the most glaring flaw in any and all of our candidates is that they themselves seek and seemly covet the office that they aspire to. Godly leaders do not seek office, but instead serve and are raised to leadership by those around them. I have led from both vantage points. I have lead from a position that I coveted, fought for, and eventually acquired. Conversely, I have led from positions that I did not seek, but instead were granted because of service. It is in the latter position that I feel more effective and where I feel like I am serving the people I lead better. When I read about the qualities of leadership in 1 Timothy 3:1-13, it comes as no surprise that my best days (the days that I forget myself and my needs) result in the better leadership.

Read John 13:12 - 17
God wants leaders to be humble servants.
The world puts a low value on service. The follower of Jesus sees service to others as a bedrock condition of discipleship. When we serve others, we assume our true place in the world and become our true selves: we become people of love and light. That sounds like a dumb cliché, but it means is that we begin to bring the world, those around us, and ourselves into the true nature of God and creation through the redemptive power of Jesus. Jesus washed the disciple's feet – a slave's job – to make the point that redemption starts at meeting people's most basic needs. This act also demonstrates that we as Christians should hold not act of service as too lowly for ourselves.

Read 1 Tim 5:17-25
God wants leaders to be fair and to be treated fairly.
In the world, leaders are washed away with easy accusations or leaders can be brought before the law and found guilty and still not be punished. Our worldly leaders rise and fall almost solely on public opinion alone. You know what? A lot of us like it that way. Almost all of us WANT to be popular enough to be above the law – we covet power – we covet celebrity. Many times we might even like the leader who is in the wrong.

God has a higher standard for us when it comes to Kingdom leaders:

1. 1. An elder must be accused by two or three witnesses.
2. 2. A guilty elder must be rebuked publicly.
3. 3. We are to show no bias.

We must treat our leaders fairly – even when they fall under judgment. There is no free ride.

Our worldly leaders today rely and enjoy special treatment, but Kingdom leaders should expect the opposite. Is that a drag? No; it keeps a leader in a better state of mind because it allows a leader to understand those that he or she leads. Once again we must look at empathy as the root of good leadership. When leaders understand the least of their brothers and sisters, they adopt a vantage point that allows them to lead effectively because they understand the costs of their leadership decisions.