What is the gift of leadership?

Who actually leads a church?  Is it a pastor, a church board, or a religious affiliation/denomination?  Should the believer have an extroverted or introverted personality temperament?  How is the gift of leadership relevant to the local church?

The Apostle Paul includes the gift of leadership in his letter to the Romans as well as to the Corinthians.

“Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many from one body, and each member belongs to the others.  We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.  If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith…if it is leadership, let him govern diligently….” (Romans 12:4-6, 8 NIV)

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.  And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.  Are all apostles?  Are all prophets?  Are all teachers?  Do all work miracles?  Do all have gifts of healing?  Do all speak in tongues?  Do all interpret?  But eagerly desire the greater gifts? (I Corinthians 12:27-30 NIV, italics added for emphasis)

In the Old Testament, when Moses left the Israelites for a length of time to talk with God on Mount Sinai, the Israelites lost sense of God’s vision and decided to build a golden calf to worship their own gods.  The Israelites said, “…Come, make us gods who will go before us.  As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” (Exodus 32:1 NIV)  King David understood the responsibility of being a God-fearing leader with the words, “Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies – make straight your way before me. (Psalm 5:8 NIV)  King Solomon also reiterated this same concept by warning against the lack of leadership, “Where there is no vision, the people perish….” (Proverbs 29:18 KJV)

 

In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul indicates that an overseer of a church should have the ability to lead others with all honesty.  He makes this clear with the following words and subsequent rhetorical question.  “…If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer…He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respects. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)” (I Timothy 3:1, 4-5 NIV)  In other words, people need a leader who can cast God’s vision for their lives as well as the local church.

God has chosen many people over the years to lead his people.  Moses led the Israelites out of their oppression in Egypt. (Exodus 14:15-18, 29-31)  Years later, as the Israelites cried out for help from their oppression, they were helped by Deborah, a prophetess who was leading Israel at that time. (Judges 4:3-5)  In the New Testament, God still uses leaders to watch over his flock, be it as an overseer or pastor of a church, an administrative person or church board member, or a person of faith leading in a civil position of responsibility.  In summary, the spiritual gift of leadership, or governments, is when the Holy Spirit guides a believer to diligently lead others and/or an organization by perseverance and adherence to the Word of God.