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THE GENESIS PRINCIPLE of LEADERSHIP: Reclaiming and Stewarding the Long-Lost Image of God

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THE GENESIS PRINCIPLE of LEADERSHIP: Reclaiming and Stewarding the Long-Lost Image of God THE GENESIS PRINCIPLE OF LEADERSHIP: Reclaiming and Stewarding the Long-Lost Image of God by Richard D. Allen, Ph.D. Professor Covenant College Lookout Mountain, Georgia 30750 Copyrighted October 31, 2002 2 Written by Richard D. Allen, Ph.D. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transcribed in any form by any means, including but not limited to electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or other means, without written permission of Richard D. Allen, Ph.D. October 31, 2002. The Genesis Principle of Leadership 3 Leadership is everyone’s vocation and it can be an evasion to insist it is not. Parker Palmer1 PREFACE: Leadership is a popular theme in today’s literature. The behavioral sciences, driven by mechanistic and reductionistic views of the person, provide the philosophical framework for most current notions about leadership. Many Christians, including some prominent, high-profile leaders and authors, are reprehensively ransacking prevalent leadership theories, elevating Shakespeare, Attila the Hun and others as leadership gurus. Too much of such thinking regarding leadership is left unexamined, is uncritically adopted and then “Christianized.” It is time to develop a truly biblical theory about leadership! We can no longer trim secular thinking with pious platitudes, “baptizing” current notions about leadership with a sprinkling of misapplied scripture verses. In this paper I will attempt to set forth a biblical response to the age-old question, “Are leaders born or made?” Central to this response is the biblical understanding that men and women are created in the image of God (imago Dei); that because men and women are created in His image, they possess the communicable attributes of God; and, that these attributes are the true source of leadership. Leaders are neither born nor made; leaders are created. Because we are created equally in His image, we all are leaders. As such, each of us has the responsibility to bear God’s image, that is, to reclaim the long- lost image of God and steward the attributes given to us by Him into every arena of life. 1 Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000), 12. 4 In this sense, leadership must be redefined as “reclaiming and stewarding God’s created attributes.” I will present the image of God as having both structural and functional aspects which involve man2 in his relationship to God and in his relationship with others. Further, I will contend that these aspects are that which must govern our definition of a leader and what we conceive leadership to be. The theological perspective represented here is that of historic, classic, evangelical Christianity. That is, this paper is an attempt to address the matter of leadership within the context of a reformed biblical worldview with its implications for teaching christianly, particularly as it relates to the development of leaders in the organizational management program (QUEST) at Covenant College. I offer this paper in a spirit of humbleness and tentativeness. This is not a claim to the Christian answer to this issue. Rather, this paper is an attempt, not without conviction, to address the problem in a recognizably Christian way. It is an attempt on my part to begin to think about and work out a theology of leadership, apply this theology to anthropology (i.e. the nature of man), and then to develop a model of education for my role as an educator in the QUEST program at Covenant College. In this spirit, I am hopeful of stimulating and stewarding further thinking on the part of reflective people, recognizing that any work of this sort is a starting point, a work in progress, and subject to examination and revision in the light of increased scientific knowledge (general revelation) and greater understanding of the Scriptures (biblical revelation). 2 I use the word “man” here and throughout this paper as meaning “human being,” whether male or female. When the word “man” is used in this generic sense, pronouns referring to man (he, his, or him) must also be understood as having this generic sense; the same is true of the use of such masculine pronouns with the word “person.” It is a pity that the English language has no word corresponding to the German word “Mensch,” which means “human being” as such, regardless of gender. “Man” in English may have this meaning, though it may also mean “male human being.” It will usually be clear from the context in which sense the word “man” is being used. 5 6 We’ve got to hear advice that tells the whole truth about leadership. There’s simply too much advice out there. Barbara Kellerman3 INTRODUCTION: In 1991 I was bowled over by two unforeseen and disquieting assertions. The first came from Frank A. Brock, then president of Covenant College on Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Addressing the faculty regarding new strategies for student recruitment, President Brock declared, “From now on Covenant College is going to look for prospective students who are leaders. The others can attend elsewhere.” I was so astonished I recorded these words verbatim. I discussed this with President Brock but was not able to move him from his conviction that Covenant College would be helpful only to those students who possessed inherent leadership traits. A short time later I met with a senior executive of a large foundation, a major funder of Covenant College, to present a progress report on the work of the college. As I entered the office, the executive startled me with this puzzling question, “Tell me Richard, you’re a professor. Are leaders born or made?” “Made,” I replied. “This is what Covenant College is all about. Covenant College is in the business of making leaders.” I felt rather smug with my equally snappy counter. What followed might be described, graciously, as a rather intense, pseudo-intellectual row, a battle of the wits, as we heatedly debated the age-old question, “Are leaders born or made?” He and I 3 Barbara Kellerman, “Required Reading,” Harvard Business Review (December 2001), 15-24. 7 continue this debate to this day. Though somewhat taken aback by these two provocative events, they did launch me on this pursuit of a biblical definition of leadership. Indeed, our culture is obsessed with leadership. It’s as if there is a primal need for leadership. Over 2000 books were published in the year 2000 with the word lead, leader, or leadership in the title. This number increased in 2001. Likely, there will be even more titles in 2002. Thousands of articles on leadership appear in hundreds of publications each year. Leadership is the predominant topic of The Harvard Business Review (HBR) with leadership as the theme of its first ever “Special Edition” in HBR’s 79-year history (December, 2001). This phenomenon is not unique to the 21st Century. Leadership has been a significant theme in the literature for at least five centuries. Leadership is a prominent theme in the study of history itself. People have been talking about leadership since the time of Plato. And why not? Great leadership, like our need for it, is timeless. As Plato observed, Until philosophers rule in the republic or kings and rulers seriously and successfully pursue wisdom … unless political power and the love of wisdom unite and those people who follow only one of them are categorically excluded … neither republics nor the entire human race will ever be free from corruption. Until that happens, the republic we have been creating will never come to life and see the light of day. (Plato’s The Republic) This infatuation with leadership is not unique to the secular culture either. The Christian community is equally enchanted with leadership, as evidenced by the explosive 8 propagation of books,4 Christian journals5, inestimable articles in numerous Christian publications6, Christian associations7, ministries8, endless sermons, Sunday school lessons, Christian seminars and retreats, and leadership courses offered in hundreds of Christian colleges and seminaries.9 Leadership is emphasized at Covenant College. The college’s marketing literature says of its alumni, “They can be found in leadership positions both in the Church and around the world.” Several management courses are offered through the traditional and non-traditional programs. Leadership courses are offered to the Maclellan Scholars, The Character of Leadership I & II, which explores the important characteristics of effective leaders; Issues in Leadership, which focuses on the scholarship of leadership; and, Practicum in Leadership, which enables students to explore and exercise his or her gifts for formal and informal leadership in a variety of community and organizational settings. These courses are designed to develop the skills of potential Christian leaders.10 The college offers the so-called “leadership curriculum” to the Maclellan Scholars in an effort to turn them into leaders. Yet one of the reasons 4 For example: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader: Becoming the Person Others Will Want to Follow, and 78 additional leadership titles by John C. Maxwell. 5 For example: Leadership Journal, Christianity Today and others. 6 For example: “Your Leadership is Unique” by Peter Drucker in Leadership Journal, Fall 1996. 7 For example: Christian Management Association. 8 For example: Equip, Emerging Young Leaders, and others. 9 For example: Biblical and Theological Foundations of Leadership offered as a required course in the Doctor of Ministry program at Salt Lake Theological Seminary. 10 It is interesting to note that these courses are required of students designated as Maclellan Scholars; however, these courses are open only to a limited number of other students with the permission of the instructor.
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