A Biblical Theology of Leadership in the Home & Church

Who should lead in the local church?  Who should lead in the family?  How should we view leadership in respect to man’s sinfulness?  How should we view the mandate of leadership, given by God to his image-bearers, to be institutionalized throughout redemptive history, within the church and nuclear family?  These are all questions that the Scripture addresses concerning leadership through different texts.  Although, when looking at Scripture from cover to cover it becomes clear that leadership is something God is very passionate about.  From the Garden to the New Jerusalem, God progressively gives characteristics, moral standards, and qualifications of what a leader is and ought to be.  Concerning a biblical theology of leadership, we must look at the different stages of redemptive history (e.g., creation, fall, redemption, and new creation) and see the big picture of what Scripture says concerning specifically the home and the church. 

Richard Lints says this about redemptive history,

“A fundamental fact about the Scriptures is that they constitute a text with a developing story.  It is a story that clearly progresses toward the accomplishment of specific goals.  Redemption is an activity of God that unfolds over time.  This unfolding movement in the biblical text is profoundly important to the accomplishment of its purposes.  We must remember that Scripture not only witnesses to God’s redemption but it is also an effective agent of that redemption.  Biblical revelation progresses because it mirrors the progressive nature of redemption.  The ‘story’ of God’s involvement with and redemption of his people is acted out on the stage of history with many distinct but related parts.”[1] 

These related ‘parts’ of the developing story of Scripture are broken down into four segments: creation, fall, redemption, and new creation.  This progression of God’s redemptive plan through these 4 stages of history (specifically creation, redemption, and new creation) must be seen individually in how God works within the Trinitarian relationship.  In reading Scripture Christo-centrically, we come to learn that the hero of the Bible is Jesus; the Father is summing up all things in Jesus; and Jesus will hand the finished and complete creation back over to the Father giving him all the glory due him.  Redemptive history tells the story of the Father’s plan for his creation through the complete exaltation of the Son.  But what does redemptive history tell us about leadership?

Leadership in Creation and the Fall: Old Testament – Genesis 1-3

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).  Before God spoke creation into existence (Hebrews 11:3), God has always existed in the ontological Trinity.  When looking only at Genesis 1-3, we see a few things: 1) God said, “Let us make man in our image and our likeness (Genesis 1:26).   Not until a few thousand years of progressive revelation do we see who this us and our are in Genesis 1:26.  Through a Christ-centered lens of Scripture, we find that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all present in creation.  Colossians 1:15-20, John 1:1-18, and Hebrews 1:1-3 all give clarity to who God is speaking of in this verse.  Bruce Ware says, “It becomes clear that the work of God (e.g., creation, redemption, and consummation) can be rightly understood only as the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit unified in the purpose of the work but distinct in the participation and contribution of each member.”[2]  It is important to note that this Trinitarian relationship gives objectivity to how we view gender roles for man and woman.  Within the relationship of the Trinity we begin to see specific headship with the Father (1 Corinthians 11:3) being in authority over Christ.[3] 

2) God gave Adam the mandate to ‘be fruitful and multiple, and fill the earth, and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28).  Here we see God give the first mandate to man, who is made in his image, to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.  This text does not speak specifically to the details of how this would come about, only that there is a hint of a certain order to humanity and the continued existence of it.  In the Garden, Adam is to be the primary leader; Adam was the one whom the mandate to cultivate the earth is given; Adam was the one who was given dominion over all the animals, fish, and birds; Adam was the one who was chosen to name the animals; and Adam was the one who Eve was made for.

3) God made Eve as a “helper suitable for Adam” and Adam named the woman (Genesis 2:18).  Matthew Henry says this about Eve made as a help-meet for Adam, “Power over the creatures was given to man, and as a proof of this he named them all.  It also shows his insight into the works of God.  But though he was lord of the creatures, yet nothing in this world was a help-meet for man.  From God are all our helpers.” [4]  It is important to note that the theme of leadership is present with Adam in the fact that Eve was created to be his helper even before sin was in the world.  Also, the fact that Adam named Eve gives us the understanding that Adam is indeed the leader in the first marriage union. 

4) God gave man the mandate to “leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife” (Genesis 2:24).   Paul Peachy, from his book Leaving and Cleaving says that you can draw implications from the “story” of Adam and Eve to contextualize to today’s marriage, “It could be argued that today’s family crisis is in part an outcome of the leaving father and mother impulse.”[5]  He argues that this possibly hurts the ‘family unit.’  I would argue that the family unit when not truly understanding its creation mandates, fails to fully understand God’s plan for the family.  The biblical concept of ‘leaving and cleaving’ gives implicit leadership implication for the man to be able and ready to ‘cleave’ to his wife, not to mention leaving the umbrella of his family. 

5) Adam sinned by substituting himself in place of the LORD, and the LORD “called Adam out” (Genesis 3).  When Adam and Eve sinned, it was Adam who the LORD pursued and held accountable.  The LORD immediately called Adam’s name out and held him accountable to answer him for his sin.  We again see a leadership theme given to Adam in that God held him accountable and not the woman.  This theme of leadership given to the man within the family, even amidst the fall of humanity, continues to build as Scripture progresses. 

6) God told Adam that his creation-mandated work shall now be hard creation-mandated work; Adam will now work by the “sweat of his brow” (Genesis 3:19).  Because of Adam’s sin and lack of leadership, God gives Adam the punishment of hard sin-infiltrated work.  This work, says the LORD, will be done only by the sweat of Adam’s brow.  Instead of having anything Adam wants to eat in the Garden, Adam will now have to work for his food to be able to provide for his family.  Again, leadership is given to Adam, even under the curse of sin, to provide food for his family by the sweat of his brow.

7) God told the woman that he will “greatly multiply her pain in childbirth” and that “her desire shall be to rule over her husband” (Genesis 3:16).  This curse of the fall can be seen in homes all over the world throughout history, but specifically in a current post-modern movement called Evangelical Feminism.  Wayne Grudem writes in his book Evangelical Feminism, “This is a movement that claims there are no unique leadership roles for men in marriage or in the church.  According to evangelical feminism, there is no leadership role in marriage that belongs to the husband simply because he is the husband, but leadership is to be shared between husband and wife according to their gifts and desires.  And there are no leadership roles in the church reserved for men, but women as well as men can be pastors and elders and hold any office in the church.”[6]  There attempt to disregard and find loopholes in God’s mandate for the man to be the leader in the home and church can be traced all the way back to Adam’s sin and the new found curse for the woman. 

8) God gives the first gospel promise that through the seed of the woman the serpent shall be defeated (Genesis 3:15).  Though sin has now entered the world and marred and disrupted God’s design for his creation, the LORD gives the first promise of redemption.  We see the first of the many of God’s promises planted here as he promises Eve that through her offspring he will crush the serpent that deceived them.  We see this promise fulfilled in the Warrior King Jesus Christ, who crushes the head of the serpent as he humbly and obediently becomes the penal substitutionary atonement for the sin of his church. 

There is a lot that takes place in the first three chapters of the book of Genesis that gives us clarity to God’s created order between man and woman and their intended specific gender roles.  We see that Adam is the leader and Eve was made as a helper suitable for him; Adam named all the animals, birds, and fish and he even named the helper God made suitable for him, making Adam the intended leader; and Adam was held accountable for the sin of Eve because he was seen by the LORD as the leader.

Leadership in Redemption and New Creation: New Testament – Church

In looking throughout the salvation-historical stages of redemption and new creation, it is important to look at certain passages that discuss qualifications and characteristics of leadership for the family and church.  As God’s redemptive revelation has progressed, we have now seen that Jesus has come as the greater David and has established his eternal Kingdom.  Throughout the Old Testament we see leaders rise and fall under Gods ultimate leadership.  The three main leadership offices in the Old Testament are Prophet, Priest, and King.  Now that Jesus has come in the flesh, we see that he has fulfilled each of the three Old Testament offices in completeness.  Jesus is the true prophet, priest, and king.  In the New Testament, we see a new institution established by Jesus, the church.  As we have already seen that man is the authority/head of the family, it is not uncommon to think that Jesus would establish the man as the head of the household of God as well.[7]  Now, as we look throughout the New Testament at what a leader is supposed to be, we will examine a few specific texts.

Acts 1-2.  Beginning in Acts 1, we see Jesus promising his apostles the gift of the Holy Spirit before he bodily ascends into heaven.  It is important to note that the apostles that Jesus chose to lead his church were in fact men, the foundation for New Testament church leadership.  When the apostles casted lots at the end of chapter 1 to see who would take Judas’ place as the 12^th apostle, Matthias, a man was chosen.  In Acts 2:2 we see that the Holy Spirit descend onto the apostles and they began speaking in the tongues of those who were present.  Reading on, we come to find out that Peter began to preach the gospel of the risen Lord Jesus to all those who were present.  Scripture says that two thousand were added to their numbers that day.  It is important to note a few things concerning the beginning of the church in Acts 2.  First of all, it is important to note that the twelve apostles who were chosen by Jesus to build his church were men.  Peter, the first person to give a public gospel presentation post-ascension was a man.  As we will see in 1^st Timothy 3, Titus 2, and 1^st Peter 5, the main qualification for the elder in the church is for the leader to be a man. 

1^st Timothy 3.  This passage of Scripture is crucial for understanding the qualification of an elder/overseer.  1^st Timothy 3:1-7 reads,

“It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.  An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from love of money.  He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.  And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.” 

Paul begins by stating first and foremost that the office of an overseer belongs to a man.  We see in Genesis 2 and 1 Corinthians 11 that God made man the head of the woman due to the order of creation, and Paul tells us that the office of an overseer also belongs to the man.  The evangelical feminism argument again states that there is no designed leader in the church and the family.  Paul here states that if a man desires to the office of an overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.  Twice in one verse Paul refers to this office as a masculine office.  Not only does Paul define the office with a masculine pronoun but he also discusses the office holder of this office being a husband.  For the third time in two verses, Paul discusses the qualifications of the overseer as a male. 

Titus 2.  Again in his letter to Titus, Paul gives the qualities and qualifications to look for in an elder.  He says in Titus 2:5-9,

“For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe not accused of dissipation or rebellion.  For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is an accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.”

 Paul again defines the first quality of an overseer as a man saying, “If any man is above reproach.”  The text here that Paul is giving is strictly prescriptive as Paul lays out not only what an elder is supposed to be, but also what an elder is not supposed to be.  When it comes to the office of the elder in the church, it is clearly defined for the man.  We are to remember that men and women are in every way equal in dignity, value, and worth, but they are distinct in gender roles and function.  John Piper writes, “Over the years I have come to see from Scripture and from life that manhood and womanhood are the beautiful handiwork of a good and loving God.  He designed our differences and they are profound.  They are not mere physiological prerequisites for sexual union.  They go to the root of our personhood.[8]

For bible-believing Christians, the foundational argument for male leadership is found in the personhood of Jesus Christ.  Scripture tells us that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, not the daughter of God.  Alexander Strauch says about Christ’s personhood,

“It was a theological necessity, absolutely essential to his person and work.  Jesus was and had to be a first-born male, “holy to the Lord” (Luke 2:23).  As the “last Adam” and “the second man,” He was the antitype of Adam, not Eve.  Therefore, he had to be male (1 Cor. 15:45, 47; Rom. 5:14).  He had to be a first-born son of David and Abraham, the true son of promise – the King, not the queen, of Israel and the Lord, not the lady, of the universe.  According to the creation order, Jesus could not be a woman because in the male-female relationship the male partner alone is invested with the headship-authority role (Gen. 2:20, 22, 23; 1 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:12), and Jesus Christ alone is Head of the Church and King of kings.  He is the model for every male leader.”[9] 

Again, it is crucial to understand the manhood in the person of Jesus Christ and the model that he set forth for male leadership in the New Testament churches. 

1 Peter 5:5.  “You younger men, likewise be subject to your elders.”  Again here Paul discusses the office of an overseer as an office for a man.  Some might say, “The elders here could be women that the young men are being subject to.”  The following statement is not likely when you follow the rule of interpreting Scripture with Scripture.  Following a Titus 2 model, Paul tells the young men to learn to learn from their elders.  In Titus 2, Paul tells the older men to teach the younger men to learn the ‘duties’ of the church and the maturity of the faith.  It is crucial to understand that the only time the office of an elder is talked about in the New Testament is talked about under male leadership.  This concludes that the office of the New Testament overseer must be paralleled to the person of Jesus, the choosing of the 12 apostles, the qualifications given by Paul and Peter, and the creation mandate of the man as the leader of the family.  The New Testament leader must be a man. 

Leadership in Redemption and New Creation: New Testament – Family

As we look throughout the New Testament about what the Bible says a family is supposed to be, it gives us clear definitions on defined gender roles for the husband and the wife.  The most obvious reference to the husband and wife in the New Testament is Ephesians 5.  Ephesians 5 reads,

“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 Savior.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.  In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.  After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body.  ”For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”  This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.  However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”

 There are two crucial facts to state concerning this passage of Scripture:  First of all, Husbands are to love and serve their wives as Christ served the church.  Paul discusses the authority/headship/leadership of the man as nothing less than Christo-centrically.  Leadership must be servant leadership.  Paul draws out the fact that Christ served his church and gave himself up for her.  The husband must lead his wife this way.  He must lead her to the point of giving himself up for her, even to the point of death.  Often in the evangelical community, servant leadership is called mature masculinity.  John Piper gives this definition of mature masculinity: “At the heart of mature masculinity is a sense of benevolent responsibility to lead, provide for, and protect women in ways appropriate to a man’s differing relationships.”[10]  

Concerning leadership in our sub-culture of Evangelicalism, this is often taken to the extreme and can be very sinful, not to mention idiotic, for the man.  The call to lead the woman is not a hyper-leadership form of egotistical consumption, though it is a call to serve the woman. Questions to ask are, “What is best for her?  What can she handle at one time?  What would she like to do?”  Yes, the man should assume his responsibility in undertaking the final say in disagreements, but he should not use this like a wild card.  Leadership is humble, repentant, risk-taking, and sacrificial.  Concerning provision for the woman, this is often backwards thinking in our feminist and suede-intellectual society.  The man should feel a great responsibility to provide for the woman, not that the woman should not assist in maintaining support for the family, but the man should feel a benevolent responsibility to always provide for his woman.  Genesis 3:9, “But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”[11]  Concerning protection for the woman, mature masculinity senses a natural urge to always protect the woman (any woman for that matter) from the context of danger by putting himself between the adversary and the woman.  This is simply an understanding of mature masculinity learning to be bold and courageous (Joshua 1).  Who goes into the lifeboats first when the ship is sinking?[12] 

Conclusion

In concerning a biblical theology of leadership, we must start with the personhood of Jesus and work our way out from there.  Jesus is the model for male leadership in the home and in the church.  Modeling after Jesus in leadership has major implications in how one ethically presents himself according to biblical moral standards.  Jesus was the last Adam, but the first true and perfect leader.  He was what Adam could not be as a leader.  Therefore, we must always model our leadership after the life Jesus.  After looking at the life of Jesus, we must look at what the rest of the New Testament says concerning the qualifications of leadership within the home and church.  Paul and Peter give the leadership/authority/headship position to the man inside both the home and church, calling leaders to serve sacrificially as Christ served the church.  Looking at Genesis 1-3, we understand that God gave specific leadership qualities to Adam, but Adam failed to complete this true leadership calling due to the sin of substituting himself for God.  Only in Jesus do we find what true leadership is under the atoning sacrifice he made in substituting himself for us on the cross. 

[1]Lints, Richard, The Fabric of Theology: A Prolegomenon to Evangelical Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1993), 262-63.

[2]Ware, Bruce. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, and Relevance (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 16-17.

[3]Piper, John and Wayne Grudem. Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2006), 137.

[4]Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997), 5.

[5]Peachy, Paul. Leaving and Clinging: The Human Significance of the Conjugal Union (Lanham, MA: University Press of America, Inc., 2001), 92.

[6]Grudem, Wayne. Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Liberalism? (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2006), 1.

[7]Strauch, Alexander. Biblical Eldership: An Urgent Call to Restore Biblical Church Leadership (Littleton, CO: Lewis & Roth Publishers, 1995), 58.

[8]Piper, John and Wayne Grudem. Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism, 32

[9]Strauch, Alexander. Biblical Eldership: An Urgent Call to Restore Biblical Church Leadership, 58-59.

[10]Piper, John and Wayne Grudem. Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism, 35-45.

[11]Ibid.

[12]Ibid.