Worship Leaders by John A. White Contributing Writer April 29, 2009

Biblical Requirements for Leaders

In this section we will discuss a leader's biblical qualifications based primarily from 1st Timothy and Titus. Specifically we will be investigating the personal, family and church qualification and obligations for the spiritual leader.

Personal Qualifications

Effective spiritual leadership is byproduct of the essential spiritual maturity of the leader. Leadership is not doing more, doing things better, being busy or getting results. These were the common thrusts of many older leadership theories. As seen in the examples of Gary and Zach, leadership is a manifestation of personal quality of the leader and in particular, spiritual leadership is a manifestation of a leader's deepest spirituality. Effective spiritual leadership stems from a vital and vibrant relationship with the living God and a deep understanding of self.

In the fundamental process of spiritual and personal maturity, the leader develops a sense of their purpose. This unique purpose separates the leader from his or her peers in what Edwin Friedman would calls "self differentiation." According to Friedman "Differentiation means the capacity [of a leader] to define his or her own life's goals and values apart from the surrounding pressure toward togetherness; to say ‘I' when others are demanding ‘we'" . Friedman asserts, "...they [the leaders], when they do so, become the owner of their destinies". Leaders frequently experience a feeling of personal distance and isolation from the group they lead. Therefore, it is also critically important that leaders maintain friendships where God can recreate, refresh and possibility redirect and reprove them. These friendships are usually found outside their sphere of influence, which in some case can cause turmoil within the group they lead.

The biblical and spiritual requirements for a leader's character, their relationship with his or her family and their relationship with his or her community are seen in Tables 2 through 4 respectively and are taken primarily from 1st Timothy and Titus. 1 Tim 3: 2-12 says:

"Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap. Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons. In the same way, their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything. A deacon must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well." (NIV, 1 Tim 3:1-10)"

and in Titus we find:

"An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless--not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it." (NIV, Tit 1:6-9).

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