Who is the leader?

There have been many models of leadership promoted through history. In fact, many of these models have developed into political systems such as a monarchy (rule by a king), a dictatorship (rule by a dictator), socialism (rule by market management systems), a theocracy (rule under God) or a democracy (rule by the people).

There are really only 2 forms of government outlined in the Bible, both of which have some serious difficulties. Monarchy is a very common early form of government and pervasive through most of recorded history. If the king is truly concerned for the well-being of individuals under his rule and has adequate control of his realm, this works quite well in a fairly closed system. But as soon as a king loses focus on his responsibility to his subjects, or loses control of certain groups, or has evil (or lazy) counselors, everything is soon lost. The other form in early Hebrew culture was the theocracy. When God is the ruler, everything really does go well. The difficulty here is that God usually communicates through people, some of whom have their own ideas of how things should work and misrepresent God or completely neglect their relationship with Him. After 300 years of moral, social and political failure in the period of the Hebrew judges, the people decided they needed a king like everyone else.

So what are the characteristics of the leader that provide the most stable environment for those who follow? We will be looking at 4 essential qualities of effective leadership in our next class. In the meantime, you might be interested in this article from Thorston Grahn who works with the German Christian media organization "ERF Median" and has a degree in Organizational Leadership. http://christian-leadership.org/jesus-the-role-model-for-christian-leaders/