Bible Quotes on Leadership

What are your favorite leadership quotes (whether from the Bible or not)? This is a short list I compiled from the Bible. Enjoy:

Wait! Also check out the 3 leadership qualities Part 1, 2, & 3.

Elders who provide effective leadership must be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard in speaking and teaching. For the scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and, “The worker deserves hispay.” 

1 Timothy 5:17, 18

And God has placed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, gifts of healing, helps,gifts of leadership, different kinds of tongues.

1 Corinthians 12:28

This saying is trustworthy: “If someone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a goodwork.” The overseer then must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, an able teacher, not a drunkard, not violent, butgentle, not contentious, free from the love of money. He must manage his own householdwell and keep his children in control without losing his dignity. But if someone does notknow how to manage his own household, how will he care for the church of God? He must not be a recent convert or he may become arrogant and fall into the punishment that the devilwill exact. And he must be well thought of by those outside the faith, so that he may notfall into disgrace and be caught by the devil’s trap.

1 Timothy 3:1-7

Deacons likewise must be dignified, not two-faced, not given to excessive drinking, not greedy for gain, holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 3:10 Andthese also must be tested first and then let them serve as deacons if they are found blameless. Likewise also their wives must be dignified, not slanderous, temperate, faithful in every respect. Deacons must be husbands of one wife and good managers of their children andtheir own households. For those who have served well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

1 Timothy 3:8-13

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls and will give an account for their work. Let them do this with joy and not with complaints, for this would be no advantage for you.

Hebrews 13:17

When there is no guidance a nation falls, but there is success in the abundance of counselors.

Proverbs 11:14

Doing wickedness is an abomination to kings, because a throne is established in righteousness.

Proverbs 16:12

A dispute also started among them over which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. So Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’  Not so with you; instead the one who is greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is seated at the table, or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is seated at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

Luke 22:24-27

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The experts in the law and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. Therefore pay attention to what they tell you and do it. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavyloads, hard to carry, and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by people, for they make their phylacteries wide and their tassels long. They love the place of honor atbanquets and the best seats in the synagogues and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces, and to have people call them ‘Rabbi.’ But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’  for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers. And call no one your ‘father’ on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. And whoeverexalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Matthew 23:1-12

In the same way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. And all of you, clotheyourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but givesgrace to the humble. And God will exalt you in due time, if you humble yourselves under his mighty hand by casting all your cares on him because he cares for you.

1 Peter 5:5-7

At that time the disciples came to Jesus saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child, had him stand among them, and said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn around and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven! Whoever then humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 18:1-4

For I consider myself not at all inferior to those “super-apostles.” And even if I am unskilled in speaking, yet I am certainly not so in knowledge. Indeed, we have made this plain to you in everything in every way. Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that youcould be exalted, because I proclaimed the gospel of God to you free of charge? I robbedother churches by receiving support from them so that I could serve you! When I was with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia fully supplied my needs. I kept myself from being a burden to you in any way,and will continue to do so. As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia. Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! And what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may eliminate any opportunity for those who want a chance to be regarded as our equals in the things they boast about. For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will correspond to their actions.

2 Corinthians 11:5-15

Do not seek your own good, but the good of the other person.

1 Corinthians 10:24

Leave them! They are blind guides. If someone who is blind leads another who is blind, both will fall into a pit.”

Matthew 15:14

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He takes me to lush pastures, he leads me to refreshing water. He restores my strength. He leads me down the right paths for the sake of his reputation. Even when I must walk through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff reassure me. You prepare a feast before me in plain sight of my enemies. You refresh my head with oil; my cup is completely full. Surely your goodness and faithfulness will pursue me all my days, and I will live in the Lord’s house for the rest of my life.

Psalm 23

All Bible quotes are taken from the NET Bible which can be found online at net.bible.org. Please share your favorite leadership quote that you have from the Bible. Let’s see how many we can find…

Wait! Also check out the 3 leadership qualities Part 1, 2, & 3.

Three Leadership Qualities – Part 3

Before reading this be sure to read Part 1 and Part 2

This is the last section and probably the most important quality in Christian leadership. You can be the most competent leader in your field. You can act with integrity more than anyone else. But, if you don’t display concern for the well-being of others then your leadership status with others crumbles. This may not be true for all types of leadership but it is true for Christian leaders. Let me break it down for you…

Display Concern for the Well-Being of Others

Display – make a prominent exhibition of something where it can be easily seen by others (dictionary definition). We are on display for the world to see. If you haven’t noticed, people love to talk bad about Christians. They love to point out our flaws, as if we are to be perfect. Leaders are in the light even more. Your attitude and your actions are on display whether you want them there or not. Everyone is looking to you since you are the leader.

Concern – A matter of interest or importance to someone; to involve oneself in the life of another. You can’t fake this. To be concerned about someone means you have to go out-of-the-way for that person. You have to care for them. I think of Robin Williams’ suicide the other day and how many thousands more we never hear about. They probably didn’t feel like anyone showed any concern for them. Being concerned about someone is genuine. It is taking out of your own life and time and priorities to see about someone else.

Well-being – A state of being comfortable, healthy, and happy. We always want to make sure we are in this state. But, how often do we care if someone else is in this state? Being comfortable means we aren’t anxious. Being healthy means we aren’t sick. Being happy means we aren’t sad or depressed. This is a lot of work just for ourselves. How much more time and effort do you think it takes to care for someone else’s well-being?

Others – Used to refer to a person or thing that is different or distinct from one already mentioned or known about. That is, someone other than yourself. We already love ourselves. Why not love others too.

You put all this together and it seems like a monumental task. And, it is. Being unselfish is the hardest thing you can ever do in this world. Caring about others is draining and time-consuming. “My commandment is this – to love one another just as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this – that one lays down his life for his friends.” John 15:12

Look at Yourself

Leaders must be willing to sacrifice their lives for their friends. Their friends would be anyone who they are leading. Do really display concern for the well-being of others? Do you go out of your way to make sure those you lead are okay? Do you take time out of your day for people other than yourself? Would you drop everything for someone in pain that needs help? Robin Williams death should remind all of us to look at those around us and care for them. Show them the love of God in us. You may be the most charismatic and qualified leader in the world. But, without love, everything you do is fruitless (1 Cor. 13:2).

I realize I didn’t share many Bible quotes on leadership. So, next week I will have a blog post with nothing but Bible verses that relate to leadership.

Three Leadership Qualities – Part 2

To read Part 1 click here.

As I continue this leadership series I want to remind you about the first quality, performing competently. All good leaders, especially Christian leaders, must know their job. Christian leaders must also know their Bible well. This week’s leadership quality builds from last week’s.

Act With Integrity

A part of performing competently (as I briefly mentioned last week) was to live out what you are teaching. An excellent biblical leader will not be a hypocrite. That is, they won’t tell someone to live a certain way while they secretly partake of those same sins. I could end this blog post with that, but, acting with integrity is more than just doing what is right when nobody is watching. There are three more important aspects of integrity.

First, acting with integrity means you keep your word. Some of you may have heard the saying, ‘my word is my bond’ (‘word is bond’ for short). This is crucial for Christian leaders. That means we won’t say we will do something without fully knowing we can and are able to do it. If you say you are going to be at work at 8 o’clock then you don’t show up at that time, you are not acting with integrity. You must do what you are say you are going to do. It’s that simple. It may not be easy but it is simple. See James 5:12

Second, acting with integrity means communicating clearly. At first, this may not seem like it has anything to do with integrity. Let me explain. Say you are a Christian leader and you have a few subordinates. You have a good idea in your head for the future for all of them. You have a plan in place to make your organization, or church, or whatever it is great. You carry out your plan but you fail to tell all of those who work for you or who you minister to. You may tell them aspects here or there but never your full intentions. This is poor integrity. It seems as though you were trying to deceive others to get what you wanted. It may have been innocent. You may have had the best intentions for the others but they didn’t see it that way. I have learned over the years that leaders must over-communicate. Communication has always been a poor quality of mine and that is one thing I strive to do better.

Third, acting with integrity means have good morals. Again, this is real similar to performing competently and to what I mentioned above about doing what is right when nobody is watching. Nevertheless, I needed to mention it here for clarity (communication). Great Christian leaders have good morals. They are nice to other people even when they don’t deserve it. They never talk badly about a person when they aren’t there to defend themselves (gossip). They strive to live an upright life.

Look at yourself

Are you acting with integrity as a Christian leader? Are you keeping your word that you promised to others? Are you communicating your intentions clearly? Do you have good morals? Strive to be excellent in your leadership. Don’t be a lazy leader.

Continue reading with Part 3…

 

Three Leadership Qualities – Part 1

Excuse me while I start this blog with a mini-rant. Listen people, if you want to be in a leadership position you must take responsibility for your actions and those of who you lead. I’m sick of leaders who are more than willing to take the credit for when things go right. But, God forbid something goes wrong. Then those same leaders are quick to deflect, blame someone else, or pretend like nothing has happened. If you are unable to take ownership of the mistakes made by you, your staff, or those who you lead then you don’t need to be in a leadership position, period! …and I’m done with my rant.

Biblical leadership

This is going to be a three-part series on three qualities all biblical leaders must have (which also applies to all leaders). I will spend the next three weeks on each quality. These three qualities are a must-have. There is no way around it. If you can’t live up to them then you shouldn’t be a leader. There are way too many pastors, elders, deacons, and church leaders out there who are leading people astray. They are in a leadership position because they want the power not because God has called them. Or, maybe God did call them but they have forgotten that call.

Before I get started let me get three obvious Christian leadership traits out of the way first: called by God, submitting to God, humble attitude toward others (servant). Now, I bring you the first leadership quality all leaders must posses.

Perform Competently

This means you know what you are doing in your job. To be a leader means you have to be able to do your job very well and be able to teach others to do it. Mistakes will always happen. But what will separate great leaders from average leaders is what comes after the mistake: acknowledge it, learn from it, and never do it again. If you keep making the same mistake repeatedly, then you are not performing competently.

For example, I’m a carpenter. For me to be a good carpenter I have to know exactly how to fix something or build something before I start the project. If I start something before knowing what I’m doing then I’m not performing competently. I am a competent carpenter because I have the ability, skill, and knowledge to do carpentry work.

When it comes to biblical leadership, this means you are living out what you are teaching. You know your Bible well. You can teach others what the Bible teaches. You live as a child of God. Again, this isn’t saying you are sinless, but you do sin less. Like I said two paragraphs above about mistakes, you recognize when you sin and acknowledge it. Ask for forgiveness from others and God. Never let that sin take you down.

For me, it’s easy to recognize a biblical leader who is performing competently. They have confidence. They know what they are teaching and living out. They know and read the whole Bible, not just a few verses here and there. They know God is real. They know Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave. They know Jesus is coming back again. They know they will be united in heaven with all the other believers and spend eternity with our Savior. They have the Holy Spirit. They have swag. And, most importantly, they have a humble attitude toward others.

Look at yourself

Now, if you are a leader, ask yourself, “Do I perform competently?” I’m sure your answer will be yes. So here is a harder challenge, ask those you lead if you perform competently. I urge all leaders to strive for this quality. If you don’t think you are there yet then maybe you need to step down for a while until you can be at this level.

As a biblical leader you are never going to know all the Bible but you should have a really good grasp on what the Bible teaches and what you believe in. You should be able to teach others competently using the Bible as a guide not your own thoughts. You should be able to take people through the different books of the Bible and show them what they are about. Study the Word of God and stay connected to God through prayer then you will become (or stay) a competent Christian leader

Continue reading Part 2 now…

Or jump ahead to Part 3…