The Existing Concept of Leadership in the African Church

Ted W. Engstrom and Edward R. Dayton in their book,prestige and position. This type of leadership is
"The Art of Management for Christian Leaders" saidwork-oriented and not people-oriented and is quite
that leadership can be looked at from many differentdifferent from the biblical concept of leadership.
angels. They went on to state three of these anglesThe Traditional Concept of Leadership
from which leadership can be looked at. They are: i )This concept of leadership is being examined from a
from the viewpoint of position, for e.g., leaders ofsociological perspective. It is significant to the discussion
companies or organizations; ii) from the viewpoint ofof this paper because it is still strongly recognized in
action: leaders are known by the leadership acts theyAfrican societies. In African countries, the social and
perform. Regardless of the different viewpoints fromethnic backgrounds of individuals do influence their
which one could examine leadership, it will always fallwhole perspective of life, which includes both the
under three basic concepts.1religious and the secular. This concept of leadership will
The three basic concepts of leadership identified in thebe discussed from both the Biblical and Traditional
contemporary world are as follows: the traditionalperspectives looking at the social dimension.
concept - from one's social or ethnic background, theA. The Biblical Perspective Of Traditional Concept Of
secular concept-from the view point of modernLeadership
society in general and the biblical concept - from theFrom the biblical records, one can have the spiritual
teachings of scripture. In some cases, the traditionaldimension of traditional concept of leadership. The Bible
concept. However, in the African context, it ismakes specific references to Jewish traditions in
important to make the distinction. From the threeMatthew chapter 15 and Mark chapter 7. In Matthew
concepts mentioned above, all other concepts of15:14, the Pharisees and teachers of the law
leadership have their roots. Therefore in discussing thequestioned Jesus because His disciples had broken the
existing concepts of leadership in the African church,tradition of the elders. In response, Jesus asked them -
these three concepts were examined. The format"And why do you break the command of God?"
followed in this chapter is as follows: the first sectionThere is a twist in Jesus' response to the Pharisees.
was a discussion on the Biblical concept of leadership,He did not focus on the issue but on leadership and
the second a discussion on the secular concept ofauthority. These elders have equated their human
leadership and the third on the traditional concept ofcommentary or interpretation of divine laws with divine
leadership. Following these discussions, the existingrevelation. Jesus recognized their leadership but
concept of leadership, within the African church wasquestioned their authority. Their leadership, even though
determined by comparing these concepts with actualnot acceptable was recognized. Unlike the western
practices in the church. From the comparison aworld, Africa still recognizes traditional leaders even
conclusion is drawn.though their authority may not be acknowledged by
The Biblical Concept of Leadershipmany. However, within their own sphere of operation,
The concept of leadership from the biblical perspectivethey are not only recognized as leaders but their
has been determined from the teaching of scripturesauthorities are also acknowledged. The Bible also
and from the examples of many who were called toacknowledged the facet of strong traditional leadership
leadership by God. In this section, the leadershipthat had great influence on people.
teachings of Jesus and the life. The life he modeled asB. The Social/Ethnic Perspective of Traditional
the ideal standard for Christian leaders will beConcept of Leadership
examined. Following that, leadership concepts in theMagbaily Fyle made the following observation about
Old Testament will be discussed generally, but alsohow leaders were recognized in African societies or
making specific references.within an ethnic group. He said that a great hunter or a
A. Leadership Teachings of Jesuspopular "moriman" (Quranic scholar) easily becomes a
In his book, "The New Leaders: A Revolutionaryleader. As he further stated, warfare was the most
Approach", Mytron Rush stated his purpose of writingimportant factor in recognizing a leader. One who had
as, "to help us rediscover the practices and principlesled people in a victorious battle has the right to lead.7
of leadership thought as applied by Jesus", He said thatAlso, F.K. Buah in his book, Ancient World mentioned
Jesus Christ was not just content to have followers.that leaders were recognized on the basis of age and
By His teachings and practices, He redefined effectivethe fact that it can be passed down from one family
leadership as the leader reproducing himself on themember to another. F.K. Buah further showed how this
followers.2 In the process of reproducing leader, Jesusindigenous concept of Traditional Leadership has been
revealed His basic concept of leadership as that ofinfluenced by western concept over the years.
service. Gottfried Osei-Mensah agrees with MyronAcademic education has also become an important
Rush when he said, "the model of leadership thefactor in Traditional leadership.8 However in this
scripture consistently command to the people of Godconcept of leadership, the followers usually respect the
is instead what we may call the servant-Ieader".3leaders position and decisions.
Several passages of scripture can also be cited toThe existing concept of leadership within the African
support the fact that Jesus' concept of leadership wasChurch
that of service. In Matthew 20:25-27, following aThe existing concept of leadership within the African
request for high position made by the mother of twoChurch can be determined by comparing the three
of Jesus' disciples, Jesus made this statement: "Not sobasic concepts of leadership with actual practices in
with you. Instead, whosoever wants to be great mustthe church. The comparison will be done in two
be your servant, and whoever wants to be first mustsegments: first, with respect to the leaders and
be your slave." Also in Matthew 20:28, Jesus said, "Thesecondly, with reference to their task or function.
Son of man did not come to be served but to serve".A) Leadership within the African Church
Osei-Mensah observed that through His ministry, andIn the African Church, there are laid down principles as
especially in His relationship with His disciples, Jesusto how leaders are chosen or acknowledged. For
also consistently modeled this type of leadership. Formost churches it is by election. Such elections are
example, when Jesus washed the disciples' feet, Heusually preceded by nomination; which could be done
clearly demonstrated this principle of humble servicebefore or during the elections. When the process of
and show that it does not take away any dignity fromchoosing or acknowledging leaders is by elections, the
the leader. It was this servant concept of leadership,obvious question that arises is: 'who is eligible to
which was epitomized in the life and ministry of Jesusstand?'. Formal education in many churches has
that produced the first group of Christian leaders - thebecome a criterion for leadership. In fact, many
disciples of Jesus. This act of Jesus was also to showconsidered it to be the most important criterion. For
the disciples that true leadership is grounded in love,example, elderly people in the main-line churches in
which must result in service.Sierra Leone are seeking formal education, in the
B. Leadership teachings of Jesus' Disciplestheological field so that they will be qualified to enter
Scripture shows that long after Jesus had gone, Histhe pastorate. Many also are going through formal
disciples carried on His concept of leadership. Theeducation by extension. In evangelical churches there
apostle Peter in I Peter 5:2-5 wrote to other Christianare certain positions that one cannot hold without a
leaders: "Be servant of God's flock that are under youruniversity degree. On the other hand, many
care, serving as overseers not because you must, butindependent churches considered spirituality or
because you are willing. Clothe yourself with humilitycharismatic gifting as the most important in the criteria
toward one another." In this statement of the apostlefor leadership. Many charismatic leaders, by virtue of
Peter, it can be seen that his concept of leadership isthe fact that they planted the church assumed the
purely that of service. He did not only accept thisposition of leader and acknowledge other leaders by
concept as that of Jesus but saw it as the norm fortheir gifts. These leaders however do not subject
Christian leaders. For this reason, he was instructingthemselves to election.
them to adopt the same concept of leadership. Also,If however they do, it is certain that they would have
the apostle Paul, in I Thessalonians 2:9 talked about theensured the safety of their position by some clause in
kind of leader he had been to the Thessalonians. Hethe constitution. However in both main line and
said he labored night and day among them and that hisevangelical churches, individuals aspire to leadership
life and that of his colleagues were examples ofbecause they are convinced that God has called them.
holiness, justice and blamelessness before God. Paul'sCharismatic and evangelical churches can be very
concept of leadership was exactly that of Jesus -welcoming in acknowledging these leaders, if their
service. The Thessalonians were not serving him, butleadership abilities are obvious. It should be pointed out
rather he served them.that this way of acknowledging leaders have opened
In spite of the fact that in the New Testament, leadersthe church to dangers, As Oswald Sanders has
see themselves more as servants, yet leadershipobserved, "in many cultures today where Christian
positions are also acknowledged. In his writing, Paulleadership carries prestige and privilege, people aspire
instructed both Timothy and Titus to appoint elders into leadership for reasons quite unworthy and self
the local churches. However, the New Testamentseeking.9 Though some who had said they have been
focused on the act of service of the leader and notcalled to leadership have proved unworthy, it is still
on the office the occupied.worth noting that churches acknowledge leaders in
C. Leadership Concept in The Old Testamentresponse to their personal call. The aspect of call is still
It can be observed from the Old Testament that all thevery strong in the Roman Catholic Church. Without a
leaders that God used were personally called to theirpersonal call, one cannot enter the priesthood.
respective offices. In addition, each one of them wasHaving discussed the present practices of recognizing
given their specific ministry at the point they wereleaders in the African Church, it is in place to see which
chosen. This was probably an indication that Godof the concepts of leadership already discussed, the
wanted them to focus on service rather than theirpresent practices fit into. In the first place, leaders who
positions. For example, in Exodus 3:1-10, when Godwere acknowledged through election fit into the
called Moses, He gave him clear instruction as to whatsecular concept of leadership. This concept does not
He wanted him to do. In verse 10, He says "... I amconsider calling. It focuses more on qualification and
sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people thebureaucracy. Second, recognizing leaders because of
Israelites out of Egypt". When Moses left Median fortheir charismatic gifts or leadership abilities portrays
Egypt, his focus was never on his new position, butmore of the traditional concept of leadership. Traditional
rather on the task he had to perform. Anotherleaders were recognized because of the special
example is that of Nehemiah. In his book, "Excellence inabilities or qualities they possess. They may continue to
Leadership", John White made the following statement:be leaders until someone with greater abilities comes
"Thus the book of Nehemiah serves primarily to unfoldaround. Third, the Catholics and some other churches
for us part of God's on-going plan for His people. Butstill consider calling to be the main criterion for
always it is the man, his character and his leadershipleadership. This shows that in the African church, there
that holds my interest. I present these reflections withis an aspect of the biblical concept as far as choosing
the hope that they will help Christians young and oldor recognizing their leaders is concerned.
who face leadership responsibilities".4 John White wasB) The Task or function of African Church Leaders.
not concerned about Nehemiah's post as governor, butTo have the complete concept of leadership in the
rather on what he did. From the first chapter of thecontemporary African church, one needs to examine
book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah had been concernedboth the leaders and their function or task. The
with serving and he never strayed from that focusconcept of choosing leaders has just been examined.
throughout the account. Whenever leader adopts thisNow the concept of the task and function of leaders
concept of leadership, for example, in the case ofwill be discussed.
Nehemiah the leader is able to accomplish his goal.Most church leaders consider their position more than
The Secular Concept of Leadershiptheir task or function. Many ended up doing more
As the name implies, the secular concept of leadershipadministrative than spiritual ministry. They are more
is generally used in non-religious organizations andinvolved in business meetings and projects, such as
institutions. The Bible makes reference to this conceptbuilding and relief. For some ministry has been basically
of leadership and a number of authors who havechurch activities or special programs. Thanksgiving
discussed it, point out its advantages andservices have become the order of the day.
disadvantages. The secular concepts of leadership willEvangelical and charismatic churches however, seem
therefore be discussed from the biblical and secularto give more time to the needs of their members.
point of view.They do this through Bible Studies, preaching, teaching
A. Biblical Perspective of The Secular Leadershipand special services, healing, breakthrough and
Conceptdeliverance, etc. But at times the leaders seem to
In Matthew 20:25 Jesus said, "you know that the rulersburden the people with financial demands.
of the gentiles lord it over them. And their high officialTo some extent, members generally believe that their
exercise authority over them. Not so with you. In thisleaders must be involved in almost everything as long
portion of scripture, Jesus was making a contrastas it has something to do with the church. In this way
between the secular concept of leadership and that ofthe leaders feel that everything has to be under their
the Biblical. The immediate context of the textpersonal control. This has resulted in power struggles in
mentioned above gives one a better picture of themany churches because leaders do not want any
secular concept of leadership from the biblicalcompetition.
perspective. The mother of James and John (the sonsTo determine the leadership concept in the African
of Zebedee) was asking Jesus for specific highchurch on the basis of the functions of the leader, one
positions for her sons in the kingdom of God. In secularhas to make comparisons with the three basic
leadership, the focus is on position and control. Theconcepts already discussed. Present day church
higher the position a person finds himself, the greaterleaders function more as traditional leaders, who are in
the control and authority he has. Also Jesus showedabsolute control and tolerate no competition. They
through contrast that this kind of leadership does notwant the followers to recognize their position and
focus on serving, but to be served.always be subjected to them. Also they function as
There are also scriptural accounts in the Oldsecular leaders who are task-oriented and not
Testament that portray the differences betweenpeople-oriented. They are more concerned with the
secular and Biblical concepts of leadership. In I Samuelwork to be done or goals to be achieved than with the
8:4-6, the Israelites asked the Prophet Samuel to giveneeds of the people. However, some leaders function
them a king to rule over them and Samuel wasas servants to the people, as can be seen in the
displeased by the request. According to DeuteronomyBiblical concept of leadership.
17:14-20, God had plans for the nation to have a king,With reference to the function or task of the leaders, it
but that king must be distinguished from those of thecan be seen that three basic concepts of leadership
Gentiles. But when the people were asking for a king,are evident. It is clear that traditional and secular
they said that Samuel should appoint for them a kingconcepts of leadership are gaining firmer grounds in
such as all the nations have. A close examination ofthe church in Africa. However, the church continues to
the Deuteronomy passage mentioned above revealshold on to the biblical concept in principle.
characteristics of secular leadership. God in the OldConclusion
Testament made a clear contrast between theThe procedure of the presentation was as follows:
leadership he approves of for his people Israel andFirst, the biblical concept of leadership was discussed;
that of Gentile nations. It was a contrast between thesecond, the secular concept and third the traditional
secular and the Biblical concepts of leadership. Fromconcept. Finally the leadership practices in the present
the biblical standpoint the following are typical ofday church were discussed and comparisons made
secular concept of leadership: i) the amassing ofwith the three basic concepts to determine what
wealth, lack of reverence for God and a sense ofconcept is prevalent in present day African church. It
superiority to all.was noted that the secular and traditional concepts
The Bible did not only discussed the concept ofare prevalent. The biblical concept, which should be the
secular leadership but also gave a vivid example ofnorm for the African church has little or no recognition
the devastating effect such leadership concept canin practice.
result to. In 1 Kings 12:1-7, the Bible records theIn the present day African church, formal education
circumstances that led to the division of Israel. Joyceand spirituality have been seen as two different
Peel observed, "Rehoboam sees royalty in terms ofentities. The leadership concept of some churches has
privilege and absolute power. He ignores the advice ofbeen influenced by formal education, which has been
older, experienced counselors and encouraged by hisconsidered as pre-requisite for position within the
arrogant friends, he returns a harsh answer. The resultchurch. The leadership concept of some other
is the cry, 'to your tents, O Israel" The enragedchurches has been influenced by spirituality or
Israelites marched out of Rehoboam's" presence andcharismatic gifts and the leaders function more like
set up Jeroboam as their king.5 In this observation,traditional leaders who do not tolerate competition.
Joyce Peel has shown that it was Rehoboam'sHowever, the leadership needs both formal education
concept of leadership that resulted in the division of theand charismatic gifts, but the Church in Africa must
nation. His concept was that of the kings of otherreturn to the Biblical concept of leadership, which
nations, who used their power and position to forceportrays leaders as the servant of the people, leaders
their subjects to serve them. This was really amust follow Jesus' principle and reproduce themselves
practical demonstration of the secular concept ofin others. The African church can make use of the
leadership.good aspects of secular and traditional concepts of
B. The Secular Perspective of Secular Leadershipleadership, but the Biblical concept must always be the
Conceptnorm for the Church.
Most authors discuss leadership concepts in terms ofEND NOTES
styles. This approach is however contrary to the1Ted W. Engstrom and Edward Dayton, The Art of
Biblical concept which is not about styles but aboutManagement for Christian
basic principles. Engstrom and Dayton, in their book,Leaders (Texas: Word Book Publishers, 1976), p. 23.
"The Art of Management for Christian Leaders",2Myron Rush, The New Leader: A Revolutionary
discussed five leadership styles. These are as follows;i)Approach to Effective
Bureaucraticii) Permissiveiii) Laissez-faireiv) ParticipativeLeadership (Illinois: Victor Books, 1971), p. 11.
andv) Autocratic.63Gottfteid Osei-Mensah, Wanted: Servant Leader
These five leadership styles can be put into two(Achimota: Afrcian Christian
groups:i) Domineering leadership-Autocratic andPress, 1990), p. 8.
Bureaucratic styles andii) Tolerant4John White, Excellence in Leadership: The Patterns of
leadership-Permissive, Laissez-faire and ParticipativeNehemiah (Leicester:
styles. Thefirst group has been the focus of secularInter-Varsity Press, 1986), pp. 10-11.
leadership.5Joyce Peel, A Journey Through the Old Testament:
In explaining the secular concept of leadership, it isThe Story of God's
necessary to first give a description of the twoRelationship with Man, Woman and the World (Oxford:
leadership styles under the first group. In the autocraticThe Bible Reading Fellowship, 1993), p. 84.
style of leadership, the leader acts more like a dictator.6Ted W. Engstrom and Edward Dayton, The Art of
He makes all decisions as to how things should beManagement for Christian
done and who will do them. He relies on his authorityLeaders (Texas: Word Book Publishers, 1976), p. 30.
and sees himself as indispensable. The bureaucratic7Magbaily Fyle, The History of Sierra Leone (London:
style of leadership is marked by continual reference toEvans Brothers, 1981),p. 5.
organization rules and regulations. Decisions are made8F.K. Buah, Ancient World (London: Macmillan
by parliamentary procedures. These two leadershipPublishers, 1960), p. 79.
styles can be seen as foundational to the secular9Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership (Chicago:
concepts of leadership, which is a show of power,Moody Press, 1994), p. 14.