THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP…it’s not just for the powerful

Any time you have a few years to spare with nothing more important to do, enter “leadership” into your favorite search engine. Then choose your poison, I mean passion, as you dive into books, blogs, articles, graduate programs, conferences, podcasts, etc., etc. In my (Full Disclosure: brief) search, there was even an entry for “What is the true meaning of leadership?” But it was AI generated, so forgive me if I remain a bit skeptical of its boastfulness.

But I persist in wanting to know: what are the qualities of a leader?

My (brief!) research also noted variations — and lack thereof — of skills and qualities by vocation. For example, political praxis today resembles a zero sum game. Leadership has become all about winning, echoing the oft-quoted declaration of Vince Lombardi, “Winning isn’t every thing. It’s the only thing.” In my own calling of ordained ministry, there is a tendency toward servant leadership, which, compared to its political counterpart, could be dismissed as an oxymoron. Leadership attributes prized in the for-profit business sector runs the gamut from hierarchical to relational (think pyramids both normal and upside down).

What if you were God? How would you rule? How would you lead us “stiff-necked” people (see Exodus 32 and Acts of the Apostles 7 in case you don’t recognize yourself)? Okay, maybe that’s aiming a bit high as a career choice. How about a monarch or ruler (as in king, queen, premier, or president)? What are the leadership qualities God would like to see in a head of state?

For an answer to this question, I turned to my seminary professor and friend, Rev. Dr. J. Clinton McCann, Jr., Evangelical Professor of Biblical Interpretation at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis. He is the author of Reading the Psalms Again for the First Time — A Spirituality for Justice-seekers and Peacemakers. 

Dr. McCann introduces the reader to those psalms that contain or derive from a “coronation liturgy.” Most of us are familiar with the inauguration ceremony for a President of the United States. It follows a reasonably consistent pattern of prayers, music, scripture, and oaths. We can detect a comparable form in the Book of Psalms where prayers have been used to inaugurate, or rather coronate, kings of Israel during biblical times. Psalms 2, 21, and 118 are three examples. 

But the psalm that leaps to the fore in my mind as we consider leadership qualities is Psalm 72. Dr. McCann writes that the first four verses are essentially the job description for a (Hebrew) king. From the New Revised Standard Version we hear:

Give the king your justice, O God,

and your righteousness to a king’s son.

May he judge your people with righteousness 

and your poor with justice.

May the mountains yield prosperity for people

and the hills, in righteousness.

May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,

give deliverance to the needy,

and crush the oppressor.

This prayer is an appeal to God to bestow certain qualities, a specific ethic to the one about to be enthroned. Note the centrality of the words “judge/justice” and “righteousness” each of which appears three times in the first four verses. This petition introduces a metric by which the king’s leadership will be evaluated: to rule just as God would rule; to rule in a way that yields prosperity for the people; to defend the poor, deliver the needy, and protect the people from those who would harm or oppress them. One could certainly relate that a person called upon to take an oath with these words in order to assume a leadership position might want to pause before putting their hand on a Bible.

By way of contrast, consider the oath of office for President of the United States. It is a pledge to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution…” Defending an idea is so much more abstract than a stipulation to defend the poor and needy. One President recently commented that he wasn’t sure about defending the Constitution, that he would need to check with his lawyers. 

How about us, as citizens of the United States? What is the metric by which we are measured? The pledge that most of us learned and recited in grammar school stipulates allegiance to the Republic, one nation “indivisible,” and then, almost as an afterthought, “with liberty and justice for all.” Well, we’ve gotten a bit closer to the biblical injunction of Psalm 72. In our oath of allegiance, we say that we affirm that we want justice for everyone in our Republic. 

What about the righteousness thing?

Allow me a sidebar before continuing with our objective of defining leadership. What are the biblical underpinnings of the words justice and righteousness? Again I turn to Dr. McCann.

Justice is “defined explicitly as provision for the life and health of the human community of all nations, especially provision for those least able to help themselves… justice is not giving people what they deserve. Rather, it is giving everyone what they need.” [p.3] It follows then that righteousness is all about setting things right. It is the ongoing work God has given us to create a world that is just.

So, to return to our question, what are the qualities of a leader? How shall we evaluate our leaders? How shall we live and lead? Verse 4 provides the answers those questions:

o When we defend the poor

o When we help (deliver) the needy

o When oppose those who oppress (the vulnerable)

What I would propose here is that these qualities not be limited to monarchs and presidents and those in high positions. These are qualities that each and every one of us can and ought to do and embody. Each of us has the ability to do these things.

We can defend the poor and vulnerable with our actions. 

We can deliver by sharing our resources. 

We can oppose by speaking truth to power.

Leadership: it’s up to everyone of us.