By Kurai Chitima
Christian public leadership
development is best understood in the context of God’s mission on earth and the
mandate he has given to the church. Mission is not just something the church
does but something that emanates from God’s nature, particularly his love for
people. In fact, that love was in existence before creation. Love motivated him
to create humanity knowing very well the move would cost his Son (John 3:16).
Missions are God’s response of forgiveness and unconditional love (Rom.
5:8). “The supreme arguments for missions are found in the very being and
character of God (He is light). The
great commission is a logical summation and natural outflow of God’s character”
(Peters 56). It begins with God’s nature of love and his plan before creation
to restore fellowship with man and to make him a partner in his work on earth.
Revelation 13:8 states that Jesus is “the Lamb that was slain from the creation
of the world.” The same is found in 1 Peter 1:20. In Ephesians 1:4, we learn
that believers in Christ were “chosen by God before the creation of the world
to be holy and blameless in his sight.”
The biblical doctrines of man and
sin are a reminder that man is in a fallen condition which will inevitably lead
to eternal death if not intercepted. Humanity fell from God’s presence into
enslavement to Satan and sin (Gen. 3), a fall from life or harmony with God to
separation from him and danger of eternal damnation (Eph. 2:1). Adam’s
disobedience affected all his descendants, that is, all mankind everywhere and
for all generations (Ps. 51:5; Rom. 3:23). Sin tainted every area of human life
including the mind (Eph. 4:18), the emotions (Rom. 1:26-27), the will (John
8:31-36), the body (Gen. 3:19), and relationships. A universal and pervasive problem
demanded a universal and wholistic solution. The earliest indication of God’s
plan for man’s redemption is found in Genesis 3:15, which gives the earliest
indication of God’s intent to restore man to his original purpose. In the
passage, God comes to Adam, uninvited, showing that he is the originator of
mission. God gave a promise about how a son of a woman would come and crush the
head of the serpent and be bruised in his heels—a prophetic word about Christ
who, through his coming and painful death on the cross, would destroy the works
of Satan, the serpent. Paul says that God did this to demonstrate his justice
(Rom. 3:25-26). Mission is therefore not only how God has graciously responded
to man’s condition as a loving God, but also how he has responded to the nature
of evil as a just God. He judges sin and in the process, demonstrates his love.
The three persons of the Godhead—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—are
actively and uniquely involved in God’s mission. God’s offering of Christ as the
atonement for sin means that both the justice and love of God was satisfied.
God, out of love, reaches for man and that extension of love to undeserving
humanity is mission.
Humans are finite and therefore
every opportunity and means must be exploited to proclaim and demonstrate the
love of God (Gen. 1:27; 2:7) from generation to generation. The good news must
be heard in a lifetime and leaders must be developed for each generation. Human
finiteness and the prospect of the end of time bring urgency to the work of
reaching out to all people by all means. The human nature of being free to
choose or reject salvation makes it necessary to raise godly leaders and
anything else that persuades, gives reason, and convinces people of the
goodness of God. Man having been made in God’s image (Imago Dei) is a carrier of God’s mission as well as its object.
Three missions’ perspectives can be
found in the Bible. They are the original/creation mandate to Adam (Gen.
1:26-28; Isa. 43:7), the subsequent mandate to the church by the last Adam,
Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:18-20; 22:34-40) (Stevens 89), and the reality of the kingdom of God
The
New Testament refers to the Christian life as a calling (Eph. 1:18; 4:1; 2 Tim.
1:9; Heb. 3:1; 2 Pet. 1:10). A calling
is when God in his sovereignty gives conviction and faith that point people to
God and his mission. Christians are
to live lives worthy of their calling (Eph. 4:1, 2; Thess. 1:11). Jun Vencer
holds the opinion that the calling is to Christ likeness in character, and
zealousness in witness. He acknowledges that special ministries require further
callings (Bezalel—Exod. 31:2, judges, prophets, etc.—Acts 13:2), but if every
believer is gifted for service, then everyone is called to serve God full time.
He argues that a housewife who cares for her home and family is in God’s
service full-time just as much as her husband who may be a church pastor or a
corporate executive. Ideally, to be a Christian is to constantly declare his
excellencies in word, work, and wonders every time, in everything, and in every
place.
Understanding Christ is based on
understanding God and predicates understanding the nature and mission of
Church. Sound theology leads to sound Christology which is essential for sound
ecclesiology. Understanding Christ and what he came to do and how is a critical
prerequisite to understanding missions and how church should be done. Christ
came to equip his people to take back and reestablish God’s kingdom on earth as
it is in heaven (Matt. 6:9).
In the time of those kings, the
God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it
be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to
an end, but it will itself endure forever (Dan. 2:44).
One God and creator of all the people on earth deserves to
rule all groups of people in every area of life.
The theme of God’s kingdom runs
throughout the Bible. The Old Testament teaches that the fall of humans did not
take away God’s ownership over the earth (Ps. 24:1). God is still interested
and involved in all affairs of earth. Mission is about God equipping his people
to reestablish God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:9). The church as ekklesia
(assembly) must not be dissociated from the church as basileia (focal point of kingdom). God is establishing an
everlasting kingdom from the descendents of David (Isa. 9:7; 1 Kings 9:5; 2
Chron. 13:5). Daniel prophesied the coming of an eternal and invincible kingdom
(Dan. 2:44). One God and creator of all on earth deserves to universally rule
all groups of people in every area of life.
Jesus Christ’s coming was a
culmination of a plethora of prophecies and an explanation of the symbols and
types of him in the Old Testament. He is the central theme of the Bible. In
Luke 24:27, Jesus explained to the two men going to Emmaus “beginning with Moses
and all the prophets … what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”
Before his coming, the Scriptures predicted his coming. After his coming,
Scripture points back to his coming.
Christ is the model of ministry.
Jesus told his followers in John 20:21, “As my Father sent me so send I you.”
His life and teaching are an inspiration and example to be followed in
leadership development and practice because of its success. God plays both the
roles of the sender and the sent. He emptied himself (kenosis), became flesh and lived among people (incarnation) as
described in Philippians 2:5-11. He identified with the people he was reaching.
His life, teaching, death, and resurrection left the church with principles, a
model, and guaranteed outcome for missions (Matt. 16:18). He came to seek and
save the lost (Luke 19:10; 2 Pet. 3:9). Gospel outreach is the church’s unique
reason for being. Jesus announced his purpose in Luke 4:18.
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach
good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and
recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year
of the Lord’s favor.
By his death and resurrection, Jesus opened the way and
extended the invitation for salvation to “whosoever” will believe (John 3:16;
Rev. 5:9). Later, the Apostle Paul declares this position at Athens , “all men everywhere are required to
repent and believe the gospel” (Acts 17:30). On instructing the believers, two scriptures are considered by
most commentators as being of vital importance. They are Matthew 22:37-40 on
loving God with all your heart and loving your neighbor; and Matthew 28:19-28.
The epicenter of mission is the
coming of Christ to save the lost (Luke 19:10; John 3:16) and destroy the works
of the devil (1 John 3:8; Col. 2:14). If God is so strongly committed to
justice and love to sacrifice his son to fulfill both, it seems he would expect
those in public leadership to promote, preserve, and provide his values such as
justice and love. The subject of developing leaders for ministry in the public
sphere is a part of God’s mission on earth. The doctrine of God teaches that he
owns the whole world and is immanent and active within it and above it (Jer.
23:24; Ps. 24:1).This principle gives ground for the need to raise leaders who
serve in every part of life and society. Millard J. Erickson points out that
one should not look for God merely in the religious or devotional, but also in
the secular aspects of life (78). God has interest in human life and can deploy
his ambassadors in all areas of that life (2 Cor. 5:20). They show and share
his greatness, love, and justice.
REFERENCES:
Extract from Chitima, K. An
Investigation of Public Leadership Formation in Select Zimbabwe Churches.
UMI Dissertation Publishing(BiblioLabsII), 2011
Erickson, Millard
J. Introducing Christian Doctrine.
Ed. L. Arnold Hustad. Grand Rapids ,
MI
Peters, George W.
A Biblical Theology of Missions. Chicago : Moody, 1972.
Vencer, Jun. Churches Orlando , Florida
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