Servant Leadership

Efrain Agosto

Description

Servant Leadership addresses a fundamental concern of the contemporary church by asking pertinent questions of the New Testament: Who became a leader in the Jesus movement and in Pauline Christianity? What was the social status of these leaders in the outside world as compared to the importance of such social status within the faith community? What practices characterized their leadership within the communities they served? The book explores models of leadership in the New Testament's two prime exemplars, Jesus and Paul, and in their respective communities of faith. It studies both Paul's statements and actions with regard to leadership issues with specific church communities, using Thessalonians, the Corinthians, the Galatians, and the Philippians correspondence as case studies in the practice of leadership. It concludes with a discussion of leadership challenges in the modern church and how a Pauline or Deutero-Pauline model can work for us today. The author shows how understanding one's followers, as well as the goals and purposes of the group one leads, is a fundamental function of leadership today, even in the corporate world. Similarly, although we expect Christian leadership to be confrontational and assertive at times, it must also be open to creating opportunities for others to exercise their gifts and, therefore, their leadership. Good leaders move others to respond to their own personal calls and commitments.

Sujets

• Gestion et management
• New Testament
• Christianity

Informations

• Publié par: Chalice Press
• Date de parution: 09 novembre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780827235076
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

EFRAIN AGOSTO

SERVANT LEADERSHIP JESUS & PAUL

To Olga Gisela, my wife and best friend, a wonderful leader at home, school, church, and community;

And to our children Joel and Jasmin, young, strong, and intelligent— important future leaders, each in their own way, for sure.

cara;n ga;r pollh;n e[scon kai; paravklhsin ejpi; th/ ajgaph/ sou

© Copyright 2005 by Efrain Agosto All rights reserved. For permission to reuse content, please contact Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], www.thenewcopyright.com. Bible quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from theNew Revised Standard Version Bible,copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Those quotations marked RSV are from theRevised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952, [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (TEV) are taken from theToday’s English Version—Second Edition © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.

Cover art: FotoSearch Cover and interior design: Elizabeth Wright

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Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Agosto, Efrain.  Servant leadership : Jesus and Paul / Efrain Agosto.  p. cm.  Includes bibliographical references and index.  ISBN 13: 978–0-827234-63-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)  ISBN 10: 0-827234-63-5 1. Christian leadership—Biblical teaching. 2. Jesus Christ—Leadership. 3. Bible. N.T. Gospels—Social scientific criticism. 4. Paul, the Apostle, Saint. 5. Bible. N.T. Epistles of Paul—Social scientific criticism. I. Title.  BS2555.6.L42A34 2005  262'.1—dc22  2005003650 Printed in the United States of America

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Contents

1 The World of Jesus and Paul

2 Leadership in the Synoptic Tradition Discipleship, Mission, and Audience

3 Leadership in the Synoptic Tradition Failure of Established Leaders

4 Windows into Pauline Leadership

5 Paul’s Leaders

6 Problems in Leadership Corinthian Correspondence

Conclusion Summary of Leadership in Jesus and Paul

Notes

Bibliography

Index of Subjects and Persons

Index of Scriptures and Ancient Sources

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Acknowledgments

This book began as an expansion of my dissertation research on leadership and commendation in Paul. I want to thank Professor J. Paul Sampley, professor emeritus of Boston University and my advisor on the original research, for encouraging my study in this area. He also read a full manuscript of this new manifestation, providing a very kind endorsement of the project. I am also thankful to the Hispanic Theological Initiative, which, with funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts, provided the initial post-doctoral grant that allowed me to begin the project in Spring 1999. At the other end of the journey, the Association for Theological Schools, with funding from the Lilly Endowment, provided a Lilly Faculty Fellows Grant in Spring 2003, which allowed me to move closer toward completion of the project. In both instances, I could not have proceeded without the generous sabbatical policy of Hartford Seminary, the wonderful institution on whose faculty I have served for ten happy years. I am very grateful to all these and many other supporters during the preparation of this book. Early in the process the former dean of Hartford Seminary, Professor Richard Valantasis, formed a reading group of the younger scholars at Hartford (of which I was the oldest, although not necessarily the wisest!). Later, Dean Worth Loomis asked Professor David Bartlett of Yale Divinity School to shepherd this group. Many of the early drafts of this book were read and critiqued by the colleagues who comprised this group, including Kelton Cobb, Judy Fentress-Williams, Ingrid Mattson, and Scott Thumma. I am grateful to my colleagues, including Professors Valantasis and Bartlett, for their helpful suggestions for improving the text. Several of the chapters were also shared along the way with the rest of the Hartford Seminary faculty during our monthly “Collegial Sharing” lunches. Several very important suggestions, including current-day material on leadership theory, came from those sessions. Thanks very much colleagues. Special thanks also to Dean Ian Markham and President Heidi Hadsell, who encouraged me toward completion of the project when that final push was greatly needed. I am grateful to my editors at Chalice Press, past and present: Jon Berquist, Jane McAvoy, and Trent Butler. I was saddened when Jane passed away suddenly and could not see the project to its completion. I am thankful to Trent Butler for stepping in at a difficult time and working patiently with me to make sure I finished. To them and all the terrific staff at Chalice, thanks! Finally, a special word of thanks to my friends and family. Good friends, Pastors Edwin Ayala and Pablo Diaz, read early drafts of the book when I

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needed to be sure that I was headed in the right direction in making this material accessible to informed pastors and leaders like them.Muchas gracias, hermanos.My family suffered long and hard during my emotional ups and downs as the project dragged on for several years. In gratitude for their patience and undying love throughout the experience, I have dedicated the book to my wife Olga and my children Joel and Jasmin.

Introduction

Modern-day pastors and church leaders often ask how they can develop the qualities of good leadership in themselves and their constituency. Many of them turn to the Bible for help in the leadership development task. However, the Bible is not exactly a book about leadership. In it we find the struggles of various faith communities to establish themselves, strengthen their relationships with God, and, indeed, find good leaders to help them do this. By studying the stories of these struggles that we find in the Bible, we come closer to some models of good (and bad) leadership. In this book I explore two models of faithful leadership in the early church—Jesus and Paul, the two major figures of the New Testament. By studying Jesus and his movement, especially as reflected in the synoptic gospels, I explore the pictures and expectations of leadership that emerge from the earliest Christian communities, both at the level of the historical Jesus, and the later gospel writers. The apostle Paul, his churches, and his leaders will occupy a major portion of the study. Given the questions of modern congregational leadership, some very fruitful conversation can take place with the Pauline correspondence. Those concerned with the qualities of a church leader, the development of leaders, and the legitimate functions of leadership will benefit immensely from a careful review of what Paul writes and practices in these areas. Paul’s letters reflect his work with actual congregations; and to the extent that we can determine his approach to various conflicts in those congregations, we can see more clearly the leadership qualities needed to address similar concerns in our own day.

Motivations for This Study The motivations for this study are twofold. First, as a Puerto Rican raised in New York City, I know persons, especially in the storefront 1