The local church is at risk of evaporation and diminishment. Experts predict that by 2025, the local church will be irrelevant, replaced with alternative communities of faith focused on media, arts, and culture (Shirley, 2008). The Church is, therefore, at a point of new theological development. How church leaders react to this expansion in contemporary theology is an essential step in keeping God’s Word relevant and alive in societies globally. Church leaders must be aware of the realities of life in the 21st century.

In planting a new church, the community’s mission and vision must look ahead and reflect Christ’s actions and design. Just as with the Apostles in their experience in Pentecost, it is the Spirit of God who gives Christ-followers the confirmation in faith, the new life that is promised (Zaprometova, 2009). In building a community of like-minded believers, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are essential in the vision of the church, for God has built the body as He sees fit, that it will not be divided but be united (c.f. 1 Cor 12:18-28).

To be successful and effective in its ministry, a newly-planted church must, therefore, follow God’s Way, be united as a like-minded community, and manifest the gifts of God’s Spirit.
 

Unique Biblical Mission and Vision

The body of Christ is built of unique people but it is founded on shared principles of living. Such principles are shared in the worship of God, built on three pillars: corporate worship, personal worship, and life stewardship (Shirley, 2008). The spiritual formation of the individual, and the body of Christ, is the purpose of such foundations. For spiritual formation to occur, people must enter a path of authentic discipleship with not only God Himself but other believers and elders in the Church (Huizing, 2011).

Such discipleship must be modeled after Jesus’s life and walk with others (Crow, 2008). Christ’s practice of discipleship is then not only based on the development of the individual but the community, the expansion of the Kingdom of heaven. The building of disciples is the foundation for a new church’s mission.

The future comes from the past. It is therefore a necessity to critically analyze Christendom’s past and the influences in which it was created, sustained, and now found to be. To see the critical disconnects of belief and system of thought, looking to the foundation of such thought is a great beginning point. It is therefore a minister’s theology that is built on Christ’s model of leadership that will be one of success (Crow, 2008).

Just as Jesus preached, a church leader must have a purpose to his or her message and that purpose must bring about conviction leading to transformation, a change in one’s commitment or evolution in one’s understanding (Yoder, 2001). This message is not one applied only within the realm of the sacred but in every facet of culture, whether political, academic or within the media (Huizing, 2011). By becoming a slave to Christ, ministers become leaders to the world. By following the discipleship model of Jesus, ministers can navigate the histories of cultural and theological influence and ‘overcome’ (cf. Rev 2-3).

Addressing Contemporary Theology

Globalization dominates current church life and addressing the needs of a globalized world creates particular theological implications for church leaders. The contemporary church leader is at a crossroads between biblical frameworks, local cultural contexts, and global sensibility (Gunter, 2018). Problems arise at every level. Readers of scripture incorporate their own assumptions and expectations into what they read, determining what can be perceived and received from these writings (Flanagin, 2019).

Ministers of Christ must recognize the interplay between what is assumed and what is obviously understood, creating open discussion to further understandings and verify truths of God’s word (Yoder, 2001). It is the continual probing of ideals and the philosophical outcomes that can bring about understanding and fruit in these cross-cultural discussions.

A minister’s theology of leadership must incorporate contextualization of cultures into community discussion as well. In a world of globalization, ministers must rely on ministry contextualization for the unity of biblical foundations, global unity, and local community development of Christ’s identity (Song, 2006). Such value of diversity can be found in Pentecost (c.f. Acts 2-3).

Church leaders can meet the needs of local cultures while uniting Christians globally through a commitment to shared principles of canonicity and catholicity to incorporate wisdom from saints of the past into the needs of today (Gunter, 2018). It is the work of the Holy Spirit, the context in which He works, and the obedience to His will which allows communities of Christ-followers to mitigate a globalized church but with a community-driven discipleship approach.

Selecting Leadership

There are two predominant methods of selecting leadership in the contemporary Church of Christ. The first is the kingdom-of-god perspective, where collegial leadership is selected and leaders are typically selected from a subordinate with a calling and similar ethos of faith and ministry (Tushima, 2016). The second type is the personal kingdom perspective, where a more secretive, familial selection of leadership occurs. This familial type of selection is the more popular kind in the contemporary Church.

Whereas the proprietary managerial leadership of the former type ensures a more business style of ministerial accounting, those under the personal kingdom perspective are at a higher risk for lacking financial transparency, from nepotism and cronyism, and thus, uncertainty can emerge. This uncertainty forms sub-groups of ministries that breakaway in attempts to ensure financial survival. The breaking of trust which occurs from such nepotism must be acknowledged to return to a more biblically-based apostolic ministry.

Theology of Leadership

A minister’s theology of leadership is essential in determining which of these two styles of leadership selection will occur. If the minister is without trust in God’s hand working within their lives, a familiar style of leadership selection can occur (Tushima, 2016). Such a leadership style can cripple the trust of those within their ministry who follow the leader by God’s direction within their lives. It is a leader’s theology of leadership built the teachings of Christ, as displayed by Paul, lifestyles of communal vision, morality, and worship in the Spirit (Tangen, 2018).

Having a church that is a community built not on familial linage but body of God’s Spirit will encourage the ethicality needed for a fully-functioning church-community displayed in the Holy Bible. Ministerial leadership selection must recognize that all people should be given the opportunity to lead in sharing the gospel with the world (Huizing, 2011). Proper leadership selection in Christian ministry will occur when the church is following the model of the early Church, allowing the Spirit of God to move, and placing Christ on display.

Statement Addressing Social Issues

Change without a plan is action without purpose. As church leaders, ministers are agents of change for God’s glory on earth, and therefore, a minister’s work must be grounded in God’s mission and vision for his people. (Simmons, 1982; Yoder, 2001). A minister’s theology of leadership must be focused on the calling God has within their lives, within the community in which they are planted, and within the greater context of Christ’s reign on earth. As a collaborator with the Holy Spirit, a minister’s theology of leadership must incorporate the ability for God’s Spirit to move and act within the lives of church members (Yoder, 2001).

In following Christ’s methods of discipleship, a minister’s theology of leadership must incorporate ministerial assignments of disciples that allows the Spirit to work in them and those whom they engage (Crow, 2008). Social issues that these disciples encounter will influence them through God’s Spirit at work. It is the mentorship disciples receive from God’s counsel that will not only expand the Church’s presence in contemporary society but in the number of those seeking and following Christ’s leadership.

Conclusion

A Christian’s calling is the foundation to the life in which they live. Ministers building a church must stimulate the calling and gifts of those within their care. This interplay between Spirit and submission is the mission of the Church. A minister’s vision must be grounded in Christ’s vision found in the Holy Bible, to build a special people unified by and within Him. It is through open conversation with church members that ministers can formulate this unified body of people.

A minister’s theology of leadership must incorporate all these aforementioned qualities to successfully mitigate social change, to sustain the planting of their church, and to continue to stay relevant in an ever-changing, contemporary society. Following Christ’s commands is the key to success.
 
 
References
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Flanagin, D. Z. (2019). Seek and ye shall find: The assumptions of biblical exegesis. Listening, 54(1), 5-17.

Gunter, N. (2018). The shepherd-leader motif as a pastoral model for a globalizing church. Perichoresis, 16(3), 87-105. doi:10.2478/perc-2018-0018.

Huizing, R. L. (2011). Leaders from disciples: The church’s contribution to leadership development. Evangelical Review of Theology, 35(4), 333–344.

Shirley, C. (2008). It takes a church to make a disciple: An integrative model of discipleship for the local church. Southwestern Journal of Theology, 50(2), 207-224.

Simmons, P. D. (1971). Minister as change-agent. Review & Expositor, 68(3), 359-369.

Song, M. (2006). Contextualization and discipleship: Closing the gap between theory and practice. Evangelical Review of Theology, 30(3), 249-263.

Tangen, K. I. (2018). Leadership as participation in Christ: Paul’s theology of leadership in the letter to the Philippians. Journal of Biblical Perspectives in Leadership, 8(1), 276-290.

Tushima, C. (2016). Leadership succession patterns in the apostolic church as a template for critique of contemporary charismatic leadership succession patterns. HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies, 72(1), 1-8.

Yoder, J. A. (2001). Preaching as agent of change. Vision, 2(2), 53-60.

Zaprometova, O. M. (2009). Experiencing the Holy Spirit: A pentecostal reading of the early church fathers part 1: Gregory the theologian. Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association, 29(2), 4-13.