For years I avoided reading or learning too much about leadership. The topic made me afraid … afraid to feel inadequate … to become overly ambitious … to feed my ego…to get stressed and over-function. Executive leadership sometimes gets a bad reputation in the church. And it’s true there are potential pitfalls. Sadly, when an influential person leads with poor motivations they hurt others and damage their own soul.

But similarly, executive leaders who live and love like Jesus establish the culture of God’s kingdom in their churches and amongst their staff. Their leadership brings healing and restoration instead of woundedness and division. Paul reassures us that to aspire to leadership is an honorable ambition (1 Timothy 3:1, NEB). Jesus certainly didn’t avoid leadership—he is the greatest leader in world history who brought glory to God by completing his work (John 17:4).

How to Be a Loving Leader?

How can you be the kind of loving leader who glorifies God in all you do? The significance of your leadership starts by appreciating the leadership of King Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth was a carpenter and vagabond evangelist who didn’t own a bed (Mark 6:3, Matthew 8:20). The goal of his ministry was not popularity or prosperity. Instead, his all-consuming aim was to please God—even when it led to betrayal, abandonment, rejection, suffering, and death (John 8:29, Luke 9:22).

Yet he is the founder and CEO of the Christian Enterprise and the entire Universe. Paul tells us that he “is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). In him are hidden all treasures of knowledge and wisdom and he is the head over every power and authority (Colossians 2:3,10). Most remarkably, he was crucified and rose from the dead for imperfect and fractured people like you and me.

Our Lord and Savior is the most powerful leader who perfectly embodies Abba’s tender love and wise governance. He established a new culture of radical affection and powerful fruitfulness that continues to spread like wildfire over two thousand years later. Jesus models for us how to be a counter-cultural leader. Studying his leadership is a crucial step to becoming an executive leader who is spiritually, emotionally, and relationally healthy. This is how you serve God and others in a totally caring way (Matthew 22:37-39).

The Model of Jesus

So what makes Jesus’ leadership so different? Here are some distinguishing leadership attributes from the Lord of lords and the King of kings:

#1 – Jesus is a loving leader (He’s not selfish)

  • Jesus’ true success was maturing his character so he could safely use God’s power to help people (Matthew 4:1-11, John 3:34-35).
  • Our Savior’s formation empowered him to be a gentle protector to a grieving widow (Luke 7:11-17), the town harlot (Luke 7:36-50), children (Luke 18:15-17), and even a greedy, hated tax collector (Luke 19:1-10).
  • The Rabbi from Nazareth practiced what he preached” by giving to those who asked (Luke 6:30). He said yes to attending a party (Luke 7:36), feeding the hungry (Mark 6:34-44), healing the sick (Mark 5:22-24, John 4:46-53, Matthew 8:5-13), and allowing those dismissed by society to touch him (Mark 5:30-34).

#2 – Jesus is inclusive (He doesn’t leave anybody out)

  • Jesus kept his message and methods simple (yet profound) so that ordinary people could follow him. For example, he distilled thousands of laws into a single sentence (Matthew 22:37-40).
  • He made space for different people groups, genders, and personality types within his crew of apprentices and friends. The arms of his ministry reached out and embraced a Samaritan leper (Luke 17:11-19), many women (Luke 8:2-3), and soft-spoken, gentle leaders (John 1:40-42, 6:8, 12:20-22).

#3 – Jesus follows God’s mission (He is not ego-driven)

  • The Messiah found his mission statement from the Bible: to preach the good news to the poor, set prisoners free, heal the blind, release the oppressed, and proclaim God’s favor (Isaiah 61:2; Luke 4:18-19).
  • Jesus never got stuck in the grind of ministry or succumbed to calling the shots in his own power. He went to great lengths (even climbing mountains!) to pray for a heavenly perspective on his work and always acted in partnership with his Father (Luke 6:12-16; Matthew 14:23, John 5:19).
  • The Good Shepherd didn’t compromise his mission to be accepted by people—he was even willing to have his followers desert him (John 6:66).

#4 – Jesus has good boundaries (He’s not stressed out)

  • Jesus perfectly displayed the nature of Abba by joyfully blessing people (Psalm 16:11, Luke 15:5-6). He did ministry in a relaxed, personal, and fun way by turning water into wine at a wedding party (John 2:1-11), laughing and playing with little children (Mark 10:13), and taking his “staff” of disciples on walks, boat rides, and picnics at the beach (Mark 2:23, Luke 8:22, John 21:9-10).
  • The Good Shepherd valued shepherding his own soul by keeping a Sabbath to rest in God (Mark 1:29-31; Luke 4:16), saying “no” to people to pray instead (Mark 1:35), and taking naps (Mark 4:35-41).

#5 – Jesus has EQ (He does not depend only on IQ)

  • Jesus felt deeply and harnessed his emotions to fulfill his mission. He cried (John 11:35), shouted (Matthew 23:1-39), and expressed passionate and protective anger (Mark 11:15-17).
  • Our Savior learned to process his emotions with Abba and his friends — asking for what he needed. He prayed honestly using the Psalms (Matthew 26:38, Mark 15:34).
  • Jesus met people in their emotional experiences with perfect empathy (Hebrews 4:15-16). He wept with a grieving family (John 11:17-37), helped people appreciate birds and flowers (Matthew 5:25-34), shared deep joy with his friends (John 15:11), and washed dirty feet (John 13:1-17).

#6 – Jesus Innovates (He is not stuck in old ways)

  • Jesus didn’t rely on the long-established leadership system of the Scribes and Pharisees to deliver his message of Good News. Instead, he came up with a shocking new approach—to use ordinary fishermen (Mark 1:17).
  • The Messiah stewarded his resources and innovated to expand his enterprise. For example, he fed 5,000 hungry people by multiplying five loaves of bread and two fish (Mark 6:38).
  • Jesus never settled for the status quo when teaching — he broke the mold of what rabbis had been like for centuries to reveal deep truths (Matthew 7:29, 13:34-35).

#7 – Jesus Empowers (He does not micromanage)

  • Jesus didn’t force people into following him but rather let them take ownership while he patiently waited for an answer (Luke 9:57-62, Matthew 16:24).
  • Rabbi Jesus gave his apprentices space to fail and learn. When the disciples couldn’t heal a demonized boy, he showed them how to trust God and do it (Mark 9:17,23).
  • Instead of trying to do everything himself, Jesus delegated to his team and worked through them. They rose to the level of trust he put in them when he empowered them (Matthew 10:5, Luke 10:1).

#8 – Jesus Had an Exit Plan (He did not hang on)

  • The Ruler of the Universe planned his exit by repeatedly talking to the disciples about it, training them to run his ministry after he was gone, and turning it all loose to his Father (Mark 8:31-31, 9:12-13, 10:32-34, 12:1-12, 13:1-37, 14:8-9, Luke 23:46).

The Gospels show us that true leadership means to love God and people well and to bring glory to Abba.

You can pray to serve the kingdom powerfully as a fully loving and wise executive leader. The Lord’s prayer helps to align your heart with the leadership heart of Jesus.

Let’s practice a breath prayer (a short, meditative prayer) from Matthew 6:13 together:

First, find a place where you can be alone. Quiet your soul and attune to the Father’s presence …

  • Wait to breathe as you long for God’s kingdom and pray, In your kingdom …
  • Breathe in as you receive the Spirit’s power and pray, By your power …
  • Breathe out as you seek to bring glory to Jesus and pray, For your glory …

Try repeating this process as you hold your ministry role, major decisions, all strategy and operations, and the people at your church before God.

I pray that in all things you are in God’s kingdom, by his power, and for his glory.

This content is adapted from teaching we do at our Soul Shepherding Institute during a week of learning about Relationally Healthy Leadership. Our five-day Institute retreats are designed to help pastors, their staff, and other ministry leaders go deeper with Jesus in emotional health and loving relationships. We’d love for you to join us!

Soul Shepherding offers leadership coaching to help you chart a course of action to follow God’s guidance in your ministry and aid you with Jesus-centered psychology, accountability, and support. You can also partner with us for organizational coaching to provide the training your team and church need.