Servant Leadership (Part 2)

Integrity

A proper perspective is the foundational characteristic of a servant leader but without integrity he will surely fail.  Every Christian leader must show evidence for the active work of the Holy Spirit in their lives and not take lightly the expectations of holiness.  Scripture tells us that leaders are judged at a different standard than those in which they are leading and/or teaching (James 3:1).  For this reason they are expected to live with a responsibility to be an example in the area of integrity to those around them (1 Peter 5:3).  My intention in this post is not to discuss the general ideas of integrity as outlined for all believers but to specifically focus on the demands put on leaders in the New Testament regarding their lifestyle.

In God's word the most comprehensive list of the character traits of a leader are found in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.  In each of these exhaustive descriptions of a leader they begin with the need to be “above reproach” (Titus 1:6-7, 1 Timothy 3:2, 1 Timothy 3:10). Though these statements are translated from different Greek words they are synonymous for being blameless, “unrebukable” or a characteristic of someone that has nothing that another person can call into accusation (Zodhiates G423).   This creates a burden for the leader to live in such a way that they cannot even be called into accusation for their lifestyle.  This "blamelessness" is qualified into 16 specific qualities in Titus 1:6-9.  These 16 qualities are dealing with three main areas: family life, personal life, and doctrinal beliefs (Radmacher: Titus 1:5-6).  Doctrinal belief is crucial and a genuine leader must hold to a solid view of scripture, it's teaching, and it's practice.  But the first two areas, family and personal life, are the focus of this post since they deal more directly with personal integrity.

The first area Paul deals with, the family life, is an essential and often overlooked aspect of the qualification of a true leader.  There is a reason that Paul begins with the family life in the descriptions in both Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3.  This is a necessary aspect to being a truly authentic leader that Autry describes as “the same person in every circumstance.” (10) We must be willing to be a great example and leader, a servant leader, to our families first and then provide leadership to others that God has put in place for us to lead.  The leader today must be intentional at prioritizing their family as more important than their business or ministry.  

Too often I have seen ministry leaders “lead” their family the same way they “lead” their ministry (with an iron fist), and instead of leading their family first they simply group their family with those they lead, creating no real distinction. There must be a distinction and a difference from when we lead our family and when we lead those we are appointed to lead outside of the family. A leader must have genuine closeness to his wife, which is probably one of the reasons for Paul saying of “one wife” (Titus 1:6, 1 Timothy 3:2). And in this closeness our mate becomes our closest and most unconditional “life team member” (see Miller's description of life member on pg. 170).  Not only should the leader have a strong relationship with his wife, but also with his children (If Applicable), managing his household well (1 Timothy 3:4) and raising them to walk in the lord (Proverbs 22:6, Ephesians 6:4). This is the primary leadership duty of all leaders and Paul even calls into question the ability of leadership if they cannot lead their own family (1 Timothy 3:5).

Paul’s second area of “blamelessness”, having our personal life in check, refers to the usual understanding of integrity. This is an area of the leader’s life that must be under constant check and refinement. "The leader who lives a double life denies in private practice what he affirms in public proclamation". (Ravi Zacharias) Paul in chapter 2 of Titus assumed there is a certain behavior that goes with the way in which we teach (Titus 2:1, 7). In the same way that a leader must be a leader of his home before being a leader of others, he must be a leader of his own personal walk before he is a leader of others.  There is a big problem in the church today in regards to this area of personal integrity and personal sin.  The personal sin of a leader has a greater chance of impacting the church in a negative way than other believers.  We have all seen many public Christian leaders caught in acts that defile the name of Christ.  So we must be on guard and always aware "the servant leader that has been commissioned by Christ is seen to be guilty until proven innocent" (Zacharias).

Paul describes a number of things that we should have in our lives and exemplify and a number of things that we are to not have in our lives at all. These are the positive and negative designations of a genuine leader. On the negative side he states that we are to not have a quick temper, addiction to wine, not quarrelsome, not greedy or out for the money, and not a new convert (Titus 1:7, 1 Timothy 3:6). The leader must be one who flees from these evils and flee from even the appearance of these evils. The leader's lifestyle is sacrificial in that he sees others as more important then himself, but also in his willingness to sacrifice his freedoms to be able to be effective to all types of people (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).  According to 1 Peter 5:2 a leader must not work for shameful profit or greediness.  Though a believer may have the right to drink wine he must remember that he must not eat or drink if it causes anyone else to stumble (Romans 14:19-21). So the leader must ask himself if taking up a glass of wine can be misunderstood as being addicted to wine. Before he engages in an action, even where there is freedom, the leader must specifically ask “is it worth it?”

Personal integrity is what designates the difference between the leaders that are truly from God and those that are not.  Jesus says one can recognize a false prophet by his fruit (Matthew 7:16), Peter says that the false teachers “indulge in fleshly desires and despise authorities” (1 Peter 2:10), John says not to receive someone who does not teach that there must be a holiness of life (2 John 1:9-11) Paul says that false teachers or “rebellious men” have a “defiled conscience [and] are detestable…disobedience and worthless” and need to be silenced (Titus 1:10-16) . The early church father Iraneous says that a false prophet can be recognized if they do not fear God or seek for glory or personal advantage through their prophecies (Roberts 508).

Paul also describes a number of positive characteristics that should be evident in the life of a leader.  There is more to a leader’s lifestyle than a strict list of “do not's.”  People are encouraged to follow the lifestyle of the Christian leader (Hebrews 13:7), and Paul declares that he, himself, has lived upright among the people (2 Corinthians 7:2). In Paul’s exhaustive list of do’s he mentions the need for a good reputation with those outside of the church (1 Timothy 3:7). The leader must have a good reputation in the community and have a strong network of support. Having a good reputation is what leads to this strong community network and allows for the best impact in the society around the leader which Robert Greenleaf says is what is needed to bring back true community in our society (53). These positive reputations are necessary for the leader to lead (Miller 39). So our integrity must be evident even in our relationships outside the walls of the church.  And that integrity will open up opportunity for the glory of God to shine.