What Makes a Biblical Leader

The following is an article written by one of our high school seniors who participated in our annual student leadership course. The final assignment for this course was to write out an answer to the question, “What Makes a Biblical Leader?” and this was one of the many well thought out and articulated answers to the question.


This past summer a few of our high schoolers participated in a four week student leadership course where we looked at various Scripture passages and articles on what it means to be a biblical leader. The definition of what it means to be a biblical leader that we used throughout the course is “acting and speaking so as to create a following towards a goal.” That goal specifically is to “move others towards godliness, worship, honoring Jesus, and loving people.” (-John Piper) Strong biblical leaders embody a wide variety of qualities, but some of the most important things that make biblical leaders effective in accomplishing their goal are that they give of their time and talents, teach sound doctrine, and love others well.

A leader helps unify others in the pursuit of a common goal. That takes time, and a lot of it. Biblical leaders give of their time and talents to help lead others to know, honor, and obey Jesus. A true biblical leader gives of his or her time not expecting anything in return. They do not think of it as a transaction. One way to look at it is that biblical leaders give; they don’t sell. When leaders are doing something, whether that is  leading worship, setting up sound equipment, or preaching a message on a Sunday morning, they must be careful to examine their hearts to see why they are giving of their time and efforts in this way. If they are doing these things so the people around them will tell them, “Great job on that last song; you hit those notes so well!” then they are probably leading for the wrong reason. Real biblical leaders try their best not to let the praise of others be their focus. They instead lead with a posture of humility, desiring to please and live for God above all else so their efforts will then point others to Him.

Biblical leaders are called to know and sometimes to teach sound doctrine. 1 Timothy 4: 11, 13-14 says, “Command and teach these things…Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.” We also read in Titus where Paul commands older men and women of the church to teach what is good to the young men and women. He also calls the young men and women of the church to learn from the training of the older adults. Most are not called upon to preach a sermon on Sundays, which is what a lot of people think of when they hear the phrase “teach sound doctrine.” However, biblical leaders must know what the Bible says, so that at any moment they can “give an answer for the hope they have.” (1 Peter 3:15) In order for them to be able to teach it, they must first know what the Bible says. Strong biblical leaders spend time studying Scripture and listening to others teach from it who know more than they do, so that they in turn can learn and teach others. Through knowing and teaching the truths of the Bible, they can move others towards godliness, worship, honoring God, and loving others.

Finally, one of the most important things biblical leaders do is love others. Biblical leaders are people who should be actively pursuing Jesus, and the two greatest commandments he gives his followers is to love God and to love people. Part of our goal as leaders is to help others love each other. This is impossible to do without us first loving others. Romans 13: 8-10 says, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the  continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’  ‘you shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not covet, and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

Biblical leaders are called to do many things. The book of Titus lists over thirty different qualities that strong biblical leaders embody. However, some of the most important things we can do as leaders are to give of our time, not expecting anything in return. We must know sound doctrine so we can teach sound doctrine. And we must love. As leaders, when we act in this way, we are “moving people towards godliness, worship, honoring Jesus, and loving others.”

~~ Eva Henderson