Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Significance: The of Biblical Teaching of Church Leadership and Its Implications To Sumi Baptist Church in Nagaland
Significance: The of Biblical Teaching of Church Leadership and Its Implications To Sumi Baptist Church in Nagaland
Chapter One
1. Introduction
Leadership appear to affect every sphere of life. Lack of proper and efficient leadership
seems to have resulted in many crises, especially in Nagaland India. In this thesis the
researcher will do in-depth study on biblical principles of church leadership and explain its
significance for today and the much need of biblical leadership model in the church and our
society. The situation of the world is deteriorating from bad to worse, corruption is rampant,
hatred is seen in all walks of life, chaos in society, relationship breakdowns in all relations,
evil and notorious governments. We need godly leadership to rebuild our society,
governments and homes.that the true leader is concern primarily with the welfare of others.
Not with his own and comfort or prestige. Many people have needs that their ministers have
overlooked. This problem should be addressed with concern because the Christian leader role
is to seek the comfort of the members under him. The another problem is church leaders
today appointing the members in church if they find favour in them example, if they are
wealthy and in good position they appoint them as Deacon, deaconess, Ushers in the church
randomly without observing their life with God. Because of all those problems the church is
corrupt today. Therefore this thesis focuses on the perception and practice of Christian
leadership in the deeper life bible church. It deals with how leadership is perceived and
practiced, and how churches have to run according to the pattern of Jesus. This makes it
possible for the church to assign roles and responsibilities equitably among leaders. The
1
effectiveness of every institution whether secular or spiritual, may be guarded by the set of
leadership principle.
The researcher would like to study of how church should practice the leadership in a biblical
ways, because many church members are dying in their spiritual life.. There is more human
influence leadership in the church rather than godly leadership, more about human concept
and less of the biblical foundation, in dealing with the functioning of the Church.
Therefore, the researcher present this thesis to called upon the Nagaland Sumi Church to
recommit themselves to biblical strategies of human service and the functioning of the church
that will result in an inside-out transformation. The researcher will bring biblical teaching or
role in church for the leaders to be more effective and rooted in biblical teachings and fulfil
their responsibilities.
1.2 Literature Review Commented [WU1]: You may improve upon you literature
review
In this thesis the researcher will use the following books which are mention below.
He designed as a tool to help the Church leader to grow and successfully apply the principle
2
of biblical teaching. He also point out the responsibilities of church leaders.”1 So the
researcher believes that his writing of this book will help the church leaders to grow and learn
“Author share the thoughts about the example of Jesus modeled as a servant leader to learn
with them as they examine his guiding legacy. Their discussion is focused of Jesus habit of
generosity, believing in people meeting the needs encouraging friend getting excited about
good things that happen to others and challenging people to draw close to God”.2 Researcher
thought this are the step to become of the compassionate service to God and the member of
the church.
1.2.3. Hans Finzil, (1994) Commented [WU2]: Careful how you give your footnote
In this bookThe Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make.“The author of this book brings the top-
down leadership style is all about command and control. The top-down attitude places the
leader as the most important person at the top of the organisational pyramid. It is
domineering and autocratic. It is the opposite of empowerment”.3 Researcher felt that this
book will help the readers to learn and see which area he/she fail.
1.2.4 ThabitiAnyabwile,(2012)
1
J. Oswald Sander, spiritual leadership, (Moody Publishers:1997).
2
TodEngstorm& Paul Cedar, Compassionate leadership, ( Baker Books: 2000).
3
Hans Finzal, The top ten mistakes leaders make: rediscovering the Jesus radical leadership style (2000)
3
In this bookfinding faithful servant and deacon “ThabitiAnyabwile writes from his expertise
as a pastor and elder, showing how to identify and reproduce legitimate leaders and willing
servants throughout the ranks of the local church. Balancing thoughtful analysis of pertinent
passages with thorough application for practical use in a contemporary context, Anyabwile
answers the questions, "Who should we look for to lead and serve in the church?" and "What
Every church leader knows the qualifications for elders and deacons that are spelled out in
the Bible, but actually finding other leaders who fulfil the biblical qualifications can be
difficult”.
In this book Lead Like Jesus:Lessons from the Greatest Leadership Role Model of All Time,
“With simple yet profound principles from the life of Jesus and dozens of stories and
leadership examples from his life experiences, veteran author, speaker and leadership expert
Ken Blanchard guides readers through the process of discovering how to lead like Jesus. He
describes it as the process of aligning two internal domains-the heart and the head-and two
external domains-the hands and the habits. These four dimensions of leadership form the
outline for this very practical and transformational book”5. This book will help today leaders
In this bookThe Making of a Christian Leader, “This book talk about Dynamic and effective
leadership is the key to growth and success in any organization, including the Christian
4
ThabitiAnyabwile, finding faithful servant and deacon, (2012)
5
Ken Blanchard, Lead Like Jesus:Lessons from the Greatest Leadership Role Model of All Time, (Baker book
2008).
4
Church. In The Making of a Christian Leader, Ted W. Engstrom explains that good
leadership begins with a clear understanding of tested principles of management and human
relations. Then, building on practice and experience in developing skills, the leader cultivates
the qualities and personal traits that make good managers. "When we decry the scarcity of
leadership talent in our society," Engstrom says, "we are not talking about a lack of people,
but rather a scarcity of people willing to assume significant roles and get the job done
effectively”.6 This book has been written to help the Christian leader get a clearer picture of
In this bookLiberating the Church: The Ecology of the church and kingdom“The major
portion of this book explain about, how to liberation the church. And the author gives us the
functioning, and also the concern of justice and the poor within and outside the church”.7
The church should liberate with full dynamic implication of the biblical functioning of the
church that’s what the researcher also believe and will discuss in this research paper. The
functioning and organization of the church should be distinct which has to be God’s intended
derivation as the author suggest. Leadership within the church should not be outside the
biblical which will lead to crises of leadership spiritual. The authors also mention the worldly
qualification for leadership replace biblical leadership which is partially happen in our Local
churches today and the researcher also mention all this problem which it happen within the
Naga churches.
6
Ted Wilhelm Engstrom, The Making of a Christian Leader, (Zondervan, 1978).
7
Howard A. Snyder: Liberating the Church: The Ecology of the church and kingdom, (InterVarsity Press,
1983).
5
1.2.8 John N. Collins, (2002)
In this book Deacons and the church: Making connection between old and new “It was
written for deacons of all denominations, and it has implication for the whole church as the
issues it raises go beyond the office of the deacon and touch on the nature of the church itself,
There is totally confusion in the church regarding the role of deacon. If we can understand the
early church deacons we ought to be in a better position to decide what we actually meant to
be a deacon in the church. The question is for clearer understanding of the role of deacon in
our modern church and for that we have to clear away the misunderstanding of early deacons
so that we would be able to avoid working from unreliable models there is conflict between
In tis bookThe Master’s Plan for the Church“It is absolute essential that a church perceives
itself as an institution for the glory of God and to do that, John the author claim that the
church must adhere unfalteringly to biblical leadership principles. In this book the author
explains what church pastor’s meant to be, as Christ never intended church leadership to be
earned by seniority, purchased with money, or inherited through family ties. He never
compared church leaders to governing monarchs, but rather to humble shepherds. Not to slick
The researcher feel that church leaders need to understand the biblical leadership principle
8
John N. Collins: Deacons and the church: Making connection between old and new, (Morehouse Publishing,
2002)
9
John MacArthur: The Master’s Plan for the Church,( Moody Publishers; New edition ( September 2008)
6
1.2.10 Mark Senter(1990)
Recruiting Volunteers in the Church“The author of this book wrestled with recruiting
problems in three churches over the period of his eighteen years. He tackle with topic not
detached observer, he says recruiting volunteer in the church offer step by step procedures
Researcher will bring more idea from this book to help the leaders today who have trouble in
Today as we look at Church around we can encounter that Church is corrupt and is in a mess
because Church leadership fails to follow the biblical teaching and practice, for example:
electing church deacons and deaconess, youth leaders and ushers and responsibility of pastor
and the role of deacon chairman, therefore the researcher felt that the Churches today should
study thoroughly of what the Bible talks about leadership and how to effectively lead the
One of the most discussed issues in our contemporary world today’s is that of leadership
crisis. The main cause of leadership problem in Nagaland is misusing the position appointed
to them, because many leaders don’t look for someone who is spiritual but seek after those
10
Mark Senter, Recruiting Volunteers in the Church.(Victor Books (October 1990).
7
people who are man of position, wealthy and known by society and keeping aside those who
really have intimate relationship with God. Today leader should know biblical teaching
thoroughly because leadership taught in the Bible is better than any model we can find, Jesus’
leadership with his disciple is best example. He teaches and train before they involve in
ministry.
Nagaland is basically a Christian state , however most of the church is dying spiritually
because of lack of godly leadership in the church. Abuse of leadership in the church, showing
partiality or favouritism in all aspects of church life, what is the cause of all this misfortune in
the church and its effect on the spiritual life of the individual members and corporate life of
the church. The researcher believes the study will enable to bring change and transformation
in all aspects of church life and at every level of believers life in the church.
Church: Many people today understand the church as a building. This is not the biblical
understanding of the church. The word ‘church’ comes from the Greek word ekklesiawhich is
defined as “an Assembly” or “called out one.” The root meaning of the church is not that of a
building but of people. The church is the body of Christ of which he is the head.
Leadership: A simple definition is that leadership is the art of motivating a group of people
to act towards achieving a common goal. In a business setting, this can mean directing
workers and colleagues with a strategy to meet the company's needs. This leadership
definition captures the essentials of being able to inspire others and being prepared to do so.
Effective leadership is based upon ideas (whether original or borrowed), but won't happen
unless those ideas can be communicated to others in a way that engages them enough to act
8
as the leader wants them to act. Put even more simply, the leader is the inspiration and
director of the action. He or she is the person in the group that possesses the combination of
personality and leadership skills that makes others want to follow his or her direction.
2. To provide the biblical teaching to all the churches in Nagaland. The purpose of this
research paper will enlighten the core meaning of how principle of biblical teaching of
Church leaders should follow which the Lord Jesus Christ founded and also the biblical
functioning of the church: what and how it ought to be. It will also make sure to deal with
from Biblical perspective, which will be more effective in dealing the Church functioning.
3. The choice of this topic is to re-examine the Church as the Body of Christ on which the
function and principles should be based on the biblical understanding of the Church.
This research will be mainly deal on the important feature in Biblical study on the important
of church leadership which will be helpful for churches in Nagaland today. The following
major question will be tried to answer by this study. The questions are as follows:
Q2. What does the Bible say about the Church leadership?
Q3. What qualification is needed when electing the member in church service?
9
Q4. What activities should leaders follow and un-follow?Should secular people involve in
Church office?
Q5. What are the qualification of Pastor’s and the Deacon’s according to the Bible?
This thesis will be following a Biblical teaching of the Church leadership and method is base
on the information which already available and analysis to make a critical evaluation of the
sources as it exists at present. And also the researcher will also base on the applied research
method which aims at finding a solution for an immediate problem faced by the church.
The researcher will be using the research materials from AECS library, and also access other
library, internet sources, Bible, and for the implication section mostly an interview with local
The researcher feels the need of the Church’s to understand the biblical teaching of church
leadership in NagasSumi Church because the Church is corrupt and dying in spirituality.
Therefore, this research paper will be limited to the Churches in Nagaland in general and in
the conclusion and motivational application will also refer to the churches in Nagaland.
10
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Commented [WU3]: Can you make an outline by outlining the
following outline?
1. Introduction Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Nature and Function of the Church
1.1 Reason for Selecting the Topic Chapter Three: Leadership Pattern in the Old Testament
Chapter Four: Leadership Pattern in the Gospel
Chapter Five: Leadership Pattern in Pauline Writings
1.2 Literature Review Chapter Six: Implications of Biblical Leadership Pattern to Sumi
Baptist Churches
1.3 Statement of the Problem
1.3.1 Elaboration of the Problem
1.4 Significance of Study
1.5 Definition of the Terms
1.6 The Research Questions
1.7 Purpose and Objective of the Study
1.8 Methodology of the Study
1.9. Scope and Limitation of the Research
1.10. Tentative Outline
11
2.3.4. Failure to Focus on the Future
2.4. Summary
Chapter Three: Leadership Pattern in the Old Testament Commented [U5]: The Significance of the Pattern Leadership in
the Old Testament
3. Introduction 1.The principle of headship
2.The principle of Anointing
3.1. What is leadership and authority? 3.The principle of empowerment
4. The principle of delegation
5.The principle of the Word
3.1.1. Leadership accountability 6.The principle of sovereignty of God
3.1.2. Leadership limitation
3.1.3. Discipleship and mentoring
3.2. What does the bible say about the church leadership?
3.2.1. Commitment
3.2.2. Emergence of Leadership
3.2.3. Leader must effectively control the operation
3.2.4. Developing leadership skills
3.3. Interviewing and Recruiting volunteer in the Church
3.3.1. Evaluating personally
3.3.2. Biblical teaching to new volunteer
3.3.3. Nurturing the recruiting
3.4. Summary
12
4.2.3. Have a spiritual mind
4.2.4. Avoid division and arguments
4.3. The role of church leader
4.3.1. Casting a Compelling Vision
4.3.2. Aligning the resources necessary to accomplish the vision
4.3.3. Godly church leaders are responsible to walk personally with God
4.4. Summary
5. Introduction
5.1. A brief background of Nagaland churches
5.5.1. The land
5.5.2. The arrival of Christianity
5.5.3. Early church leaders
5.5.4. Present churches situation
5.2. The impact of church mission
5.5.1. Positive impact
5.5.2. Negative impact
Conclusion
13
Bibliography
14