Biblically and theologically, what can be said about the black church can also be said
about the vision of its religious leadership. The black community’s most effective leaders
have been nurtured in the "cultural and spiritual womb" of the black church’s biblical
faith (The Black Church in the African American Experience, Lincoln and Mamiya, p. 8).
Historically, biblical models of leadership informs the leadership vision and efforts of the
black church to bring about spiritual transformation, social change and justice in the
community. Abraham, Moses, Saul, David, Nehemiah, the Hebrew prophets, and Jesus
are biblical models of leadership from which the black church has drawn its inspiration
and commitment to the dream of God.
Biblical paradigms of leadership suggest that religious leadership is a response to a divine
call to be in the service of God’s love and justice. This biblical paradigm reveals a
theology of leadership which focuses on a pattern of God calling leaders to one mission
enterprise - to be in the service and restoration of God’s image in everyone and in
everything. Verna Dozier calls this mission of restoration "the Dream of God" (The
Dream of God, Dozier, 1991).
The ancient Hebrew community and first century Christians have vital lessons to teach us
about the nature of religious leadership. Let’s briefly explore models of leadership from
the Bible.
Abraham
The story of Abraham represents the earliest record of leadership in the Bible. Abraham’s
leadership begins with an act of faith. Abraham is grasp by divine destiny to begin a
journey of faith to an alternative future, a future which will bless all families of the earth.
We learn from the experience of Abraham that leadership on the high plane of faith
involves risk. Leadership response to faith is not an intellectual assent to a proposition, it
is risking that the purpose to which God calls us is worthy of trust and service. Without
deposits of faith, leadership in response to God’s call proves impossible.