The Fear of the Lord and Leadership Development

Feb 14

Feb 14 The Fear of the Lord and Leadership Development

Leadership development is a principal concern for many organizations and businesses. Approaches to developing leaders in corporate settings commonly emphasize skills like establishing organizational culture and vision, building and improving teams and departments, and stewarding corporate structure.

In marketplace settings, practices like these are outlined and articulated, then reinforced through ongoing training and evaluation. There may be little to no direct attention given to an individual's character and formation.

In Leading from the Foundation Up: How Fearing God Builds Stronger Leaders, Dave Cook and I maintain that the fear of the Lord is the keystone of Christian leadership. Therefore, developing ministry leaders in the fear of the Lord, with integrity and wisdom, serves to cultivate a God-fearing life for developing leaders and the churches they serve.

The Fear of the Lord

Admittedly, forms of ministry leadership development vary across the ecclesial landscape. Examples include seminary and church partnered approaches, networked associational and denominational structures and collectives, as well as independent local church programs. These different approaches may be the result of a range of structural, curricular, and philosophical commitments. Despite these differences, the common foundation should be the fear of the Lord. This fundamental conviction will guide how ministry leaders are further conformed to the image of Christ in the essential areas of both character and competency.

Sound ministry leadership development is intent on increasing knowledge, while developing critical skills, with the highest priority placed on the formation of godly character (Titus 1:1). If this is the chosen method, the fear of the Lord is a fitting biblical underpinning of such a pursuit.

Biblically-informed expectations for the Christian leader may include the following: devotion to the Lord (Ps 86:11), knowledge and wisdom in life and leadership (Prov 1:7; 9:10), theologically-grounded and practically-exhibited godliness (Job 1:1), and responsiveness to God and his promises by seeking to be holy (2 Cor 7:1). Each of these qualities are closely associated with the fear of the Lord. These expectations rooted in biblical qualifications are crucial. Character is to be prioritized over, while not at the expense of, demonstrated competencies.

It is necessary to stress character here, as to not assume that integrity is naturally occurring in the leader’s life. Such presumption has been a costly error for educators and churches alike. Why do we make such misplaced assumptions? As those charged with discipling leaders, perhaps what we are tempted to revere is programmed efficiency rather than divine majesty. It is a slow and sometimes painful route to a more fully formed leadership character rooted in holiness. Often, our rush to identify, train, and deploy leaders is motivated by very noble evangelistic and missional drives.

However, if we are not watchful, we can easily justify cutting corners to produce more leaders rapidly. This at the expense of the ardent shepherding of God-enthralled men and women to fear him. That shepherding is the work necessary to achieve evangelistic and ecclesial goals.

If the fear of God is “the soul of godliness,” as John Murray helpfully observes, then a developed leader is one who fears the Lord (see Murray, The Fear of God). Paul’s appeal to Timothy to prioritize “training in godliness” could then serve as a call to engage in training in the fear of the Lord (1 Tim 4:8).

In his work The Forgotten Fear, Albert Martin provides what he sees as three “ingredients of the fear of God” (Martin, The Forgotten Fear, 38-53). We can adapt these elements to establish broad categories for leadership development instruction and mentoring. Specifically for teaching modules on the Doctrine of God or Discipleship, for example, we might structure core training outcomes in this manner:

Disciples who are leaders need a “correct concept of God’s character” (Know God).
Leaders must maintain “a pervasive sense of his presence” (Know God is Present).
Leaders need “a constraining awareness of one’s obligations to God” (Know God is Present in Every Moment)

Here we see that knowing and enjoying God, recognizing his commonplace providential care, and leading and serving in light of these “ingredients” of gospel fear are evidences of the Spirit-developed character we desire for ministry leaders. The New Covenant promises in Jeremiah 32:40, now fulfilled, remind us that we are regenerate and indwelled by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the fear of the Lord is in our hearts, by the work of the Spirit. Training and focused guidance is needed for leaders to develop Spirit-wrought dependency on Christ and the gospel. This will be exhibited in obeying his Word with integrity and wisdom.

Integrity and Wisdom

There is a strong biblical link between integrity and the fear of the Lord. Following the Lord’s teachings is a key aspect of how one actively fears the Lord. For example, Moses challenges Israel to “fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments” (Deut 6:2). A king assuming the throne was to “learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them” and “not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left” (Deut 17:19-20).”

With respect to kings (1 Kgs 9:4-5), as well as elders and deacons (1 Tim 3; Titus 1), the concept of integrity encapsulates much of God’s expectation for leaders as they follow his teachings and commands. Leaders must walk with integrity of heart in all the ways of the Lord.

Additionally, biblical wisdom can be understood commonly as the “skill of godly living” which is both practically exercised and theologically moored. As John Frame’s trinitarian observations outline:

God the Father is the source of wisdom, in the Son are hidden all the treasures of wisdom, and the Spirit is the Spirit of wisdom. Wisdom is communicated by the Word and by the Spirit (cf. Exod. 28:3; 31:3; Deut. 34:9; Prov. 3:19; 8:30; 28:7-9; 30:5; Jer. 8:8f; Acts 6:3; 1 Cor. 1:24, 30; 2:6-16; Col. 2:3; 3:16; 2 Tim. 3:15). (Frame, Doctrine of the Knowledge of God, 48)

In Proverbs 1:7, we find that the beginning of knowledge is the fear of the Lord, while in Proverbs 9:10 we see that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. Knowledge finds its rightful origin and substantiation in the fear of the Lord because it affords us the proper perspective from which to see all reality. If we then take wisdom to mean the correct application of knowledge, then the foundation of both true knowledge and related skills is the fear of the Lord. If wisdom is a key mark of a Christian disciple, it must be a distinctive and instilled trait of a leader. If wisdom issues from the fear of the Lord, we must necessarily train leaders to fear him so that they may be wise.

Cultivate the Fear of the Lord

The fear of the Lord is the essence of godliness. Godly character and its practical outworking are what we expect to see in Christian disciples and leaders. Therefore, a contributor to and content of the foundation of such character and behavior is the fear of the Lord. It is both an issue of merciful lordship (the Lord is the Holy One to be feared) and joyful obedience (because He is the Lord, we desire to fear him in all of life’s stages and decisions).

Formed integrity and demonstrated wisdom are essential qualities of god-fearing leaders. Consequently, establishing curricular, training, and mentoring norms that acknowledge and prioritize the cultivation of reverence (fear) can benefit developing leaders for the balance of life and ministry. As we recruit, place, and deploy ministry leaders let us plead with Christ to maintain and cultivate our wisdom, in gospel hope, as we fear the Lord—for the glory of God in Christ and in the church (Eph 3:21).