The Leader as a Shepherd - Paper Example

Laniak's book, Shepherd after My Own Heart, metaphorically compares leadership in the Old and New Testament to shepherding. Even though little is clear about leadership styles in the Bible, he draws from a range of texts in the Holy Book' to develop the shepherd metaphor theology. To Laniak, a metaphor is the only significant symbolic means by which the Bible discourses leadership. Leadership is a critical process that sees an individual influencing people to attain a set goal. Therefore, the Biblical concept of shepherding entails the need to serve others through assertive leadership that aims to attain certain goals. Comprehending the metaphorical relationship between Biblical leadership and shepherding requisites fathoming servant leadership as serving a group or a people as a natural frontrunner. Metaphorically, the term shepherd' describes leaders in the bible and other leadership concepts in organizational leadership studies since leaders look after a group of people by spearheading them to attain concrete goals as opposed to exploiting them for self-gratuity.

Most Bible versions define a shepherd as an animal caregiver; such animals as goats and sheep. From the definition, a leader qualifies as a shepherd since he or she looks after his or her people. The Shepherd after My Own Heart traces the Biblical shepherd metaphor from King David and Moses through other Old Testament prophets to contemporary spiritual leaders in the New Testament prominently in the Gospels, and Revelation. Cracknell (2018) contends that King David best exemplifies the shepherding form of leadership as he fought Goliath (comparable to a jackal or a coyote) just like a shepherd does. Laniak's book asserts that since the Bible was written by men inspired by God, the Lord uses images of shepherd and sheep to illustrate the leadership he years for His people from the people He anoints. In the Old Testament in 2nd Samuel chapter Five, God appointed King David as the shepherd of His people. Prominently, David was a mere shepherd of his father's flock, and God took him from tending to sheep to shepherding His people (Van and Dekker, 2016). Shepherds are a symbol of God; Jesus and other congregational leaders aided the flock feed by serving them with the Gospel and concurrently teaching them about theological doctrines ascribed in religious texts and communicated to anointed men of God through visions and dreams. According to Gunter (2016), the metaphorical use of a shepherd indicates the form of leadership God demands from the people He instils in authority. Therefore, as a shepherd, one should presume authority from those under him/her and lead them to victorious realization of goals.

Throughout the Old Testament, God gives authority for specific intentions. For instance, God chose Moses to shepherd the Israelites. Prior to his choosing by God in Exodus Chapter Three, Moses watched over his father-in-law's flock. Besides the authority over Jethro's flock, God again gives Moses the authority to meet Pharaoh and negotiate the release of the Israelites. In Exodus 3:10 (KJV), God speaks to Moses in Horeb by asking him to, come now, I will send you to Pharaoh, tell him to free my people from Egypt.' In the Shepherd after My Own Heart, Laniak explains that the image of Moses as a shepherd and his flock serve as a model of leadership and teaches leaders to take care of their people just as shepherds take care of their herd. (Morales, 2017). In the dialogue between God and Moses, Moses received the authority to approach Pharaoh and negotiate the release of Gods chosen people. The argument herein is that a leader must acquire jurisdiction prior to dispensing their duties just like a shepherd has authority over their flock. Furthermore, in 2nd Samuel, God gives Moses the power to shepherd as a leader. God tells Moses to shepherd the Israelites and ruler over them as their guide till the promised land (Wessels, 2014).

In the New Testament, in Matthew chapter 9, Jesus saw the people and felt compassionate as they looked distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd (Thompson, 2015). From the statement, a shepherd should free his flock from distress and desperation, and so should a leader. According to Laniak, a shepherd should, therefore, serve the roles of provision, and protection (Corley, 2017). Besides, in the New Testament, Jesus urges His followers to take their crosses and follow Him (Matthew 16; KJV). Reading from this scripture, leadership is a skill acquired through mentorship. From Christs leadership in the New Testament, every leader needs to be a servant to be a real shepherd (Cruz, 2014). Most figures in the Bible, for example, Peter, John and James, served shepherding roles, for they were Jesus followers and they learnt how to lead and be shepherds from the best theological and Biblical leader.

Apart from the shepherd metaphor, other leadership metaphors chiefly exist in organizational leadership studies (George, 2015). Apostle Paul, in his letter to Thessalonians, uses various metaphors to pass his message. Some of the tropes include mother, father, steward, and herald. Apostle Paul uses the mentioned metaphors to characterize his leadership in Thessalonica. Fortunately, only two of the tropes relate to the prominent Biblical shepherd metaphor: motherly and fatherly imageries. The discussion exclusively focuses on the father metaphor. In 1st Thessalonians chapter two (NIV), Paul wrote to his people saying that he dealt with them just as a father would deal with his children. A father, in this case, symbolizes a provider as he further addressed Thessalonians to remember their day and night toil. Therefore, the father metaphor resembles the shepherd imagery in this provision context. In contrast with the description, the father metaphor represents absolute power bestowed to a father. According to Corley (2017), fathers have supreme authority over their children as they could imprison them anytime they wante. According to Laniak (2015), God gave power to His leaders to protect His people just like shepherds protect their flock.

God anoints shepherds and proffers them with the authority to rule over others. Serving and shepherding are interdependent; the idea of leadership connects to the shepherd metaphor since both protect, provide and serve others. Leading, protection, and serving are responsibilities given by God according to the scriptures. Leadership, thus, requires commitment, and this concept is similar to other leadership metaphors discussed above. Finally, shepherd leadership is selfless, as it requires commitment to serve with no immediate reward.

References

Corley, J. (2017). The Book of Psalms.

Cracknell, D. (2018). Christian Leadership in Education. In Christian Faith, Formation and Education (pp. 229-243). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Cruz, J. T. (2014). Metaphor and Disunity: Tensions between Metaphors in Micah 35. Tropos, 1(1), 36-43.

George, J. C. (2015). The metaphor of Shepherd in the Gospel of Mark: Peter Lang GmbH, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften.

Gunter, N. H. (2016). Mission Agency Methods for Equipping Kenyan Pastors as Shepherd Leaders: A Multi-case Study.

Laniak, T. (2015). Shepherds after my own heart: Pastoral traditions and leadership in the Bible (Vol. 20). InterVarsity Press.

Morales, J. (2017). Christ, Shepherd of the Nations: The Nations as Narrative Character and Audience in John's Apocalypse. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Thompson, S. (2015). What does the metaphor of the good shepherd have to say about school leadership? Being Christian in Education: Faith perspectives on practice and policy,

Van Rheede, A., & Dekker, D. M. (2016). Hospitableness and sustainable development: New responsibilities and demands in the host-guest relationship. Research in Hospitality Management, 6(1), 77-81.

Wessels, W. J. (2014). Leader responsibility in the workplace: Exploring the shepherd metaphor in the book of Jeremiah. Koers, 79(2), 01-06.