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How is it that the principle of dictatorial pastoral leadership worked so well, during the glory days of the IFB movement in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, but not so well today? Kevin Schaal, president of Foundations Baptist Fellowship International, has a plausible explanation.
"The great generation of World War 2 veterans that entered the ministry after the war ended built large ministries and evangelistic churches. Many of those leaders managed based on an authoritarian military model. It worked. It was effective. And effectiveness always breeds imitation.
"My father understood the Bible, had long been involved in church leadership and had a wise understanding of the business world. He often warned me to be careful. He told me that preachers of my generation would be tempted to try to lead as the great ones of the previous generation did, and if we did that we would fail miserably.
“'People today and into the future will not tolerate that kind of overtly authoritarian leadership style,' he said. 'The nation that had to galvanize itself together to fight existential threats from Germany and Japan would follow those kinds of leaders, but the coming generations will not.'
"He was right. Preachers of my generation that blindly imitated that type of leadership were eventually rejected by their congregations. Others that capitulated felt like they were failures or weak because they could not lead as their predecessors did. Both responses are wrong. We must follow a biblical model of leadership. Dad encouraged me to develop a philosophy and style of leadership that is not based upon secular models, but rather upon biblical principles. There is such a model. We call it Biblical Servant Leadership."
"The great generation of World War 2 veterans that entered the ministry after the war ended built large ministries and evangelistic churches. Many of those leaders managed based on an authoritarian military model. It worked. It was effective. And effectiveness always breeds imitation.
"My father understood the Bible, had long been involved in church leadership and had a wise understanding of the business world. He often warned me to be careful. He told me that preachers of my generation would be tempted to try to lead as the great ones of the previous generation did, and if we did that we would fail miserably.
“'People today and into the future will not tolerate that kind of overtly authoritarian leadership style,' he said. 'The nation that had to galvanize itself together to fight existential threats from Germany and Japan would follow those kinds of leaders, but the coming generations will not.'
"He was right. Preachers of my generation that blindly imitated that type of leadership were eventually rejected by their congregations. Others that capitulated felt like they were failures or weak because they could not lead as their predecessors did. Both responses are wrong. We must follow a biblical model of leadership. Dad encouraged me to develop a philosophy and style of leadership that is not based upon secular models, but rather upon biblical principles. There is such a model. We call it Biblical Servant Leadership."
Is Your Style of Leadership Biblical?
As I preach through the book of Nehemiah, I am reminded of repeated conversations I had with my father over the years. I learned a lot from my father. He was an industrial engineer. His 40-year
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