And we are back at it again!<\/p>\n
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The Theology of Leadership Journal was a surprising find on our reading list. I did not expect to be reading a brand new leadership journal. But this publication provided a refreshingly eclectic line-up of international leaders, which is I suspect, one of the contributing factors. It was interesting that each article was tied to a particular university, and that each of these authors came from some level of academia. Regent University seemed to have the most representation in the number of articles here.<\/p>\n
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The Theology of Leadership website is designed to be a meshing of theology and leadership in a way that is accessible and yet honorable to biblical theology. There is a lot of \u201cChristian Leadership\u201d teaching and training out there, but seldom does this training attempt to teach theology, as much as it does teach leadership while just biblical stories as illustrations. Throughout this website there is a mix of articles purely one-sided, some mesh, while some intentionally use one side to inform the other. It\u2019s certainly a blurred line but I think that is an intentional meshing.<\/p>\n
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Although the website was thin, the content it contained was deep and rich. When I saw the online format I was expecting more of a blog post, to level maybe of which we write in this D.Min group. But they were much longer, more thoroughly researched, and more polished. Perhaps this is something were are to strive for?<\/p>\n
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The articles covered a good breadth of topics and it was fun reading through the list and guessing the articles that I think my classmates might decide to write their blog on. After spending a year writing together and becoming more familiar with each others dissertations, I had a few pretty good guesses.<\/p>\n
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I\u2019m not sure If I chosen a predictable article to focus on or not, but the article I wanted to meditate longer on was Authentic Leadership Theory: Enhancements from 1 Peter 5:1-5 by <\/em>Daniel B. Holmquist<\/em>. Holmquist decides to study and dissect what is known as Authentic Leadership Theory (<\/em>ALT) and see how it compares to that of a biblical model of leadership. Holmquist brings up Authentic Leadership Theory which is based around four main attributes: self-awareness, relational transparency, balanced processing, and internalized moral perspective.[1]<\/a> This leadership style that Holmquist describes immediately gave me the same feel that Chris Lowney wrote about in Heroic Leadership<\/em>. For those who were not as infatuated with this book as I was, Lowney\u2019s four pillars of the Jesuits were ingenuity, heroism, love, and self-awareness.[2]<\/a> You can see a similar correlation between Lowney\u2019s four virtues of the Jesuits and Holmquist\u2019s four attributes of Authentic Leadership Theory.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Self-awareness = self-awareness<\/p>\n Relational transparency = love<\/p>\n Internalized moral perspective = heroism<\/p>\n balanced processing = Ingenuity<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The last one might be a bit of a stretch. But nonetheless what was undoubtedly an alignment between these two ideas was that both of these authors talked about virtues and inner qualities and not just theory, skills, paradigms or core values.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In regards to the actual biblical explanation represented in this study, I give Holmquist a solid A! I love hermeneutical study, I love leadership principles taken from the Bible and I love that this article took the time to walk you through the exegesis and it particular format of steps it was going to take, instead of just jumping right to it\u2019s principles.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This passage in 1 Peter 5 is not a surprising passage to focus on a leadership. It is addressed to the elders of the church and shows it has implications to those who are placed under the care of the church and it has impact on the amount of influence a person can hold.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Holmquist brings good history and exegesis into the piece. A few times however he is describing what life and work was like when Peter was writing this letter, and says things like, \u201cIn the first-century Mediterranean world, domineering leadership would have been common and involved a strong lust for power, flaunting it, and gaining more and more of it.\u201d[3]<\/a> I was a little perplexed by a statement like this, because that certainly seems to be just as true today.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Holmquist\u2019s explanation of the word younger was especially helpful to me. (Yeah, I\u2019ll go ahead and play my Millennial card here.) Holmquist says,<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe meaning of the terms \u201cyounger\u201d (5:5) and \u201celders\u201d (5:1) depends on the context because they are not simply used for designating age but also position or status. Achtemeier (1996) reviewed three possible relationships between the persons designated by Peter (younger in the faith, younger in age, and younger as referencing the congregation) and concluded that while these are not mutually exclusive categories, most likely Peter was using younger to refer to the rest of the congregation. Elliott\u2019s (2001) scholarly opinion is that in 5:5, \u201cyounger\u201d refers to the relationship to \u00a0the \u201celders\u201d in the sense of church leadership. Those who are younger are those who do not have authority in the church; they are to be subject to the elders and should be supportive of them and their decisions (Heb 13:7, 17).\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After a surprisingly brief exegesis the whole tone of Holmquist changes drastically as he begins to breakdown the pieces of Authentic Leadership Theory. Homlquist takes another brief run through the description of ALT and spends the last of this essay in the heart of what he is trying to say, which is, how do these two ideas are complement each other. Holmquist actually says that by using 1 Peter 5:1-5 one can arrive at a \u201cmore rubust\u201d development of ALT.[4]<\/a> Specifically, this is how the word of God elevates the ALT theory, \u201cALT focuses upon leaders and their authentic seeking of personal and social identification from their group members, but Peter focused upon leaders in much deeper personal relationships and commitment to shared community with their followers; and (b) ALT demonstrates an almost exclusive internal orientation of leadership, but Peter incorporated both external and internal orientations for leadership.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n This makes me wonder if there are other philosophies or principles that are already strong, but could be elevated and sharpened by being orientated around God. Adding a fear or God alongside Christian call of embracing Christ\u2019s suffering could potentially redefine many already good leadership principles. All truth is God\u2019s truth after all. The downside of this is eisegesis and taking the word of God to try and strength your own human ideas. I don\u2019t think this is the case with Holmquist, but its something that every interpreter should be aware of suspicious of themselves doing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Overall I was very impressed with the description of and combination of theology and leadership that meshed within this article. I am however not enticed to keep reading. I would not be a subscriber to this journal, as I don\u2019t think it\u2019s answering a need of my life. I think this is because I find myself looking for different things in different moments. I am either looking for theology or leadership, and never am aware of a moment when I am looking for an answer for both. Perhaps this should not be though.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Works cited.<\/p>\n Lowney, Chris.\u00a0Heroic Leadership: Best Practices from a 450-Year-Old Company That Changed the World<\/em>. Chicago: Loyola Press, 2005.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Homlquist, Daniel. “Authentic Leadership Theory.”\u00a0Theology of Leadership Journal<\/em>, March 30, 2018.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Daniel Homlquist, “Authentic Leadership Theory,” Theology of Leadership Journal<\/em>, March 30, 2018.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Chris Lowney,\u00a0Heroic Leadership: Best Practices from a 450-Year-Old Company That Changed the World<\/em>(Chicago: Loyola Press, 2005), .<\/p>\n s.ch others dissertations, I hadinciples. All truth i erent things in different moments.hristians.ch others dissertations, I had<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Daniel Homlquist, “Authentic Leadership Theory,” Theology of Leadership Journal<\/em>, March 30, 2018, 91.<\/p>\n