Leadership principles from Deuteronomy for the post-COVID-19 church

Abstract

Peer-review declarationThe publisher (AOSIS) endorses the South African 'National Scholarly Book Publishers Forum Best Practice for Peer-Review of Scholarly Books'. The book proposal form was evaluated by our Theological and Religious Studies editorial board. The manuscript underwent an evaluation to compare the level of originality with other published works and was subjected to rigorous two-step peer-review before publication by two technical expert reviewers who did not include the author(s) or editor(s) and were independent of the author(s) and editor(s), with the identities of the reviewers not revealed to the author(s). The reviewers were independent of the publisher, editor(s) and author(s). The publisher shared feedback on the similarity report and the reviewers' inputs with the manuscript's author(s) and editor(s) to improve the manuscript. Where the reviewers recommended revisions and improvements, the author(s) and editor(s) responded adequately to such recommendations. The reviewers commented positively on the scholarly merits of the manuscript and recommended that the book be published.v Research justificationThis publication advances theological perspectives on the re-imagination of leadership within a post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) African context. Since the effects of COVID-19 are felt on various levels of society, which includes the believing community, a need was identified to provide guidance to leaders on various levels. However, the need for moral, ethical leadership in Africa could be identified even before the pandemic. In many respects, COVID-19 merely enhanced the inherent leadership crisis in Africa. While there are existing publications on the theological understanding of leadership, this book specifically focuses on addressing leadership in this unique time and space. The book consists of eleven chapters, in which the first five chapters provide bibliological perspectives on leadership (one from the Old Testament and four from the New Testament). Chapters 6 and 7 offer practical theological perspectives, Chapters 8 and 9 missiological perspectives and Chapter 10 an ethical perspective. Chapter 11 consists of a summative reflection and synthesis of the various contributions.Contributions in this book are based on original research, each from the field of expertise of each researcher. While the bibliological perspectives provide detail on the character and foundation of biblical leadership, the practical theological and missiological contributions mostly address the desired outcomes of moral and ethical leadership. An ethical perspective on leadership further argues the ethical and moral underpinnings of virtuous leadership. The main thesis of the book is that leadership in Africa should be selfless, just and fair, based on Jesus' example, flowing from a conversion experience and animated by the indwelling Christ, leading to spiritual maturity and, eventually, hope, transformation and emotional restoration.Methodologically, the work can be described as multidisciplinary, drawin...

Bloated self-interest or humble Christian leadership: Reflections from Matthew 23:3–12

“…According to the contributions in this book, the kind of leadership that is sought after is servant-based leadership, in which the needs of others are elevated above personal interest (Du Toit 2023;Viljoen 2023). Leadership should be just (Coetsee 2023), fair and treat others as equals (Kotzé 2023). Yet, from a Christian perspective, virtuous leadership (Kotzé 2023) cannot originate in a vacuum but presupposes a conversion experience (Cornelius 2023;Kotzé 2023), God-centredness (Coetsee 2023) and a life that is animated by the indwelling Christ (Du Toit 2023).…”

“…Leadership should be just (Coetsee 2023), fair and treat others as equals (Kotzé 2023). Yet, from a Christian perspective, virtuous leadership (Kotzé 2023) cannot originate in a vacuum but presupposes a conversion experience (Cornelius 2023;Kotzé 2023), God-centredness (Coetsee 2023) and a life that is animated by the indwelling Christ (Du Toit 2023). Only then can a leader achieve the selfless attitude that is required for virtuous leadership, as is demonstrated by Christ's example (Denton 2023;Viljoen 2023).…”

“…Marginalised and vulnerable people have especially been affected by the pandemic (Denton 2023). A side effect of these changes is a state of uncertainty (Coetsee 2023;Magezi 2023) that negatively influences the ability of church leaders to plan ahead (Magezi 2023). These changes emphasise the burning need to reconceptualise ecclesial leadership (Marais & Niemandt 2023;cf.…”

“…The various scholars who derived leadership principles from Scripture applied them to both church leadership (Coetsee 2023;Du Toit 2023;Viljoen 2023) and leadership in general society (Cornelius 2023;Du Toit 2023;Viljoen 2023).…”

“…From these various functions and characteristics that are associated with the different kinds of leaders that are presented in the book of Deuteronomy, Coetsee (2023) establishes the following maxims in relation to God and the religious community: in respect of a leader's relationship to God, they should be obedient to God's Word, be encouraged in their calling by trusting God, keep their focus on God, stay dependent on God, frequently read and observe God's Word, minister according to it and let it determine their conduct and ministry. In respect of leaders' relation to other members of the believing community, they should speak God's Word, teach it to them, explain it to them and exhort them to obey it.…”