Dominant Leadership Themes in the Pauline Epistles

Paul’s writings in the Bible, although primarily intended to serve spiritual ends, were found to also contain practical leadership wisdom long before these concepts were developed and formalized in secular leadership literature. Seven leadership themes emerged out of this conceptual study, namely: concepts of authority, responsibility, and accountability; the need for personal integrity among leaders; the need to build ethical organizations; situational leadership; fostering unity in diversity; the teaching role of leaders; and ensuring organizational continuity and organizational growth. This paper will benefit leadership theory along the line of increasing confidence in the use of the Bible as a source of leadership knowledge. It will also support leadership practice by providing a model of how effective leadership can be practiced despite operating in a turbulent ancient environment devoid of the resources, systems, and technologies of today’s post-modern organizations. Although the contexts in Paul’s epistles were churches, the leadership lessons they contained can be applied to business organizations, government entities, educational institutions, and society in general.