Ethical and Unethical Leadership in the Church: Leadership Principles and Theory

Ethical and Unethical Leadership in the Church: Leadership Principles and Theory

NaDene Tucker | 2016

Abstract

John 1:1-2, 5 states, “In the beginning was the Word (Christ), and the Word (Christ) was with God, and the Word (Christ) was God. 2 He (Christ) was in the beginning with God…5 The light (Christ) shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (ESV). This passage mentions that Christ is the light and how the darkness (man) failed to comprehend the light (who was Christ). God and Christ are the genesis of values; they existed from the very beginning before theories, values and ethics came into existence. Adam and Eve made the first ethical decision when Eve listened to the serpent and Adam listened to Eve. This began the ability of man to make choices based on what they valued and what they thought was ethically sound at that time. Applying values and ethics biblically gives leaders in the church the ability to problem solve in various situations through knowledge development, evidence, practice or methods, and scriptural protocols in innovative and creative ways. In order to find effective leaders in the church, identifying leadership with a human side is critical to God’s divine assignment. Each leader must not only have the expertise to establish a successful organization or ministry, but a set of values or ethics that lets others identify who they are as an individual and understand why they have been called. This manuscript will examine a variety of leaders within Christendom (biblically and currently) whose set of values or ethics (whether good or bad) changed those who chose to follow.