Abstract
Leadership is a volatile topic as many in the world walk along paths of wreckage trailing behind harmful leaders, including in church and parachurch settings. In a counter-offensive to this phenomenon, David Mathis has written a stimulating work for Chrisitan leaders in his new book Workers for your joy: The call of Christ on Christian leaders. As a book written for pastor-practitioners and lay leadership, Mathis aims for his work to be “useful for congregants and leaders alike in considering what Christ expects of, and what vision he himself has cast through his apostles and prophets for, leadership in the local church” (p. 13). The author's intent is to consider the pastoral leadership role through the lens of 15 biblical qualifications in the pastoral epistles (1 Tim. 3 and Titus 1). Mathis does not consider the qualifications as mere prerequisites, but as ongoing requisites for effective pastoral ministry. They are “the graces needed to be good pastors” (p. 17). Such graces, according to Mathis, become more and more evident in Christian leaders as they develop into the leader Christ calls them to be in day-to-day work. While the book is not intended to be a practical guide regarding biblical requirements, the work takes the biblical requirements of elder “with utter seriousness” (p. 19) relayed from a baptistic reformed perspective.
Mathis prefaces his work by claiming spiritually healthy leaders lead healthy ministries with deep-rooted joy which produces joyful people. States Mathis, “In the Christian life and in spiritual leadership the pursuit of joy is not peripheral” (p. 20). He further supports his claim by quoting from the epistles of Paul and John (2 Cor. 1:24, Phil. 1:25–26, 3 John 4). The biblical paradigm for Christian leadership, as Mathis defends, is understood by Christian leadership working for the joy of others in their care. The groundwork Mathis lays regarding joy is the frame on which he hangs his biblical requisite leadership appeal throughout the rest of his work. The author maintains that the growth in joy of Christian leaders through the ongoing adherence to and absorption of the biblical requirements for leadership reveals the pattern by which spiritually healthy leaders serve, blazing a trail for followers to walk upon for their joy.
In his introduction, the author presents five “glimpses of the leading or teaching office in the church, that of pastor or elder” revealed in 1 Peter 5 (p. 23). Christian leaders are accessible to their people and are willing to work with other leaders. They are attentive and engaged, ones who are unafraid of difficult circumstances, and ones who ultimately enjoy the work (pp. 24–29). These five points of reference lend biblical support to the book's three main sections detailed below.
Mathis frames the bulk of his work in three parts emphasizing a Christian leader's humility, wholeness, and honorableness. This order relays the biblical criteria for leadership in relation to the inner person, the person's family life, and the person's public life rather than listing the requirements in the order given in the biblical record. In “Part One—Humbled: Men Before Their God” (Chapters 1–4), Mathis views a leader's inner life through the biblical leader qualifications. The first part begins by considering one's call to leadership. As the biblical requisite addresses the aspirations of those who may be called, Mathis introduces three questions for a prospective Christian leader: “1. Do I desire the work? 2. Am I a good fit for the work? 3. Has God opened the door yet?” (Chapter 1). The first chapter is devoted to this biblical notice as a mandate rather than a reference point. Mathis then directs readers to consider three significant requisites of Christian leadership: humility, teaching, and a sober mind (Chapters 2–4). A major point noted by Mathis in chapter 2 regarding humility is the certainty of divine sourcing of this trait in a leader by stating, “God is the author of our humility, not we” (p. 71). Chapter 3 communicates the requisite that an elder as a leader is to possess the heart of a teacher, one of patience and level-headedness. Throughout chapter 3, one of the longer chapters in his work, Mathis makes a clear and strong appeal for Christian leaders in local churches to be teachers with skills “relative to the congregation they serve” (p. 83). Chapter 4 focuses on “level-headed” leadership, focusing on Jesus Christ as the all-time global example of sober-minded leadership.
In “Part Two—Whole: Men Where They are Known Best” (Chapters 5–9), the leader's family life is addressed through the lens of biblical requisites. Chapter 5 commences a reasonably in-depth consideration of self-control as an essential characteristic of Christian leadership, a characteristic which is then extended into the private life of the leader in relation to their spouse and children (Chapters 6 and 9), and deeper still into the personal life of a leader's passion for and use of material things. For example, chapter 7 addresses the matter of alcohol and Christian leadership in light of the biblical requisite of self-control, while chapter 8 concentrates on the matter of money in the heart and mind of the Christian leader.
A Christian leader's public persona is to be “above reproach,” a requisite point Mathis highlights as he frames in the third and final part of the book. In “Part Three—Honorable: Men Before a Watching World” (Chapters 10–15), Mathis examines several significant matters regarding a leader's public life through the requirements found in the biblical mandate. For example, in chapter 10, the author proposes God as the ultimate standard of honorability, then moves to support his illustration with prophetic and epistle biblical texts corresponding to the prospect of Christian leaders living separate yet integral lives in the world. The author asserts that as God is both other and better, Christian leaders are to live other and better lives which highlight “the value or worth and attractiveness to the otherness” (p. 182). Respect for and hospitality from Christian leaders are subsequently treated in chapters 11 and 12 as Christian leaders' evidence of the giving and receiving of these requisites in the course of their work. Mathis highlights how the biblical text fosters love for “outsiders” as one means to win respect of the watching world (p. 209). Included in the biblical requirements for the Christian leader is the responsibility of a leader's gentle demeanor prone to peace over quarreling. Mathis once again endorses Jesus as the example for these characteristics by which he mounts a moderate appeal in chapters 13 and 14. Mathis completes his presentation in chapter 15 by reinforcing the responsibility and commitment necessary for the Christian leader to live out Christlike engagement actively and publicly, including with those outside the local church. The author then offers a concluding note by contrasting the persona of the Christian leader versus the modern celebrity (p. 249).
In evaluating the work of Mathis, it is helpful to understand the lens through which Mathis addresses a biblical Christian leader, whether one is considering a call to leadership or is currently engaged. As Mathis highlights what he considers to be 15 elder qualifications imperative for elders found in 1 Timothy and Titus, he presents these significant and repeated requisites in three parts. By categorizing such requirements in relation to one's devotional life, private life, and public life (p. 19), Mathis lends a practical and embraceable understanding of what is the apostolic outline for the personal life and public persona of a Christian leader. The approach utilized by Mathis is stimulating primarily due to his grouping the biblical requirements for leadership in relation to a leader's inner life, personal/family life with one's spouse and children, and public life. As one embraces these requirements, a deep-rooted joy develops in the inner and outer person. Due to the organic nature of these traits, one finds that they are not merely for leadership; they are for the masses as well. This being the case, three evaluative points will be detailed below.
First, this book is helpful for several kinds of people in a church environment, as noted in the book's preface. Those who do not aspire to the office of church elder/pastor are offered a lens through which to identify prospective leaders. Those who aspire to serve in the local church as elders (as well as deacons) are presented with a biblical and approachable text intended to help confirm a call to ministry. Additional help is also offered by Mathis in five appendices, including directions for those called to deacon ministry, a brief defense and explanation of elder-led team ministries, and a treatment of service matters for church leaders in regard to laying on of hands and anointing with oil (pp. 265–295). Study questions for each chapter are also presented in the back of the book for current leaders who desire to teach prospects the biblical requisites for pastoral leadership through the lens of the three categories of one's life.
Second, this book is beneficial for those who serve in parachurch ministry leadership capacities, including those in Christian education settings such as high schools and undergraduate college environments. Training next-generation leaders in such settings requires, at the least, a grasp of the biblical requirements for leadership in local congregations. Proving healthy leadership development which is cultivated by Christian educational institutions necessarily incorporates educating prospective leaders on the biblical mandate for formal ministry leadership. Whether or not students in Christian educational settings are called to formal vocational ministry is not an accurate question in relation to presenting this book. Quality Christian leadership development results in leaders entering the formal body of Christ as lay-persons with awareness and eagerness to engage how and where one is called.
Third, this book is useful for the individual who desires to grow in the discipleship context of the biblical mandate for Christians. Those requisites listed in 1 Timothy and Titus are not reserved for Christian leaders only; these characteristics are the aim of the biblical Christian growing in Christlikeness in daily life. The requirements listed in such a fashion might direct any reader on a course of discipleship whose end is living above reproach with humility and a sober mind. Such a person may develop a more serious spiritual mindset in marital and family matters and consider anew those outside of one's household as significant.
A strength in Mathis's work that supports his central thesis is found in his first part. A person is called to Christian leadership is necessarily required to live with genuine humility; so, too, the lay person who never possesses leadership in the eye of the public. Part two also has a strong convictional appeal for married men and women to lead their households in humble followership of the Over-shepherd. Those who live out such conviction in everyday life tend to have joy that translates to those around them. As Mathis stated early in the book, Christian leaders are to be “workers for the joy of their people” (p. 14).
The third part of the book could have offered more insight into the difference between gentleness and peacefulness (Chapters 13 and 14). The postscript, titled “Commission” (p. 249), is a primer for leadership in general which may leave some readers wanting more. The formatting of the book is well-constructed, and clearly leads an individual in a personal journey from the inner person to the public persona one portrays as a Christian.