Evaluate leadership as practiced in the life of Jesus Christ in the Essay

Evaluate leadership as practiced in the life of Jesus Christ in the light of 21st century context - Essay Example The paper will touch on Jesus’ ministry and its application in modern church leadership. The analysis will draw its facts mainly from the Gospels. From the start of his ministry, Jesus set out to mentor leaders that would lead the early church. He selected twelve disciples with different skills, talents, passions and personalities and mentored them to become a team. He taught them to use their varied strengths in order to support each other in the ministry. Christ shaped a leadership structure with a leader who had others supporting him. By the time he ascended to Heaven, he had built a leadership structure comprising Peter as the Head and the other disciples supporting him in a united team that worked together. This team of early church leaders had a unity of purpose to spread the Gospel to all nations. They went out preaching and in their deeds complimented each other’s works. From this early structure, the modern church can draw lessons on how to structure its leadership to attain better results in ministering the Gospel. Traditionally, the church used the hierarchy model of leadership. However, with the growth of the church, there have been changes that have necessitated a shift to an empowered team model of leadership. Many leaders have found they overwhelmed and overworked under the hierarchy model. With the empowered team model, the problem is solved as the leaders work with others in a team. This model emphasizes mentorship of new leaders and the development of a team spirit among the leaders to enhance good working relations to boost delivery of the vision of the church. Empowerment means that leaders drop bureaucratic structures so that people develop a sense of ownership and belonging in the leadership process. It enables them put into use their skills, experiences, energies and ambitions. Active participation by the different members of the team will make them accept the responsibilities that come with the leadership (Maxwell, 2005, p.