Is it just me, or has the church overlooked something concerning leadership? Leadership is a hot topic today, not only in the secular world but also in the church.  I have read dozens of books on leadership, taken leadership courses in seminary, attended leadership seminars, listened to pod casts on leadership, read articles from journals and magazines, I serve in an institution of higher learning that prepares Christian leaders, in fact, I even teach a class entitled Biblical Concepts of Leadership.  Now I’m not bragging, but I think it’s important to understand that I’m no stranger to leadership information in order to help demonstrate the amazement I had at my recent discovery.
This semester I taught an Old Testament poetry class.  One of the overarching theological themes of the wisdom and poetry books is the fear the Lord.  So as I was preparing the lecture on the fear of the Lord I looked up every use of the fear of the Lord and the fear of God found in the Scriptures.  As I started to go through each of the Scriptures something caught my attention.  I started to see a correlation between good spiritual leadership and the fear the Lord.
In many instances a prerequisite to the choosing of good leaders was that they must fear the Lord.  For instance in Exodus 18 when Moses is organizing the people to appoint judges he tells the elders that they must select out of all the people able men who fear God.  And in Nehemiah 7, Nehemiah appoints a man as commander of the fortress, to be in charge of Jerusalem.  The scripture says Nehemiah put this man in charge because he was a faithful man and feared God more than many.
Other scriptures demonstrate that the fear of the Lord is a primary characteristic of godly leaders.  In 2 Samuel 23 the Lord reveals the characteristics of an ideal king who is a blessing to his subjects and describes this king as one who rules in the fear of God.  In Nehemiah 5,  Nehemiah’s unselfish leadership is highlighted when he refuses to receive the governor’s food allowance so as not to place a burden on the people.  In verse 15 Nehemiah says that he chose this unselfish route of leadership because of the fear of God.  Job 1:1 reports Job as a being a man who fears the Lord.  And as Job remembers his life before the tragedies (29) it becomes very evident that he was a well respected leader in his community.  In 2 Corinthians Paul is defending his apostleship and he writes, concerning his ministry, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men (5:11).
After looking at all of the scriptures and seeing the fear the Lord and good leadership so tightly joined I wondered if there was any scriptures that would reveal whether or not Jesus’ ministry was conducted in the fear of the Lord.  And lo and behold, in Isaiah 11,  which is without question a messianic chapter speaking of the leadership of Jesus, it says that the spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge in the fear of the Lord.  And he will delight in the fear of the Lord. Jesus in his perfect love relationship with the Father not only served in the fear of the lord he delighted in it!
Another interesting aspect that I discovered was that these great spiritual leaders not only feared the Lord themselves but the fear of the Lord was also what they taught others to do as well.  Here are just a few examples. The last Judge and great leader Samuel told the people to fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all or your heart(1 Sam 12:10). David said come, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord (Psalm 34:11). Solomon taught the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Knowledge (Prov. 1:7).  Jesus taught his disciples to fear God and not man (Luke 12:5). Paul admonished us to perfect holiness in the fear of God (2 Cor. 7:1).  And the Apostle Peter simply gives the imperative, fear God (1 Pt.2:17). In fact as one looks at the usage of the fear of the Lord it could be concluded that to fear of the Lord is synonymous with a believer!
The scripture did not just highlight the fact that good leadership was from those men who feared God but also demonstrates that poor and even sinful leadership came from those who feared people more than God.  Such as King Herod who we are told that his fear of the crowds shaped his decision making.  Matthew tells us that the Pharisees would not submit to God’s authority because they feared the people (this may be a greater commentary on our current culture than we realize).  Jesus tells the parable of the judge who is unjust and does not fear God. Of course there are other examples that we may quote but I believe the point is easily made.
So I am left wondering why, after being immersed in spiritual leadership literature and training for so long, have I never come across the fear of the Lord as a prerequisite for spiritual leadership. Could it be that we have anesthetized ourselves from the fear of the Lord? Or is it that we just don’t understand the fear of the Lord?  For instance How can the New Testament tell us  that “perfect loves casts out fear” and also say “fear God”  at the same time? Is God not to be feared today?  One of my students preached a message on the fear of God being the beginning of wisdom and when he had finished someone from the church came up to him and said “that was nice but that was for the people of the Old Testament.”  Or could it be that the fear of the Lord is not a popular topic, so it’s avoided? Do we still teach the fear of the Lord but use different language so that it is more easily digested?  
These are questions to explore and answer in another article but for now I am convinced, from the Scriptures, that today’s church should not ignore the fear of the Lord. After all,  the early church increased as it was going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:31). I am also convinced by God’s Word that the fear of the Lord is a primary characteristic of leaders who want to serve God, by God’s means and according to God’s standards.  The Church needs leaders who fear the Lord! May the Lord use Summit Christian College to prepare Christian leaders who will meet this need.
How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD,
Who walks in His ways. (Psalm 128:1)