Ebook
Much has been written on servant leadership, but it is not always tied to egalitarian leadership. Sometimes authority and power instead of God's love are presented as the core of the Christian faith. The church at times derails, imitating worldly culture, emphasizing entitlement that relies on an innate or permanent human hierarchy of rank. Responding to today's conflict over leadership, Christian Egalitarian Leadership calls us back to its biblical roots: what is Christian egalitarian leadership? Why is it biblical? How does it work? Thoughtful and devout Christian leaders carefully explain how sharing leadership follows God's intentions and is crucial to implement today. The theoretical and practical ramifications of these concepts are extended to many areas of the Christian life by numerous qualified individuals, women and men of different races and economic and social classes. Chapters overview New Testament teachings, biblical authority, Old Testament and contemporary examples, God's intention at creation, pagan philosophy's influence on Christian hierarchal leadership, multicultural and multi-ethnic leadership in the United States and Africa, marriage, rearing children, equipping youth and laity, church planting, retirement, and missions, from the cradle to the mission field.
“Egalitarian leadership, as a biblical principle, has been the
focus of numerous publications, events, and conversations for more
than three decades. Global leaders continue to explore the impact
of egalitarian leadership, marriages, businesses, and humanitarian
endeavors. The editors of this volume have given us a vital
resource—wisdom from leaders who have journeyed long as Christian
egalitarians in all aspects of life. We thank you!”
—Mimi Haddad, President of CBE International
“I spend a lot of my time in the developing world doing missionary
work. My life’s goal has been to empower women to pursue ministry,
and to help churches overcome gender discrimination so that men and
women can learn to work together, both in the church and on the
field. I am so grateful for Aída Spencer and her husband, William,
for providing the theological tools I need to do my work. I can’t
write or study like they can, but their academic investment enables
me to do my job. This book is not just one tool—it is a whole
toolbox full of scholarship that I know will help many leaders cut
through the obstacles so that we can empower every believer—male
and female—to fulfill the Great Commission.”
—J. Lee Grady, author of 10 Lies the Church Tells
Women
“This volume provides numerous resources through considered
research and argumentation, along with stories and applications to
further the conversation toward living into Christian egalitarian
leadership that is marked by service of the other. One hears in
their many voices the helpful biblical, theological, philosophical,
pastoral, familial, cross-cultural, and practical engagement and
call to Christian egalitarian living. May the contributors’ tribe
ever increase.”
—Rick Wadholm Jr., author of All The Gospel Into All The
World
“The crisis of our times is a dearth of biblical, egalitarian
leadership. The Spencers et al. effectively demonstrate the
interrelationships between theory and practice as a framework for
biblical egalitarian leadership. They provide fresh direction for
Christian leaders on why and how to live out egalitarian kingdom
diversity in the church, marketplace, in marriages, parenting, and
across generations. The importance of this book cannot be
overstated for such a time as this.”
—Deborah Fulthorp, College of Theology Online Full Time Faculty,
Grand Canyon University
Aída Besançon Spencer is Senior Professor of New Testament and
William David Spencer is Distinguished Ranked Adjunct Professor of
Theology and the Arts at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. They
are both Presbyterian ministers with over forty years’ experience
in teaching and over fifty years in urban ministry. Together and
separately, they have authored/edited over twenty-five books,
including Beyond the Curse: Women Called to Ministry;
Empowering English Language Learners; the novel Cave of
Little Faces; Joy through the Night: Biblical Resources on
Suffering; New Covenant Commentaries on 1 and 2 Timothy and
Titus; and, most recently, A Commentary on James.