Israel cried out, “Give us a king!” (1 Samuel 8:6). Against his will, God gave his people what they wanted. A real superstar. Saul was the handsomest and tallest man around (9:2).
That didn’t work out very well, did it? It never does.
Hear the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer on Christian leadership. Bonhoeffer shares timeless truths that are painfully fitting for an evangelical culture that continues to be enamored with large, visibly successful ministries and big-name church leaders:
“Every cult of personality that emphasizes the distinguished qualities, virtues, and talents of another person, even though these be of an altogether spiritual nature, is worldly and has no place in the Christian community; indeed, it poisons the Christian community. The desire we so often hear expressed today for ‘episcopal figures,’ ‘priestly men,’ ‘authoritative personalities’ springs frequently enough from a spiritually sick need for the admiration of men, for the establishment of visible human authority, because the genuine authority of service appears to be so unimpressive.” (Life Together, 108)
Joe Hellermanis a professor of New Testament at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. Joe has taught at Talbot for more than a decade and ministered in the church most of his adult life. Joe's seminary training at Talbot focused on Old Testament studies, while his doctoral research at UCLA dealt with the social history of the early Christians. Joe has authored three academic monographs: The Ancient Church as Family (Fortress Press, 2001), Reconstructing Honor in Roman Philippi (Cambridge University Press, 2005) and Jesus and the People of God: Reconfiguring Ethnic Identity (Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2007). He has also written two books about Christian community for pastors and other church leaders: When The Church Was A Family (B & H Press, 2009) and Embracing Shared Leadership (Kregel, 2013). In addition to his full-time duties with our New Testament Department, Joe presently serves as co-pastor at Oceanside Christian Fellowship in El Segundo. Joe is constantly encouraged and delighted by the love he receives from his wife Joann and his two adult daughters, Rebekah and Rachel. Away from Talbot, you might find Joe playing jazz-rock piano or fishing on a sportsboat in the Pacific Ocean.
Biola University
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