Christ-Centered Leadership: God-Honoring Leadership for Committed Christians

Abstract

Leadership research has focused on questions of who leaders are and/or what they do. For some time, more development has been necessary regarding what motivates the leader to act and what guides specific leadership behavior. Servant leadership is an approach to leadership that looks at the motivation of leaders (a desire to serve), but it is applicable to a very broad spectrum of leaders. It does not specifically look at motivations to lead within a religious or specifically Christian framework. This conceptual paper attempts to narrow the focus to leadership based on a desire to honor God and Christ and to act universally according to His character and design, based on having the mind of Christ. “Christ-centered leadership” goes beyond the motivation to serve others (servant leadership) and suggests that some leaders desire to place God’s commandments prominently in the center of everything they do, including their business dealings. This paper addresses leadership motivation based upon the Christian “greatest commandment” to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).