17 Bible Verses About Leadership in the Church

Mark 10:43-45

“Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Reflection: James and John had asked to sit at Jesus’ right and left in his glory, and the other ten disciples were indignant with them (Mark 10:35-41). Jesus answers by setting his followers against “the rulers of the Gentiles” who “lord it over them” (10:42): among his disciples the one who wants to be great must be a servant, and the one who wants to be first must be slave of all. He grounds the rule in his own mission, to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

John 13:14-15

“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”

Reflection: Jesus says this at the evening meal just before the Passover, after he has taken off his outer clothing, wrapped a towel around his waist and washed the disciples’ feet (John 13:1-5). He accepts the titles “Teacher” and “Lord” (13:13) and argues from them: if their Lord washes feet, they should wash one another’s. Verse 16 adds, “no servant is greater than his master.”

1 Corinthians 11:1

“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

Reflection: The verse finishes the argument of 1 Corinthians 10, which ends with Paul’s aim of not causing anyone to stumble (10:32) and his statement, “I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved” (10:33). That conduct is the example Paul offers the Corinthians, and he presents it as his following of Christ.

1 Timothy 4:12

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”

Reflection: Paul had urged Timothy to stay in Ephesus and stop certain people teaching false doctrine (1 Timothy 1:3). Against being looked down on as young, Paul gives him an example to set in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity. The verses that follow add the public reading of Scripture, preaching and teaching (4:13), and the charge “Watch your life and doctrine closely” (4:16).

1 Timothy 3:2-3

“Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.”

Reflection: The list follows the statement that “Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task” (1 Timothy 3:1). Verses 4-7 add managing his own family well, not being a recent convert, and a good reputation with outsiders, and verse 5 gives the reason for the family test: “If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?”

Titus 1:7-8

“Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.”

Reflection: Paul had left Titus in Crete to “appoint elders in every town” (Titus 1:5). Verse 6 describes an elder, and verse 7 continues with “an overseer.” The reason given for the standard is that the overseer “manages God’s household,” and verse 9 adds that he must hold to the trustworthy message so that he can encourage others and refute those who oppose it.

James 3:1

“Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”

Reflection: James warns that teachers will be judged more strictly, and he counts himself among them: “we who teach.” The next verse gives the reason, “We all stumble in many ways,” and the verses that follow turn to the tongue, comparing it to a horse’s bit, a ship’s rudder and a spark that sets a forest on fire (3:3-6).

Exodus 18:21

“But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.”

Reflection: The verse is about judges for Israel. Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, watched the people stand around Moses from morning till evening while he judged every dispute himself, and told him, “The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone” (Exodus 18:18). His advice was to share it with capable men who feared God, were trustworthy and hated dishonest gain; they would decide the simple cases and bring the difficult ones to Moses (18:22).

Ezekiel 34:2-4

“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally.’”

Reflection: God tells Ezekiel to prophesy against the “shepherds of Israel,” who ate the curds, wore the wool and slaughtered the choice animals but did not care for the flock. The charge lists what they failed to do: strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bind up the injured, bring back strays and search for the lost; instead they “ruled them harshly and brutally.” God says he will remove them from tending the flock (34:10), and in verse 16 he takes the same list on himself: “I will search for the lost and bring back the strays.”

Acts 20:28

“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.”

Reflection: Paul speaks at Miletus to the elders of the church at Ephesus, whom he has sent for (Acts 20:17), and in this verse he calls them overseers and tells them to be shepherds. He tells them to keep watch over themselves as well as the flock, and he warns that “savage wolves” will come in and that men from their own number will distort the truth (20:29-30). He also points to his own conduct: “I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing” (20:33).

1 Peter 5:2-3

“Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.”

Reflection: Peter writes “as a fellow elder” (1 Peter 5:1) and sets out the charge in three pairs: willing rather than compelled, eager to serve rather than after dishonest gain, and examples to the flock rather than “lording it over” them. The Greek verb for lording it over, katakurieuo, is the one Jesus uses for the rulers of the Gentiles in Mark 10:42. Verse 4 promises the elders “the crown of glory that will never fade away” when the Chief Shepherd appears.

Ephesians 4:11-12

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”

Reflection: Paul names apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers as gifts Christ gave to the church. The NIV reads verse 12 as a single chain: these leaders “equip his people for works of service,” and the body of Christ is built up. The King James Version punctuates it as three parallel purposes: “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”

2 Timothy 2:2

“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”

Reflection: Paul tells Timothy to pass on what he heard from Paul “in the presence of many witnesses” to reliable people who will be able to teach others. The verse names four links in the chain: Paul, Timothy, the reliable people and the others they will teach. The verse before it tells Timothy to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”

2 Timothy 2:24-25

“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth.”

Reflection: The rule for “the Lord’s servant” follows Paul’s instruction to Timothy to have nothing to do with “foolish and stupid arguments” because they produce quarrels (2 Timothy 2:23). The servant must be kind to everyone, able to teach and not resentful, and must instruct opponents gently. Verse 26 describes those opponents as people taken captive by the devil, and the hope is that they will “come to their senses and escape.”

1 Timothy 5:1-2

“Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.”

Reflection: Paul tells Timothy how to correct members of the church by treating them as family: an older man as a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, “with absolute purity.” The chapter goes on to give instructions about widows (5:3) and about elders, including how to handle an accusation against one (5:17-22).

1 Thessalonians 5:12-13

“Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.”

Reflection: Paul asks the church at Thessalonica to acknowledge those who “work hard among you” and who admonish them. The regard he asks for is tied to “their work,” and the same sentence ends with “Live in peace with each other.”

Hebrews 13:17

“Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.”

Reflection: Earlier in the chapter, Hebrews tells its readers to remember the leaders “who spoke the word of God to you” and to imitate their faith (Hebrews 13:7). Verse 17 turns to present leaders and asks for confidence and submission, giving the reason that they “keep watch over you as those who must give an account.” The readers are asked to let that work be a joy to the leaders, not a burden, and the verse says a burden “would be of no benefit to you.”