Metaphors of Ministry

Down through the centuries church leaders have studied the Gospels to discover patterns of leadership development that can be applied to their own context. Yet the word leader does not appear in the Gospels...Could it be that leadership has more to do with learning to follow than learning to command, supervise, or mange? On right attitudes than on mastery of certain skills?...Many of the insights we need are embedded in the images which Jesus used to describe his followers.So David W. Bennett introduces his stimulating and scholarly study previously published under the title 'Biblical Images for Leaders and Followers.' He examines the many images and metaphors in the Gospels relating to how disciples follow Jesus, and in turn influence others. Then he moves on to survey much of the evidence to be found in the images of the rest of the New Testament. Finally, he draws some judicious conclusions for an understanding of Christian leadership in our own day.The author has considerable cross-cultural experience, having taught church leaders in Japan, India, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, India, Nepal, Tanzania, and Kenya, in addition to pastoring churches in California, Oregon and Massachusetts. He has also traveled and done research among church leaders in Malawi, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Korea, Thailand, Russia and the Czech Republic. His aim is to stimulate thought on these questions in churches all over the world, not just in the west.