Interdependent Leadership is a biblically based conviction that is submitted to Jesus Christ as Lord and Head of the Church, to His word and His gospel, and to the nature and purpose of His people, the Church. Although it shares some characteristics with them, interdependency is different from the common perceptions of “plurality of leadership” and “division of labor.” At its core, interdependent leadership within the Church occurs when gifted individuals mutually submit to one another and to a shared vision, with a commitment to mobilizing all of Christ’s people in the life of faith and the mission of the Church.
Our understanding of interdependency is rooted throughout the Scriptures; however, for the purpose of this document, we will examine three primary ideas that undergird interdependent leadership as a biblical conviction. They are as follows: 1) the nature of the Trinity, 2) the nature of Christ’s people, the Church, and finally, 3) the purpose of leadership within the Church.
1.The Nature of the Trinity.
The Triune God has always existed as three equal persons in one entity: Father, Son, and Spirit. Each of these persons, although equal, has a different role or function to fulfill within the God-head. It is the Father whose will it was to create all things, including humanity, and then to redeem and restore all things to Himself. He accomplishes His will through the Son, and then applies it to His people through the Spirit. Together, they accomplish the eternal purposes of God.
In 1 Corinthians 12:4–6, Paul says, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.” Here we see the Trinity working interdependently in relation to the empowerment of all of Christ’s people. The Spirit is giving each gift. The Son calls them to serve. The Father orchestrates the activities or situations in which they serve. Each person of the Trinity is working in cooperation with the other in relation to Christ’s people to accomplish the eternal purposes of God. As we now consider leadership in the church, why not seek to pattern it after the Trinity instead of the traditional kingly or CEO model that we have inherited?
2. The Nature of the Church.
In the same chapter mentioned above, 1 Corinthians 12, Paul speaks to the church at Corinth about the nature of Christ’s people. They are much more than a collection of unrelated, disjointed individuals who come together regularly for an hour or two a week for public meetings. Instead, he uses the metaphor of a body (12:12–27) that has been arranged and put together by God.
This body has unique parts, or members, that have diverse gifts and functions that God has put in relation to one another to work together. They are not to be siloed off from one another, but rather are to invest in one another and work together towards a shared vision. Leadership fits within this interdependent body. It should be patterned after the body it is called to lead: unique and diverse members coming together to work as one unit towards a shared vision.
3.The Purpose of Leadership.
We often say that “whatever God wants to do in the world, He will do through all of His people.” If that is the case, then He will use leaders to empower and equip those people to accomplish his purposes. In Ephesians 4:11–16, Paul describes for us what the twofold purpose of leadership in the church is. He clearly states that it is, “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…” (4:12–13). So, leadership exists in the Church to equip Christ’s people for service and to mature Christ’s people in the life of faith, and it exists in the Church until Christ deems His people have attained unity, maturity, and fullness.
Earlier in the text, in verse 11, we see that Paul views leadership as a diverse group of people who function differently from one another, yet are called to lead Christ’s people together. They are apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers. Although space does not allow us here for a full discussion regarding their unique contributions to the Church, we can say that God seems to have designed this unique group to work interdependently within the Body for His glory, not in competition with each other. Paul says that they are a gift to the Church because Christ gave them to His people (4:11), and together with the people, they are called to give their lives to seeing the purposes of God accomplished in the congregation, in their community, and in the world.
We mentioned earlier that there is a difference between interdependent leadership and a simple plurality of leaders or a division of labor. Anyone can hire a team to work under someone to accomplish a task or lead an organization. This is how most church staffs are built. The result is a division of labor that either reflects what the senior leader desires or a division of labor that lacks cohesion. This is not what we mean by interdependent leadership.
As stated earlier, independent leadership is a “biblically based conviction that is submitted to Jesus Christ as Lord and Head of the Church, to His word and His gospel, and to the nature and purpose of His people, the Church.” We begin with convictions, not strategies. Convictions become the framework upon which we can build our strategy. Convictions are true for all of time and in every place. Strategies and applications address specific situations in specific places at specific points in time. Interdependent leadership, we believe, is a conviction that is necessary, transferable, and applicable to every context and situation.
Interdependent leadership is a conviction that enables the leaders of a congregation and the congregation itself to facilitate the Church’s biblical mandates. It submits itself underneath some weighty truths: the Lordship of Jesus, the sufficiency of the gospel and the trustworthiness of the Scriptures, and the purposes of Christ’s Church. Understanding all of these things, a group of gifted individuals comes together and mutually submits themselves to a common vision for a specific place or congregation, to use their gifts, passions, and resources to empower and equip Christ’s people in that place towards a specific outcome or outcomes. Not only are they submitted to the vision, but these leaders must also be submitted to one another. They must understand Jesus’s words in Mark 10:43–44, “But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.”
Ultimately, leadership is not about holding a position or wielding authority. Leadership is influence. We believe God has designed leaders in His Body to function best as they work interdependently with each other towards a common vision and/or outcome, namely the full mobilization of all of Christ’s people. When operating in submission to that vision and to one another, these leaders have the opportunity to utilize their diverse gifts to help lead Christ’s people to grow in their faith and participate fully in the Church’s mission. For a more comprehensive read on Interdependent Leadership, we would refer you to Dwight Smith’s Alone at the Top: Divine Design in the Leadership of the Church (Book Rally, 2017).
