Leading As A Servant: Biblical Leadership Lessons For Twenty-First Century Africa

The twenty-first century era heralded a new period in world history. Africa retook the place it held from antiquity and has become a centre of world Christianity. Demographic growth trends indicate that Africa and Latin America will be the leading continents in terms of Christian numbers in the twenty-first century.

Because Africa is now leading the world in this arena, the quality of Christianity practiced here will influence and determine what world Christianity will be like. Through surveys that reveal the thinking of twenty-first century African Christians and a media piece (book project) in the appendix this dissertation provides relevant case studies that provide lessons for African leaders. The case studies are taken from the times of Israel's Old Testament kings and they provide some similarities with today's African and world Christian contexts. The cultures are different and the historical distance is acknowledged, however the commonalities are abundant and when closely studied, the lessons gleaned from the case studies are plain for all to see.

The narrative form of instruction is chosen because Africans love stories, and if most people in the world are honest, they also love stories. This is why movies are so popular and people can spend hours and even days sitting to watch soap operas. Unlike soap operas these are not sloppy, sentimental and meaningless stories, they are stories that carry many gems of wisdom for life and if carefully studied can help
Christian leadership practitioners engage the powers, principalities and evil social structures that have so oppressed Africans in particular and the world at large.