Foundations of Christian Leadership, Student Workbook, SW07

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F O U N D A T I O N S O F C H R I S T I A N L E A D E R S H I P

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Readings on the Church

The People of God: Living the Adventure of the Ekklesia

1 Pet. 2.9-12 (ESV) - But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. [10] Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. [11] Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. [12] Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. The identification of Christians as “the people of God” appears a number of times in the New Testament (e.g. Luke 1.17; Acts 15.14; Titus 2.14; Heb. 4.9; 8.10; 1 Pet. 2.9-10; Rev. 18.4; 21.3). But it is used by Paul with special significance in Romans 9.25-26; 11.1-2; 15.10, and 2 Corinthians 6.16 to set the Christian church in the context of the long story of God’s dealing with his chosen people Israel. “People of God,” a covenant expression, speaks of God’s choosing and calling a particular people into covenantal relationship (Exod. 19.5; Deut. 7.6; 14.2; Ps. 135.4; Heb. 8.10; 1 Pet. 2.9-10; Rev. 21.3). They are God’s gracious initiative and magnanimous action in creating, calling, saving, judging, and sustaining them. And as God’s people, they experience God’s presence among them.

~ Richard Longenecker, ed. Community Formation in the Early Church and in the Church Today. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2002. p. 75.

Where Biblical Study of Leadership Begins: The Church as Context for World Change

[A] biblical study on leadership must begin with the story of the church that came into existence on the Day of Pentecost. The term ekklesia is used more than one hundred times in the New Testament. In fact, it’s virtually impossible to understand God’s will for our lives as believers without comprehending this wonderful “mystery of Christ” that has “been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets” (Eph. 3.4-5).