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Exegetical Analysis for Global Leaders:
​Paul’s ideological texture in his letter to the Ephesian

Exegetical Analysis for Global Leaders: Paul’s ideological texture in his letter to the Ephesians
Michal Slate
Regent University
 

Abstract
Paul was different from the other apostles in that he was not from a small town but instead born an Israelite in Tarsus, a Roman citizen by birthright, a Pharisee, and well-studied from the school of Gamaliel in Jerusalem5. Paul was a young man at his conversion and well known for his persecution of the church up to that point. His ideology of how to honor God through his leadership abilities was changed dramatically at his conversion in Acts chapter 9. What began as a strong conviction to protect the Jewish religion, Paul became transformed into a global leader compelled to fulfill the great commission of Matthew chapter 28. Paul forms every argument based on Jesus Christ as the head of the church, and his followers are to lead others through servant leadership practices. Unity is essential to global leadership, as seen through the eyes of Paul, and by following his strategy, we can enhance our global leadership abilities.
 

 
 
Table of Contents
  • Global Leadership
  • Servant Leadership
  • Characteristics of Servant Leadership
  • Global Leadership According to Paul
  • Unity
  • Strategy for Global Leadership
  • Global Leadership Application
  • Unity
  • Ephesians
  • Conclusion
 
 

 
Global Leadership            

Ideological texture regarding global leadership compels a deeper understanding of the global mindset, which summons the ability to perceive, analyze and decipher behaviors and situations across cultural contexts to build collaborative relationships (Cabrera & Unruh, 2012). When Jesus commanded his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations in Matthew chapter 28, the application was not clear; however, Paul was uniquely qualified with entrepreneurial talents to push the movement forward, creating new values across boundaries applying limited resources and assuming great risks to do so with the expectation of receiving the reward (Cabrera & Unruh, 2012) offered by God alone.

Servant LeadershipJesus issued the great commission in Matthew 28 after he demonstrated servant leadership first by washing the feet of the disciples in Matthew 26, then allowing himself to be crucified in Matthew 27, then being raised from the dead, demonstrating the power of the holy spirit when we act selflessly for the good of others. This model of leadership runs counter to the culture of business for profits and, without the foundation of Christ, calls to question if a person can be a leader and a servant at the same time (Northouse, 2019).


Characteristics of Servant Leadership

Paul works diligently to follow the example of Christ by demonstrating servant leadership to the best of his ability. To be a global leader, a person must begin with a desire to better the world around them. Below are the ten characteristics of a servant leader for context (Northouse, 2019).
1)    Listening
2)    Empathy
3)    Healing
4)    Awareness
5)    Persuasion
6)    Conceptualization
7)    Foresight
8)    Stewardship
9)    Commitment to the growth of people
10) Building community


Global Leadership According to Paul
Global leadership can only be effective when there is a functional understanding of the cultural differences and a focus on building trust and collaboration while navigating cultural differences and misunderstandings 1 (Caligiuri, 2012). Paul believed that he was called by God to interpret the commands of the Lord for non-Jews which explains why Paul would use different language in stating his reciting of the commands (Robbins, 1996). Paul successfully argues for navigating social and cultural differences through a vertical (God reconciling with humans) and horizontal (human reconciling to humans) reconciliation that brings completeness through the redemption of Jesus Christ (Magenzi, 2022). Paul guides Christians to be global leaders by demonstrating that Christ is God’s instrument and that the Church must bring Christ to the world with unity between cultures and social contexts (Andrian et al., 2021). Even though Paul strongly calls for unity, he does not do so at any cost, illustrated by his unwillingness to honor the goddess Diana or to even mention Mary as an important figure worthy of adoration (Katz, 2021). Paul is also clear in expressing his authority throughout Ephesians as he commands the readers to follow his example as demonstrated prior by Christ2 (Heil, 2007).


Unity

Paul calls Christ-followers away from the natural forming factions based on social, education, preference, or other similarities that attract people together; rather, he emphasizes a Christ-like posture of humility and curiosity (Perigo, 2022). Regardless of denomination or leadership preference today, a united front as Christ followers is essential to speaking with evidence of authority and application, according to Paul (Togarasei, 2007). Paul never calls for individuals to mirror others but only to mirror Christ and to represent Christ with their unique gifts, talents, and personalities, demonstrated by how a body works together for the good of the whole (see Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 12 and even Romans 12).
As a leader matures in understanding, wisdom, and experience, there should be clear evidence of the leader walking in their new identity of Christ by following the moral code of the Christian life, according to Paul (Mbennah, 2016). Embracing the gifts of ministry from Christ, the community of believers is united through the working of these gifts instead of being led by merely social bonds and communal obligations (MacDonald, 2019). When discourse inevitably arises in the workplace, it is important to stay humble and forgive quickly, as God forgives us all through Christ (Phillips et al., 2018).


Strategy for Global Leadership

Paul strategically targeted key cultural centers for the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations (Peel, 2020). There is also a clear outline for those in authoritative positions to lead from a place of love in servant-self-giving depiction to earn faithful followers that further the gospel of Christ (Johnson, 2009). Paul exhibited many traits of leadership early on before his conversion in Acts chapter 9; however, Paul demonstrated a leader who acted more distructivly3 even though he may have had good intentions. This is because Paul did not have a global strategy before his conversion, but his strategy was to protect the Jews, and even after conversion, he always made it clear if he was speaking to Jews or non-Jews (Nyström, 2022). 
Global Leadership ApplicationWith Paul’s ideology in mind, there are several applications to global leadership in the business world, such as using humility and curiosity while influencing behaviors by operating with cultural agility (Caligiuri, 2012). As leaders hope to be successful global leaders, they must follow Paul and his style of servant, authentic and transformational leadership (Northouse, 2019). Jesus called his disciples to be servants first and leaders second when he washed their feet in John chapter 13.
Servant leadership is based on this foundation of serving first and then leading out of the aspiration to impact others, and global servant leaders expand this practice to other cultures (Spears, 2021). To be a servant leader in various cultures, it is important to understand which traits will be seen as strengths and which as weaknesses, such as humility and empathy being more endorsed in Asian cultures than in European cultures, or egalitarianism and empowerment being more endorsed by European cultures than Asian cultures (Mittal & Dorfman, 2012).



Unity

It is through unity that teams are able to work together under a servant leadership style and operate with hope, optimism and a spirit of learning within various cultures (Grobler & Flotman, 2021). By operating through the style of servant leadership demonstrated by Paul there are positive effects to be seen in every culture as demonstrated by various studies such as the study recently completed in France that showed stronger employee flourishing and improved profit growth without a negative perception of power distance orientation (Giolito et al., 2020). Great leaders wishing to bridge the gap between cultural and social divides find commonalities using love, forgiveness, reconciliation, restorative justice, and servant leadership, such as demonstrated by Paul, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King, Jr, among others4 (Song et al., 2022). It is important to remember that all were once dead in sin, helpless to the sway of the evils of this world, as Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 2. We have only been saved by grace through faith which is a gift of God and not one we have earned (Ephesians 2:8-9). The foundation of leading others across cultures must come from a place of humility that brings curiosity about those who may or may not agree with one's ideology but instead build a connection through human virtues (Walker-Smith, 2012).


Ephesians

Paul disrupted the culture of Ephesus, as depicted in Acts chapter 19, when he was accused of leading many people astray from serving other gods. Even more disruptive was the thought of fluidity of ethnic, academic, and social classes to create oneness as the body of Christ or even as a new race (Harrill, 2014). The book of Ephesians gives global leaders a blueprint for growth by pointing out how the gifts align with purpose and various functions to fulfill the vision of any organization, especially the church (Ferreira & Chipenyu, 2021). Instead of looking for areas of opportunity that are self-serving, a global leader with Paul’s ideology would look for areas of opportunity that are Christ serving and acts in the assurance of Christ's victory through his suffering (Andrew, 2014). Paul spoke to the non-Jewish congregants of the church around Ephesus; however, he regularly took liberties in paraphrasing other scriptures to make his points clear to the readers (Brain, 2019). From Paul’s perspective, global leadership was the great commission and to serve Christ by staying close to God and one another through prayer and unification (Ephesians 6:18).
Paul believed that a global citizen was concerned with serving those of different cultures in a way that impacted them in the best way possible which to Paul was to bring them closer to Christ as opposed to a business global citizen who respects the rights and dignity of all looking not to offend those of a different culture (Cabrera & Unruh, 2012).

ConclusionPaul wrote the book of Ephesians for non-Jewish Christians in Asia Minor. His ideology is that Christ is the head of the church and that all leaders must operate by following Christ’s example of servant leadership. Through humility and curiosity, we can find commonalities with those who are different from us and use our God-given gifts to complement one another, working in unity to fulfill the calling of the great commission. In business, global leadership mirrors many of Paul's ideologies of grace, humility, and service; however, profits and opportunistic motivations cloud judgment, so servant leadership must be made evident.
A global leader following the Pauline ideology texture would exhibit the characteristics of a servant leader, especially in the commitment to the growth of people and the building of communities with shared interests, pursuits, and a sense of unity (Northouse, 2019).

 

 
 




References

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Andrian, T. (2020). Exegesis Integrative Review of Salvation Because The Love Of God Is The Basic of The Church As The Unity of The Body of Christ (Ephesians 2: 11-22). Journal Didaskalia, 3(1), 20-29.
Andrian, T., Ming, D., Harianto, G., & Daliman, M. (2021). The concept of time management based on Ephesians 5:15–17 and relevance to contemporary Christian leaders. Hervormde Teologiese Studies, 77(3), e1–e9. https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v77i3.6425
Brain, M. (2019). Christ and the Church: Ephesians 4:8–10 as a Test of Theological Exegesis. Pro Ecclesia (Northfield, Minn.), 28(4), 418–431. https://doi.org/10.1177/1063851219873162
Blue Letter Bible. (2022). Timeline of the Apostle Paul. https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/paul/timeline.cfm
Cabrera, A., Unruh, G. (2012) Being Global: How to Think, Act, and Lead in a Transformed World. Hardcover: 224 pages; Harvard Business Review Press. ISBN-10: 142218322X; ISBN-13: 978-1422183229
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Giolito, V. J., Liden, R. C., Dirk, v. D., & Cheung, G. W. (2021). Servant leadership influencing store-level profit: The mediating effect of employee flourishing: JBE. Journal of Business Ethics, 172(3), 503-524. doi:https://doi-org.ezproxy.regent.edu/10.1007/s10551-020-04509-1
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Harrill, J. A. (2014). Ethnic Fluidity in Ephesians. New Testament Studies, 60(3), 379–402. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0028688514000046
Heil, J. P. (2007). Ephesians empowerment to walk in love for the unity of all in Christ. Society of Biblical Literature.
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Phillips, G. S., MacKusick, C. I., & Whichello, R. (2018). Workplace incivility in nursing: A literature review through the lens of ethics and spirituality. Journal of christian nursing, 35(1), E7-E12.
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Song, J., Walsh, J., Reynolds, K., Tilghman-Havens, J., Ferch, S. R., & Spears, L. C. (2022). Servant-Leadership, Feminism, and Gender Well-Being : How Leaders Transcend Global Inequities Through Hope, Unity, and Love. State University of New York Press.
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 Footnotes
1)    Caligiuri, P., (2012). Cultural Agility (p. 92). Wiley. Kindle Edition.
2)    Heil, John Paul., (2007). Ephesians: Empowerment to Walk in Love for the Unity of All in Christ, (p. 79). Society of Biblical Literature, ProQuest Ebook Central,
3)    Northouse, Peter G., (2019). Leadership (p. 757). SAGE Publications. Kindle Edition.
4)    Song, J., Walsh, J., Reynolds, K., Tilghman-Havens, J., Ferch, S. R., & Spears, L. C. (2022). Servant-Leadership, Feminism, and Gender Well-Being: How Leaders Transcend Global Inequities Through Hope, Unity, and Love. (p. 384). State University of New York Press.
5)    Blue Letter Bible. (2022). Timeline of the Apostle Paul. https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/paul/timeline.cfm

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Copyright Michal Slate, 2023