Leading like a gentle warrior

Tom Harper July 18, 2021

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Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out
the people selling animals for sacrifices.
—Luke 19:45

Whether you're a Star Wars fan or not, you've heard someone say, "Use the force." Luke the apostle (not the Jedi) saw Jesus use force to great effect as he sought to bring peace to the Temple of the Lord. The moment required a violent disruption of the merchants taking advantage of God's people.

We can use similar force to bring about God's peace:

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger (Prov. 15:1).

Such force, of course, begins with a foundation of gentleness. When there's too much leaderly shouting going on day after day, followers' ears chafe and deafen. They tend to look for a softer voice of reason.

The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools (Ec. 9:17).

In leadership, gentleness is complicated. When we are known as gentle, an occasional flare of anger in our voice perks people to attention. But the Bible doesn't teach that we should strategically get angry in order to accomplish our goals.

We lead with gentleness whenever possible; always in love. Sometimes with a passion that enforces our will.

We'll never perfect the balance. But we can work hard to build gentleness into our personality, style and practice.

With Jesus living inside us, we feel his peace inside our very souls: "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:29).

Paul and Peter modeled how to lead with a strong personality. They left us numerous bits of advice on living as passionate, gentle, strong leaders:

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Colossians 3:12).

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness (1 Timothy 6:11).

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect… (1 Peter 3:14-15).

One final question many strong leaders ask is how gentle speech helps in chaotic environments such as the battlefield or sports arena, or in any high-octane office environment.

Solomon offers a succinct answer:

A gentle tongue can break a bone. (Prov 25:15, NIV)

Excerpted from Servant Leader Strong: Uniting Biblical Wisdom and High-Performance Leadership, by Tom Harper (DeepWater Books, 2019).

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Tom Harper is publisher of BiblicalLeadership.com and executive chairman of Networld Media Group, a business-to-business publisher and event producer. He has written five books, including Servant Leader Strong: Uniting Biblical Wisdom and High-Performance Leadership (DeepWater Books, 2019) as well as the Christian business fable Through Colored Glasses and its sequel Inner Threat (DeepWater, 2022). Learn More »

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