In February 2024 I was invited to speak at the New Wine Leadership Conference in Harrogate, giving a theological reflection on holy, healthy and humble leadership. Here’s what I said:

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I’ve been asked to offer a theology of holy, healthy and humble leadership, which I’m delighted to do. This then is a theological seminar, with a focus on biblical theology. While I have studied up to doctoral level, I’m not coming to you as an academic theologian. I am first a follower of Jesus, and second a leader in God’s church, and recent bishop, and third an author of books.

So: holy, healthy, humble. These are adjectives – descriptive words – describing 3 key values, that are virtues. A ‘virtue’ is a behaviour of high moral standard, and we’re exploring these wonderful virtues here at this New Wine conference at present. Let me say 2 things by way of introduction.

First, empirical research shows that being virtuous in character empowers leadership. 25 years ago, researcher Jim Collins wanted to know what’s the difference between a good organisation and a great one. He wrote up his findings in 2001, in a seminal book called: Good to Great. Among a number of key, findings his research showed that good organisations were typically led by leaders with a compelling vision and who drove high standards. Leaders of great organisations also had these things, but they had two other characteristics on top: 1) a ‘professional will’ – a passionate compulsion for the organisation to succeed; and 2): a ‘deep humility.’ That humility-finding really got people’s attention. Collins noticed that when things went well in the good organisation the senior leader normally took the praise. When things went well in the great organisation: the senior leader normally passed on the praise to others! What Collins’s research discovered was not dissimilar to the leadership model called servant leadership that people like Robert Greenleaf had been advocating for a while; all about character. But most importantly, it pointed out that: virtuous character empowers leadership. (Of course, followers of J have always believed this. But now we had good research to prove it!)

Second, this 3-fold phrase ‘holy, healthy, humble’ could represent a holistic 3-dimensional model of church ministry. Over the last 35 years or so, some missiologists have suggested that a triangle is a helpful shape for Christian ministry, where we have: an upward perspective in worship to God, an inward perspective in the fellowship of the church, and an outward perspective, reaching out in mission to the world. The Order of Mission today emphasises this, and you may have come across their Life Shapes material, which many have found helpful. You could, then, see holy representing the ‘up,’ healthy representing the ‘in,’ and humble representing ‘out.’ I quite like that. But it is a little too neat! Instead I want to consider the topic by examining: not up/in/out … but: God, Disciples, Leaders.

1: God. Is God holy, healthy & humble? And if so, what do we learn for our L?

2: Disciples. Should disciples be holy, healthy & humble? And if so, what does that mean for our L?

3: Leaders. Should leaders be holy, healthy & humble? And is so, what does this means for us?

So that’s where we’re going to go: God / disciples / leaders. So have your Bibles ready, and let’s start with God. That seems a good starting point.

1: God: is God holy, healthy & humble?

Let’s begin in Genesis 1:1, which starts: ‘In the beginning, God.’  What is this God like? Even in just the first couple of chapters of the Bible, we see him as Trinity. He’s God the Father; God the Creator. He’s God the Son; who creates by his Word. He’s God the Spirit, who was brooding over creation and like the other members of the Trinity, was present and at work, even before the beginning of human time. He’s a relational unity. The 3 in 1 God.

Twentieth century theologian Karl Barth thinks so, saying: ‘The doctrine of the Trinity is what basically distinguishes the Christian doctrine of God, as Christian.’ Is this trinitarian God (here in Genesis 1 and 2) holy, healthy, humble?

Yes, he is holy: by his very nature, for holy means ‘godlike’ or ‘godly.’ He is pure and other; different. In the words of Reginald Heber’s nineteenth century hymn, He is ‘holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty … perfect in power in love and purity.’  He’s powerfully creating a wonderful world and humanity in his image. He remains holy, even after humanity’s tragic fall in Genesis 2, continuing to burn, as Bishop Jill Duff reminds us: ’with the fire of his holiness.’

Yes, he is healthy: not just working all the time, but resting too. On the seventh day, after creating on days 1-6, Genesis 2:2 says that ‘God rested.’ GOD rested! He models healthy rhythms to humanity and all creation.

And yes, he is humble: because he loves. He can’t stop loving the world and in particular human beings. And within the Godhead, he loves. Trinitarian theologians have especially shown us this over the last 50 years or so, that the Father, Son and Spirit, love, adore, praise and bless each other. This partly explains why, in his book Trinity & the Kingdom, theologian Jurgen Moltmann calls God ‘The Doxological Trinity’, as each Person of the Trinity adores each other, pouring out authentic, self-giving love to each other, thus providing a model of humble relationships for humanity and church, like no other.

So our trinitarian God is holy & healthy & humble. Therefore, as we turn to the New Testament and see this God particularly incarnate himself in the person of Jesus Christ, we should expect Christ to display a leadership that is holy, healthy & humble. Is this what we see?

As we consider Christ, let’s think about his crucifixion, for the cross of Jesus is at the heart our faith. What do we see of holy, healthy, humble leadership at the cross? We see:

– Jesus dying as the holy offering: purifying us through his precious blood (Heb 10:22);

– Jesus dying as the healthy offering: perfect and unblemished (1 Pet 1:19);

– Jesus dying as the humble offering: giving his life as a sacrifice for us (Phil 2:8).

At the cross we see holy, healthy, humble leadership like no other! But also, let’s go to the other end of Jesus’s ministry, to the start in Matthew 4. Jesus has been baptised and filled with the Holy Spirit, yet before his public ministry begins there’s a final period of initial leadership formation for him. In Matthew 4:1 the Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness, he fasts forty days and nights and ‘is hungry.’ (That’s something of an understatement!) Satan comes to him and tempts him in three ways.There are all sorts of conclusions people have drawn from these 3 temptations, but let’s see if our holy, healthy, humble leadership paradigm fits. 

– Holy. In the first temptation Jesus is tempted to break his fast before its end, and turn stones into bread. Notice that Jesus resists by telling the devil he has holy resources that he is feasting on: the holy word of God – Scripture –  that comes from the very mouth of the Holy God! In fact, all Jesus’ responses are from Scripture (from the Book of Deuteronomy) which he was probably pondering while fasting. Jesus is showing us that we live holy lives by standing on God’s holy Word.

– Healthy. In his second temptation Jesus is tempted to throw himself off the pinnacle of the temple. He could do that and the angels would catch his body. Would this be healthy for his body? No! To abuse his body in this way is certainly not healthy, or sensible, or necessary. He doesn’t need to test God in this way, he replies. 

– Humble. In the third temptation Jesus is offered power and influence for himself. For his glory. But the price is to serve and worship Satan. ‘No’ says Jesus, ‘I only worship and serve my Father.’ It’s a picture of Jesus humbling himself before his Father, and choosing the low place, rather than the exalted one. All this ultimately leads him, (as we’ve seen), to humble himself in his death at the cross.

So, here at key times in his ministry, Jesus models holy, healthy, humble leadership for us. If we had time, we could consider many other bible passages, especially the Christological hymns, which particularly show us the virtuous character of Jesus. We see how amazing he is, and that he deserves the highest praise! That’s why 19th C Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky said: ‘there is no one lovelier, deeper, more sympathetic, and more perfect than Jesus.  I say to myself, with jealous love, that not only is there no one else like him, but there could never be anyone like him.’

So, our theology of holy, healthy, humble leadership starts with the Trinity and is especially seen in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. In short, holy, healthy, humble leadership is both Trinitarian and Christological.          

Take a moment for a 1 minute conversation with those around you, and ask: which 1 of these 3 divine attributes of God do you find especially attractive, and why?

2: Discipleship: should disciples be holy, healthy, humble?

To introduce this section, let me say this. Discipleship is about being Christ’s apprentices: life-long followers of Jesus, and discipleship is always missional, for disciples are Christ’s witnesses and ambassadors in the world. The Church of England (of which I’m part) presently has a number of key priorities, the first being ‘to become a church of missionary disciples. I am one of a number of ‘champion-bishops’ for Missionary Disciples in the Church of England, encouraging this across the church. And I’m writing books about it, about disciplines of missional discipleship, because this is something very close to my heart.

So, should missional disciples be holy, healthy & humble? To find out, let’s go to Matthew 28 and Matthew 5-7.

Matthew 28 is the so-called ‘Great Commission’. I understand that if you are in the military and you get separated from your unit and don’t know what to do, you should do something called ‘follow last orders.’ You do the last thing you were told to do. Matthew 28 are Jesus’s ‘last orders.’ Jesus has died, risen and appeared to his followers for forty days. Now he’s about to return to heaven and so he meets with his disciples in Galilee, one final time, and gives them his ‘last orders.’ So what does this key passage say? 

Anything about being holy? Yes! Let me show you 3 things.

– First, the disciples start (v.16) by worshipping Jesus (well … most of them do!) Think about it, you don’t worship a human being! You only worship God. In doing this, they’re saying something very clear about who Jesus is, knowing they are in the presence of the divine. In the presence of holiness. And they adore him. As we will see, this is a call to missional discipleship, but it’s set in the context of holy worship. This tells us that Missiology is a response to Christology. This call to mission is a holy moment.

 – Second, Jesus gives authority to them and then commissions them with the word ‘Go!’ This going, as missiologists such as David Bosch and others have helpfully shown us, is not the church’s mission; rather, it’s the mission of God. It’s what theologians call the ‘missio dei’: the mission God initiates and committed to. God is already at work, and they’re sent out to go and join in. The fact that it’s God’s mission makes it divine. Godly. Holy. So when disciples join in God’s mission, they are doing holy work.

– Third, as people respond, the disciples are to get ‘baptising.’ Now of course that means helping people mark faith in a ceremonial act of getting wet and saying you’re now going to follow Jesus for life. We love that, don’t we? For me, baptism services are one of my favourite things about being a leader. I absolutely love them! The testimony. The promises. The symbolism of going down and coming up, identifying with the death and resurrection of Jesus. The cheering! The praying! But of course ‘baptising’ literally means ‘immersing‘ which means disciples are told they should immerse people into the Godhead. Soak them in the Father, Son and Spirit. So they are dripping with God. Dripping in his holiness.

What about healthy? Does Mt 28 have anything to say about that? Let me show you 2 things.

– First, these disciples are told to make more disciples. They are to multiply themselves. To reproduce. Reproduction is a sign of health and vitality in plants & animals, and in humans too. We’re made to replicate, with God’s first words to human beings (in Genesis 1:28) being ‘be fruitful & increase in number.’ Here in Matthew 28, disciples are called to go and make more disciples. Reproduction is a sign of healthy discipleship.

– Second, Jesus tells these disciples they should be ‘teaching’ new disciples ‘everything I have commanded you.’ Everything Jesus taught. About life in God’s kingdom. Where do we find that teaching? We find it today in the four gospels. Where should we start? Well, like many, I’d suggest we start with Jesus’s core discipleship teaching, which we call the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5-7. If we had time, I’d take you on a whistle-stop tour of all that teaching, because it is so good and helpful! But instead, let’s just have a quick look. It begins by Jesus teaching virtues, on having a healthy character. In Matthew 5:3-12: (the so-called Beatitudes) Jesus shows how it’s good & blessed: to be poor (needing to rely on God); to mourn (recognising the pain & sadness of the world); to be meek (living for God’s agenda, not mine); to hunger and thirst for righteousness (desperate for people to be treated well); to be filled (so we can overflow with grace to others); to show mercy (displaying great compassion, especially to those who’ve messed up); to be pure in heart (not bitter; thinking well and the best of people, not the worst); to be peacemakers (not causing conflict, but reconciling); to be persecuted (badly treated for sake of gospel). These qualities are matters of the heart, what today we’d call character things. Remember at the beginning we saw how virtuous character is key to leadership? This list of ‘Beatitudes’ reflect the virtuous heart-character of Jesus. They are, as Stanley Hauerwas says: ‘a description of the life a people gathered by and around Jesus,’ which is why Richard Lischer says the church and its leaders are ‘the community of the Sermon.’ These qualities should shape us together & are supposed to unite us, keeping us healthy.

Much of the rest of Matthew 5 is also about health, especially healthy relationships: not murdering or taking life, but bringing life; not committing adultery for lustful gain, but keeping sex in a lifelong, man-woman marriage; keeping our promises and telling the simple truth (v33ff); being generous to others with our possessions (v38ff); and especially (v43ff) loving ‘enemies’ and those who treat us badly, recognising that following Jesus will involve pain, difficulty and opposition. (Interestingly, it was this teaching, on loving enemies, that spoke powerfully to a young man I know, who was recently searching for God. He thought, if Jesus can help me love my enemy, enabling me to have healthy relationships like that, then I’m in! And he gave his life to Christ, and I helped baptise him last year). Do you see? These core healthy discipleship things are difficult but good, and they’re very missionally attractive!

Just dipping into Matthew 6, Jesus goes on to teach about healthy discipleship rhythms: v.2: when you give; v.5: when you pray (and teaches the Lord’s Prayer); v.16: when you fast. Jesus says not ‘if’ you do these things, but ‘when.’ There’s a clear sense here that discipleship health is linked to healthy habits (spiritual disciplines). That’s why I wrote The A-Z of Prayer, wanting to get disciples practicing the disciplines of prayer.  (We’ll come back to these prayerful holy habits at the end).

Now, back to Matthew 28. Finally, does J teach being humble here? Yes! These discipless are told that they should teach new disciples to ‘obey’ his words.They’re not to teach whatever they like, or their good ideas, but instead ‘everything I have commanded you’ says Jesus. And what are these new disciples to do with this teaching? They are to humbly ‘obey’. Interestingly that mirrors how Jesus ends his discipleship teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 7, as he tells the parable of the wise and foolish builders. It’s a great tale of two builders who construct houses: one on rock; the other on sand. When the storms of life come, the one on rock stands, the one on sand falls. It’s positioned here at the end of the Sermon on the Mount as a summary picture of discipleship. So what is the difference between the 2 types of disciple? Look carefully and there’s only one. Just one. For both hear the words of Jesus. Both try to build well. Both face the same storms. But only one stands.  It’s the one who obeys, who ‘puts J’s words into practice.’ That’s how disciples get the character virtues of Jesus into their lives: by obediently doing what Jesus says.

Being a disciple like this is a stretching call. That’s why in The A-Z of Discipleship, I say this: ‘The life of discipleship is a great and exciting adventure. But this doesn’t mean being a disciple is easy. Often it’s hard, challenging and exhausting.’ On our own we will never manage it. That’s why we need God’s Spirit to empower us, which takes us back to Matthew 28. Just so disciples don’t think following Jesus is just an impossibly-long, hard slog, done in our strength, notice how Matthew 28 ends: ‘And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’ Jesus is telling them they don’t have to be his disciples, making more Ds, on their own. He will be with them, by his Holy Spirit. His Spirit will equip, empower and embolden them. Often to do the seemingly impossible! This is v good news, and something we so love and appreciate, here in New Wine.

So, do you see? Being holy, healthy & humble is central to missional discipleship! These things are character virtues of Jesus, seen in Matthew 28 & especially in Sermon on Mount in Matthew 5-7. They’re virtues which all Ds are supposed to embrace, and leaders are supposed to teach.

So, let’s take stock. Our theology of holy, healthy & humble Ls: starts with God: with the Trinity, and with Jesus Christ. Second, it’s rooted in taking on the character of Jesus and we follow him, and become his missional disciples in the world.

Take a moment to have a conversation with someone near: which 1 of these 3 attributes of discipleship do you desire more in your life?

3: Leaders: should leaders be holy, healthy & humble?

You will have noticed that it’s only now, quite late on in this talk, after focussing on GOD and on DISCIPLES that I’m now properly turning to LEADERS. That’s on purpose, because, as Alan Hirsch says (in The Forgotten Ways): ‘the quality of the church’s leadership is directly proportional to the quality of discipleship.’ That means: leaders are first disciples, which is why Hirsch goes on to say: ‘Discipleship is primary; leadership is always secondary.’ Some of us leaderss easily forget this. We become so consumed by our leadership, by leadership tasks and responsibilities, by leadership meetings, events, books, and even by leadership positions and status, that we forget that we’re first disciples! We do so at our peril. Church planting leader Neil Cole understands this danger, saying:  ‘If you can’t reproduce disciples, you can’t reproduce leaders. And if you can’t reproduce leaders, you can’t reproduce churches. And if you can’t reproduce churches, you can’t reproduce movements.’ I fully agree. Which is why it all starts by proclaiming how wonderful Christ is, in evangelism, and growing new believers into holy, healthy, humble disciples.

So, in this third and final section: what does this all means for our leadership? Let’s go to Hebrews 13:7 and 17. I rarely hear these texts spoken about at leadership conferences, but I find them so helpful. As the Hebrew writer draws to a close of this rich letter (mainly about worshipping the wonderful Christ and persevering in faith, learning from the saints of old and from Jesus himself), so he throws in these 2 verses: (v.7) ‘Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. And (v.17) ‘Have confidence in your leaders, and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account.’ 

Leaders: we’re called here to be holy. We’re the ones (v.7) who especially teach and share God’s holy Word – in Scripture. What are wonderful and awesome responsibility! So surely we must be daily in the word, being feed by Christ, so we can feed others. Also, disciples in church are called (v.7) to ‘imitate’ us. To copy us. To watch us and learn. Which of course they do, with congregational studies showing that people and congregations, and even whole dioceses, tend to take on the characteristics of their leaders. For good or ill. So leaders: what are we modelling? Are we modelling godliness? Prayerfulness? An expectation that God’s Spirit is, and will be, at work? Compassion for those in poverty and in need? When we get things wrong, are we quick to say sorry? Notice too: (v.17) more than others, leaders ‘must give an account’ (presumably to God at judgment) for that for which they’ve been given responsibility. If that’s not an incentive to live a holy, godly life, I don’t know what is!

Then look at what it says about leadership health. Others are called to ‘consider the outcome of their way of life.’ ‘Way of life’ (Greek: ‘ana-strophes’) literally means ‘conduct’; leader’s lifestyle. How they live. It’s a broad term which can include: how we work and rest; what we eat and drink; how we treat our loved ones; how we spend our time, energy and money. You get the idea. Again, it points to leaders modelling discipleship really well. Having good rhythms and patterns. Taking care how we live: not just for our sake, but for the sake of the flock entrusted to our care.

There’s also a call here to lead as humble leaders. Notice: leaders are the ones (v.17) who ‘keep watch’ over their people, like a shepherd with sheep. We’re called to shepherd: to guard and guide our people; leading them into good pasture. As commentator FF Bruce says of this passage: ‘Leaders carry a weighty responsibility: they were responsible for the spiritual well-being of those placed in their care.’ Leaders are to ensure their people are following Jesus, and living as Christ’s holy, healthy & humble people. Leaders must do this kindly, taking care how they wield the shepherd’s rod. Yes, the passage speaks of disciples submitting to leaders, but as commentator Louis Evans writes, the Greek word translated here is ‘pei-thes-the’ which means ‘to be persuaded to listen or to obey. This’ he says ‘is not blind obedience … but obedience after thoughtful consideration that results in persuasion.’ So we’re not call to lead in an over-domineering way, but to model good discipleship, and servant leadership, so people will want to follow us. 

As I’ve learned from being involved in church planting (especially seeing people even willing to move house and location for a plant): people follow leaders. Yes visionary, but also humble leaders,  who themselves follow the greatest and perfect leader, Jesus Christ, whose faithfulness is commended  at the end of v.8 in the words: ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today & forever.’ What a relief! For as leaders we are so aware of our weaknesses and failings, aren’t we? While people will model themselves on us, we as imperfect leaders must model ourselves on the perfect leader, Jesus Christ! 

Again take a moment to have a conversation: which 1 of these 3 attributes does your church need in its leaders at present?

Conclusion

So, 3 virtues, that some might want to call values; virtues rooted in biblical theology, that are foundational to Christian leadership. I hope at this conference you’re convinced (in your thinking) that these 3 virtues are good & important. But more than in our minds, God wants us to know this in our hearts. He wants these things to affect our desires. What we love. Theologian James KA Smith teaches this, and says the way that happens, is through habits. Missiologist Michael Frost agrees, saying the way to do this is to attach a key habit to each value. (In fact, Thomas Acquinas said something very similar in the 13th Century, in his Summa Theologiae, arguing that virtues are, in the end, habits). I also agree. As do many across the theological spectrum, from Henri Nouwen (the Dutch Roman Catholic priest) to John Mark Comer (the Portland pastor) who urges disciples to practice ‘the way of Jesus.’ That’s why I’ve recently written 2 books coming out in a few weeks time, about discipleship habits. The first is about the virtue of generosity. The habit that activates it, is regular giving. So I’ve written about this, calling the book: The Art of Giving. The second is about the virtue of being reflective. The habit that activates it, is regular journalling. So I’ve written about that, calling the book The Art of Journalling. Now, what about holy, healthy, humble? What are the habits that activate those virtuous values? I want to suggest some to you. You might come up with better ones, but here are my suggestions:

– HOLY: I suggest the key habit behind it should be regular worship, expressed in ‘daily devotions.’ Anglican divine William Law, who lived in the 1700s especially encouraged this.

– HEALTHY: I think it’s taking a weekly sabbath. Spiritual disciplines expert Ruth Haley Barton would agree.

– HUMBLE: I think it’s regular confession. Evangelical leader and writer John Stott thought this, writing a whole book on the subject in 1964.

What do you think? 

Here’s a final thought. I’m writing a book at present, on fasting. As I’ve been writing, and fasting in the process, and considering this talk for today, I increasingly think that fasting is probably the multi-fascinated, gateway discipline, that empowers all 3 of these virtues we’re considering: of being holy, healthy, humble. You see, if we could learn to fast as God’s people … to get hungry and hunger for God … to get hungry & feast on Christ & his holy word … to get hungry and identify with people in poverty … to get hungry and repent and get our hearts clean and live well … to get hungry and cry out in intercession for breakthrough, for renewal and revival … If we could learn to fast like that – both individually and together – then I put it to you, we would increasingly become God’s holy, healthy, humble people, and see a church of missionary disciples, empowered for mission.

Read the Acts of the Apostles. It was when leaders led the church to prayerfully fast that things particularly changed. That’s why Jennifer Miskov says: ‘Fasting is a sign of our inability to effect the change needed in our society apart from his grace.’ And it’s why John Piper says: ‘I think it is fair to say that God was pleased to make worship and prayer and fasting the launching pad for a mission that would change the course of world history. Is there a lesson here for us?’ he asks.

To see this change we long and pray for,  the church really does needs Spirit-filled leaders: who love God and his Son Jesus Christ; who are disciples first and leaders second; who are holy, healthy and humble in lifestyle and habits. It needs leaders. Leaders just like you.