A Study of John 21

Leadership is one of the key challenges facing the contemporary society despite many seminars, conferences and workshops organized on this subject. The political crises in many organizations and societies are the result of poor leadership. The subject of leadership is so important that no amount of scholarship dedicated to it can be considered too much. In a predominantly Christian society like Africa (and some other parts of the world) many people look up to Christianity to offer a leadership model that can promote quality leadership. The purpose of this paper is to provide biblical principles for leadership through a textual analysis of John 21:15-17. A literature-research methodology was used to gather data from books, journal articles and dissertations. A key finding is that shepherd leaders must show deep concern, compassion, acceptance and empathy for their followers in order to heal, sustain, nurture, and empower them. The paper ends with implications of the shepherding model of leadership for contemporary Christian ministry. Keywords: Christ, Christian, Leadership, Shepherd

Christian ministry · Christianity · Compassion · Empathy · Environmental ethics · Leadership studies · Leadership style · Library science · Nature versus nurture · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Scholarship · Servant leadership · Sociology · Theology · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Christian Theology and Mission · Law · Leadership, Behavior, and Decision-Making Studies · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology