TIM COCHRELL
Slaves of the Most High God
A Biblical Model of Servant Leadership in the Slave Imagery of Luke-Acts
B&H Academic
Nashville, Tennessee
Slaves of the Most High God:
A Biblical Model of Servant Leadership in the Slave Imagery of Luke-Acts
Copyright © 2018 by Timothy Cochrell
Published by B&H Academic Nashville, Tennessee
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4336-4651-5
Dewey Decimal Classification: 303.3
Subject Heading: CHRISTIAN LIFE \ LEADERSHIP \ SLAVERY
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
Disciples’ Literal New Testament [DLNT]: Serving Modern Disciples by More Fully Reflecting the Writing Style of the Ancient Disciples, Copyright © 2011 Michael J. Magill. All Rights Reserved. Published by Reyma Publishing.
New English Translation (NET) NET Bible® copyright © 1996–2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Cover design by Brian Bobel. Images © istock/Yosuke Hasegawa and istock/Le_Mon.
To my Lord, Jesus Christ, who has redeemed me and called me to serve Him with all that I am. To Katie, my love. Your sacrifice and support demonstrate God’s grace in my life, and I am so thankful for you. To our children, Caleb, Joshua, Andrew, Elliana, and Judah. You give me such joy, and I pray that you will faithfully serve the Lord.
Contents
Chapter 1: Servant Leadership: A Flawed Foundation
Chapter 2: Slavery in Pre-Christian Hebrew Life and Thought
Chapter 3: Slavery in Greco-Roman Life and Thought
Chapter 4: “Good and Faithful Slave”: Slave Imagery in the Gospel Luke
Chapter 5: “Your Holy Slave Jesus”: Slave Imagery in the Book of Acts
Chapter 6: Slave Leadership: A Practical Paradigm
I am deeply indebted to many who have supported and assisted me in this journey. Timothy Jones, Michael Wilder, and Jarvis Williams have been a wonderful source of guidance, encouragement, and timely feedback. Their wisdom and expertise have sharpened and shaped me personally and have made this manuscript stronger as a result. I thank them for their friendship and encouragement.
My parents and grandparents have provided encouragement, love, and a heritage of hard work, which reflects their own faithful service of the Lord.
The congregations at Dayton Avenue Baptist ...
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About Slaves of the Most High God: A Biblical Model of Servant Leadership in the Slave Imagery of Luke-Acts
Servant leadership has been broadly and enthusiastically embraced by Christians as a model of leadership marked by humility and modeled by Jesus. But behind that attractive veneer is an approach to leadership that is problematic theologically and anemic biblically with humanistic goals and assumptions that are derived more from secular theory than biblical research. Careful examination of the servant metaphor in Scripture reveals that a leader is not primarily called to be a servant after all, but rather a slave who is obedient and ultimately accountable to God as his or her Master. This provocative picture conveys a much richer and more demanding model of leadership than servanthood when understood within its cultural context. Slaves of the Most High God provides a rigorous exegetical, historical, and theological analysis of the slave metaphor in Luke-Acts. The pattern of Christ’s slave leadership in Luke and the practice of slave leadership in the early church in Acts outline a paradigm of a leader who is in authority and under authority, redeemed by God to serve his people. The author proposes a countercultural model of slave leadership outlining seven practical principles drawn from the metaphor of slavery and shaped by personal pastoral experience. |
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