Luke’s Vision for Leadership By Jason Jensen

Biblical Lessons in Leadership

The early chapters of Luke reveal God as one who overturns established assumptions about leadership.

Luke contrasts the Herods, Caesars, and Pilates of the world with a positive vision for leadership. Filled with the Holy Spirit, young Mary says of the Lord:

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
    he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
    but has lifted up the humble.
 He has filled the hungry with good things
    but has sent the rich away empty.

Luke 1:51-53

Luke’s vision is of an upside-down kingdom where God is at work. His kind of leaders don’t conform to the world’s expectations. Rather, they carry the humility and integrity of Mary, Elizabeth, Zechariah, and John, and they cooperate with the Spirit’s work in the world.

When we cooperate with the Spirit, leadership is our action in the world that intentionally creates culture and influences people.

Tender Humility

As we begin to believe in God’s primacy in history, our frame of reference changes, and as leaders, we see ourselves from a humble perspective.

Looking from Luke’s perspective, we see God at work. He chooses to move through certain humble people, such as Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, and the shepherds of Luke  2. Mary’s Magnificat prayer and Zechariah’s prophecy help us see that God’s purposes for us (in our small, humble journey) may actually connect with what he is doing in the world. Both Mary and Zechariah receive a vision from God and are enfolded in what he is doing in history. Like Mary, all disciples are invited to accept and cooperate with the movement of the Holy Spirit and trust God to be faithful to his word.

Mary, Zechariah, and the shepherds have the humility to pay attention to their context. In their prophetic prayers, both Mary and Zechariah recite some of the real history of God’s work among people. And Mary realistically notes her humble circumstances. God’s action in history does not erase the realities around us. His acts make our circumstances more real because we know he works in the actual messes of history. This is good news for us as leaders. We don’t have to be Beyoncé or Billy Graham to make a difference for the kingdom of God in remarkable ways.

Bold Faith

In the cases of Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, and the shepherds, God challenges them to act on risky, countercultural faith. Their leadership requires intentional action. Mary accepts her fate as a vulnerable single mother, trusting God to fulfill his promises amid her obedience. Zechariah and Elizabeth receive a child in old age, naming him counterculturally and radically dedicating him to God.

The shepherds believe the angels, leaving their responsibility in the field, and going to worship Jesus. Then they publicly proclaim the seemingly ridiculous good news. In each of these examples, humble people trusted God’s communication and took risks to follow his direction. As they exercised faith, they cooperated with God’s movement.

Through obedience, they were also shaped more in God’s image and led to worship. I find it remarkable that Luke shows humble, joyful worship as a hallmark of each of these leaders.

Discernment

In discernment, we humble ourselves before God and ask for wise direction in a particular situation. We need this wise direction to grow as disciples, and we also need it to lead faithfully. Discernment is required to receive the Holy Spirit’s formation and also to receive the Holy Spirit’s calling.

Where the secular leader practices strategy, the Christian leader must first practice discernment. Where the secular leader calculates logical risk vs. reward, the Christian leader must first discern the invitation of the Lord and take the risk of obedience, trusting the faithfulness of God.

What does discernment look like? Discernment requires listening for the leadership of the Holy Spirit and following the direction of the Word. To listen for the Spirit, we must grow in knowledge of our own thoughts and feelings, because the Spirit leads us through our human experience. To follow the leading of God’s Word, we must immerse ourselves in it, growing in love for the Word and familiarity with it over time. Discernment often requires us to pause for a while as we gain wisdom and clarity in God’s timing. Finally, discernment requires us to submit ourselves to one another in Christian community.

From any position, the stewardship of our influence is a sacred trust from God, and it requires intentionality. As leaders, we do what we do on purpose. In this sense, every Christian is called to be a leader.

• Adapted from Formed to Lead by Jason Jensen. ©2025 Jason Jensen. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press. www.ivpress.com.  

Jason Jensen (MA, Fuller) is vice president of spiritual foundations for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA. Jason led InterVarsity staff teams in Berkeley, California, for twenty-nine years. He and his wife, Susi, are based in Madison, Wisconsin, where Jason oversees the formation of InterVarsity staff in Scripture, theology, spiritual formation, and prayer. Jason is the author of Formed to Lead: Humility, Character, Integrity, and Discernment.

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