The Corruption of Biblical Leadership (Cruciformity Series)

Voxology

Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.7 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 12 May 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What does leadership shaped by the cross really look like in today’s church—and how far have we drifted from it? Mike and Tim continue the Cruciformity Series with a raw, revealing, and intensely personal reflection on their own experiences with American evangelical leadership culture. From megachurch strategy to influence-based platforms, they unpack how conventional models of “biblical leadership” often mirror corporate America more than Christ.

This episode challenges deeply ingrained assumptions about success, authority, platform, and power, and proposes a radically different path: cruciform leadership, rooted in humility, weakness, and the relentless pursuit of others’ flourishing. Mike shares his personal struggle of unlearning old paradigms and embracing a leadership ethos shaped by Jesus’ downward trajectory from divinity to servanthood. It's a must-listen for pastors, churchgoers, and anyone navigating the tension between faithfulness and influence.

Key Takeaways:
• What is Cruciform Leadership? – How the biblical model of leadership centers on self-giving love and the surrender of privilege.
• The Seduction of Success Metrics – Why growth, platform, and “effectiveness” are poor substitutes for faithfulness and Christlikeness.
• From CEO to Servant – Reframing pastoral roles through surrender, not strategy.
• Personal Confession and Reflection – Mike shares how his perspective changed after decades in the evangelical megachurch system.
• Leadership Beyond the Church – Exploring how cruciformity applies in workplaces, families, and personal relationships.

Quotes to Remember:
• "Cruciform leadership isn’t about getting things done—it’s about delivering God’s love and grace into people’s lives, daily."
• “You can run a church, a marriage, or a business using old creation power. But the gospel calls you to something new.”

Resources Mentioned:
• Tim Gombis – The Drama of Ephesians
• Dallas Willard – Quotes on humility & leadership
• Caitlin Schess interview – On platform vs. message
• Book of Philippians 2 – The downward trajectory of Jesus
• Mark Gombis’s Commentary on Mark

Whether you’ve been hurt by church leadership, led within it, or simply want to grow as a follower of Jesus, this episode invites you to a deeper and more transformative way of thinking about influence, success, and faith.

Keep engaging with us by subscribing, leaving a review, or connecting on social media. We'd love to hear your stories as we pursue the way of Jesus together.

—

Have questions or thoughts about the episode? Email us at [email protected]. Join the ongoing conversation on Facebook and Instagram.

We're on YouTube: VOXOLOGY TV

Visit the Voxology Website for more content, merch, and resources.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

Support the podcast by becoming a patron at Patreon

Music by Timothy John Stafford
Instagram & Twitter: @gonetimothy

As always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], and to engage the conversation on Facebook and Instagram.

We're on YouTube (if you're into that kinda thing): VOXOLOGY TV.

Our Merch Store! ETSY

Learn more about the Voxology Podcast

Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify

Support the Voxology Podcast on Patreon

The Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology Radio

Follow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerre

Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford

Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Indoor's so good.
0:12.5	Is it?
0:13.6	Yes.
0:14.3	It's weird how good it is or how close it hits to like reality because they no
0:20.2	doubt filmed it before this term started but it's like
0:22.6	holy moly and or it's really good it's like some of the okay i mean i love the first season we just
0:29.3	got rid of disney plus because there was just it was a wasteland it's good for like i'm not
0:34.5	saying it's great for a star war show it's great great. Period. I'm not a businessman. I'm a
0:41.2	business man. This is how we should start. She gives a great speech though. The speech of the
0:47.8	end of the last, good Lord. Is that okay? So she gave the last speech of the last episode, right?
0:53.3	Yeah. It's so good.
0:55.3	Okay, okay, okay, okay. I'll watch it. I'll watch it. Big Nate saw sinners and he said,
1:02.2	that was pretty, pretty intense. It's pretty intense. It's not the movie you can recommend for
1:06.4	everybody to watch because it's got some gnarlyly parts but man he plays with some themes in there
1:11.3	yeah he said and there's this musical number in the middle that is one of the best things i've
1:15.6	ever seen in a movie what it like it blends all of this like african like from music from
1:22.2	africa up through kind of the blues and then into hip hop and this dance scene in this barn and it's all in one shot
1:29.5	just kind of blending together all these cult like this lineage of music and expression it was
1:34.7	just beautiful and so well done I love that it's pretty wild we should start with just movie
1:40.3	reviews I like that idea although although you're the only one that sees movies.
1:44.9	I literally wait for you to watch.
1:47.2	And I heard it was great.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Voxology, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Voxology and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.