Kokolago and Esamoi Leadership: A Theology of Sufficiency for Tabaru Communal Peace

Abstrak

This article reconstructs kokolago, a Tabaru communal practice associated with simplicity, sharing, and mutual responsibility, as a contextual theological resource for Esamoi leadership and communal peace. It develops a master's thesis through a reflexive thematic reanalysis of twelve interview units collected among Tabaru communities in West Halmahera in April 2025, supported by participant observation and field notes. The interview corpus is read in dialogue with contextual theology, Christian leadership, and biblical motifs of sufficiency, fellowship, and service. Four interconnected themes are identified: sufficiency as discipline of desire, gratitude as resistance to status competition, solidarity as the social telos of sufficiency, and relational authority as a criterion for leadership. The article argues that kokolago should not be reduced to a local equivalent of servant leadership. Its distinctive contribution lies in a communal ethic of "enough": self-limitation creates material and symbolic space for others. On this basis, the article proposes the concept of communal-sufficiency leadership, in which authority is legitimized through self-restraint, shared burdens, participation, and the maintenance of just relationships. Kokolago therefore contributes to a theology of peace understood not merely as post-conflict reconciliation, but as everyday practices that prevent domination, envy, and social fragmentation.