Servant Leaders

Leaders are Servants – The Church is Different
Mark 9.33 – 37 and Luke 9.46 – 48

If we would walk through a secular bookstore or a Chr bookstore, we would find hundreds of books on leadership. 12 Secrets of Leadership. 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. The Leadership Principles of Genghis Khan. Hitler’s Leadership Style. We could go on and on with titles about leadership in business and in the church. Some think that these principles of leadership are completely interchangeable – if it works in business, then it will work in the church. Jesus taught his disciples how they were to lead and I wish the church had learned what Jesus taught. There have been times in the history of the church that you could not tell the difference between the leaders of the church and leaders of society. In the Middle ages, they dressed the same, they fought wars the same, and they lived and sinned in the same ways.
Is it important for all of us to hear a sermon about leadership? You might say, “I am not a leader in the church. Do waste my time. Talk to just the leaders of the church about leadership.” I think all of us are leaders in our own ways and we need to see what leadership is like. The specific leaders in the church need to lead the way Jesus taught and all the people need to remind the leaders of the way Jesus taught his disciples to lead.
There is a short passage in Mark 9.33-37 that Jesus used to teach the 12 about leadership. Read. Jesus caught these men arguing about who was the greatest among them. Can you imagine all of these saints – St. John, St. Peter, St. Matthew and all the rest arguing at all, but especially about who was the best among them? When you put these verses in context it is even worse. In the section of scripture just before this, Jesus told them that he would be arrested by his enemies, they would kill him and he would rise in three days. The passage says that they did not understand what he meant by this, but they quickly started arguing about who was the greatest or the best among them. They were human and maybe too human in this case.
Being servants is a huge part of being a Chr. As Chrs we are servants of all. A Chr husband is the servant of his wife. He loves her and serves her because of that love. A Chr. wife serves her husband because of her love for him. Chr parents serve their children. You kids don’t realize how much your parents serve you. In turn, you Chr kids need to serve your parents now and later in their lives when they need you. As a Chr church we need to serve this community and all people all over this world. We do that in doing missions and sending money so others can serve the people around them. Servanthood is a huge part of our Chr life.
I think this picture (Jesus washing the feet of his disciples) gives us the greatest example of who Jesus was and is. Just hours before he was crucified, he met with his disciples in the upper room he washed the feet of all of these men. That was the job of household slaves, but God himself in human flesh, became the servant and washed the feet of his disciples. He set an example for all of us as Chrs to be servants to one another.
Greatness and leadership is not a popularity contest. Do remember Mohammed Ali years ago standing in front of the cameras and almost yelling, “I am the greatest!” Over and over again he said this. I do not know any Chr leaders who would be so overt in claiming their greatness, but in almost everything they do and say they think and act like they are the greatest.
Jesus sat down in the posture of a teaching Rabbi, and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” If any of us want to serve God as leaders we must be the last and least and the servant of all. Jesus is the perfect example of servant leadership. He was the undisputed leader of these disciples, but he was a very different kind of leader. He did not lord it over these men. He was their lord and God, but he traveled with them and lived with them as their servant. Some times we might think that these disciples carried Jesus around on some kind of mobile chair, and set him on a throne ever night and served him like slaves. Jesus walked with them and I am sure he did the chores just like the others.
Ultimately Jesus became the servant of all by going to the cross and giving his life for all of us. How much more of a servant can there be?
Next, Jesus took a child who had no power or authority and told his disciples that this child was the greatest in the kingdom of God. The child could not order people around as a boss at least not in that culture. This kid was a servant of the family.
What does this mean to us? The way leaders lead is an important factor in how the church functions. Jesus is today as he always has been the head of this church. We are the body of Christ. Jesus is the Head of this church. The Head of the church directs the various parts of the body to do their work.
Let’s look at the main words for leaders in the church. Bishop or overseer is one of them. An overseer seems to be the boss type of leader, but as an overseer he was the second in command. The owner of a farm hired an overseer to run things. In the church the bishop is under the rule of Jesus, the head of the church. The pastor or shepherd is another term for leaders in the church. A shepherd cares for the sheep – he leads them, finding food and water for them, and protects them. The shepherd certainly serves his sheep and the pastors of the church are the servant of the flock. The term deacon is a transliteration of the Greek word for slave – diakonos. Instead of calling some one Deacon Jones, we should call him Slave Jones. The only one that does not fit this pattern is the term “elder” but I can see how an elder serves the people in the church.
This is the pattern of leadership in the church. Jesus Christ came to the earth to be the ultimate example of being a servant of all. He washed the feet of his disciples and even went to the cross to serve us. As Chr leaders, pastors and elders, we follow the example of Jesus and do everything we can to serve you. We put Jesus first in our lives and we want to lead you to make the Lord first in your life. We serve you in teaching and ministering to you in every way we can. Our goal is for you to follow our example and the example of Jesus to serve others. You meet people every day who need the love of Christ shown to them. Reach out to them as servants of God. The greatest compliment a church can receive is to be called a church that serves people. Then we are truly following the example of our Lord Jesus Christ.