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These words of Abraham Lincoln ring true, “Nearly all men can stand hardship, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” Jesus had power. But rather than wield that power over others, he came as a servant–using his power to serve. (Mark 10:42-45)
Throughout my three decades of leadership experience, Jesus has repeatedly taught me that leadership is not about power or positions, but about relational servanthood. I was recently challenged and humbled further when I was struck by the difference between John’s account of the last supper and the accounts found in the other three gospels. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all speak of bread and wine, but John focuses on two other elements: the bowl and the towel. John’s account vividly demonstrates Jesus’s expectation that his followers be foot-washers–servants. This expectation continues to challenge our perceptions of leadership.
I have often communicated that I want to do great things for God–to really count in God’s Kingdom. But as I have continued to follow Christ, I have begun to understand my calling as the desire to do things for a great God! Whatever our Great God wants me to do, I will do by his help in the power of the Holy Spirit. Servanthood is ultimately about following Jesus completely in loving and humble obedience. It is doing things for a great God.
Many years ago, there was a trend featuring the four letters, WWJD (What Would Jesus Do). While this is a worthy question, it is best supplemented by another WWJD. IN the words of Siang-Yang Tan, “We cannot become more like Jesus by self-effort or sheer imitation of Christ. We will fail. But we can follow another WWJD: Walking with Jesus Daily. We can, with the help and empowerment of the Holy Spirit, walk with Jesus daily by spending time with him in prayer, Bible reading and meditation, worship, solitude and silence, and other spiritual disciplines.”
Servanthood means that we live in Jesus all the way. We follow him by letting him lead us and take full control of our lives. The word "leader" only appears five times in the New Testament in reference to those serving within the church. The only time Jesus is recorded using the word is in Luke 22:26 where he states that “the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.” Jesus doesn’t just teach servanthood, he demonstrates it in everything he does.
The word “servant” occurs about 60 times in the New Testament in reference to those within the church. When you include the related words, “service” and “serve”, you will find over 1,300 references in the Bible. The modern word, “minister” may have originally indicated “one who serves”, this word can also be used to describe “a high officer of state.” In many nations, the highest political office is “Prime Minister.” As a consequence of such prominent usage, we more readily associate the word “ministry” with the concepts of authority and leadership, than with the attitudes of submission and servitude.
Steve Hayner wrote a brief but excellent article in World Vision Today (Summer, 1998) emphasizing the need for true servanthood rather than just leadership.
Jesus gives an unmodified call to us to be servants—serving God and serving one another. Along the way, God may also call us into specific roles of leadership. But there are no indications that obtaining those roles should be a believer’s ultimate ambition... Our ambition is not leadership, but servanthood. Our task is not to grow leaders, but to make disciples who will follow Jesus. Our goal is not to get out there and get things done, but to listen and obey. Our call is not to exercise power but to be faithful to our Lord and the way of the servant. How God chooses to use his servants is his concern. We may be called to lead or to follow, to exert authority or to submit, to turn our God-given gifts in one direction or another. But that is God’s business. Our identity, our meaning in life, our sense of significance, and our self-worth are not to be based on the roles we fill, the power we wield, or the numbers we lead. We play to an audience of one, who loves us, affirms us, and uses us. Whether we are called to perform the handstand or simply watch and clap from the side-lines, we should long to hear from our God the words, “Well done, you good and faithful servant.”
Unfortunately, there has been a tendency to borrow models of management and leadership from the secular world and uncritically apply them to the church. For several years, I have been deeply concerned about the heavy emphasis on leadership development in Christian circles. Leadership development is important and has a useful place in Christian ministry. However, from a biblical perspective, servanthood is more foundational and central in Christian life and ministry. Such servanthood can also be described as “Living in Jesus all the way!”
May we learn from our master and the ways He lived and served. Jesus has the heart of a servant. He was lovingly focused on doing everything that pleased His Father. The call of Christ is primarily a call to servanthood, not to leadership.
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Pradeep Kutty comes from a Hindu family and became a Christian in 1990 in Delhi. His wife and best friend served in the full-time ministry in India for 13 years. For the last 20 years, they have been working secular jobs and serving the church in Kuwait. They have two boys who follow Jesus faithfully. Pradeep has a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies from Rocky Mountain School of Ministry and Theology in Denver, USA.
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