“Servant leadership” has become a catchphrase these days. It is
a reaction to the type of leadership that is top-down, heavy-handed and
autocratic that most of the world has known from the beginning of time. Human
history is full of examples of absolute rule, the deification of monarchs (or
at least the doctrine of the “divine right of kings”) and, in recent times, the
dynamic and all-powerful CEO.
So to simply talk about leadership leaves many of us anxious
about control issues, domineering bosses and, in some cases, outright
oppression. That’s why we coin a phrase like servant-leader. Despite its buzzword status, the concept is wholly
valid, and there’s a great need to redefine leadership vis-à-vis its importance
for the church.
On the historical world stage, enter Jesus, the Messiah, who
came in the name of God. While his followers knew him to be the King of kings
and the Lord of lords, the world did not know him. Instead they scoffed (and
still do!) at a Jewish peasant whose life and message was becoming troublesome,
turning the idea of leadership on its head. He was a leader, but also a man of
the people — some would even say a king — who defied everything they believed
about governance, the value of people, tribalism, and sexism.
In contrast to his day, Jesus said we are all created equal. In
effect, he said the divisions of race, gender, status, and cultural identity
were nothing but sociological constructs. Instead, we are, all of us, created
in God’s image, descendants of one mother and one father. And because that’s
true, none of us are better than, more entitled to, or inherently more valuable
to the Father. Therefore, leadership in God’s economy is the responsibility of
those who have influence, rather than a privilege to take advantage of. This
new approach turned upside down the assumptions of position and power and
privilege that were (and are) the way of most of the world.
Jesus’ radical vision for leadership was best illustrated in
Mark 10. One night his disciples were arguing about which of them was the
greatest. Jesus responded to their squabble this way: “You know that those who
are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones
exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever
would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among
you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to
serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
The strength in Jesus’ words came from the life he had lived in
front of them. Jesus’ life was one in which he did not invoke his rights or
seek his own privilege or advantage. John Wimber, speaking on the subject of
servant leadership, once said, “If there is anything that characterizes Jesus,
[it] is the willingness to take a lowly, meek, and subservient role and place.”
There is nowhere in the Bible where Jesus ever demands respect
or a place of honor. Instead, we read his advice to his disciples in Luke 14 to
be humble, not taking a seat of honor for oneself but rather to let the host
decide who gets the seat of honor. And if the host so desires to exalt you by
moving you to the seat of honor, then you will be exalted, but if you have
foolishly taken that seat, the groom might select another person for the seat
of honor, which would lead to your humiliation at being asked to move.
Jesus’ model for leadership was not just serving but also
humility.
Ten years ago I shared the principle of servant leadership with
a group of pastoral interns and explained to them that was why we asked leaders
of the church to park in the lot farthest from the church doors every Sunday to
make room for our guests. It’s why we ate last during fellowship meals to make
sure everyone else had enough to eat. And it’s why we didn’t ask anyone to do
what we were unwilling to do ourselves — so we gave the most, stayed the latest at events,
and always cleaned up.
As
I spoke, I shared my own ongoing struggle to be humble. One of my interns told
me about a book that had helped him, titled simply Humility.
When
he brought me the book a few days later, I remember assuring him that I would
have it back to him by the weekend. He responded, “Take your time. It will
wreck you.”
I
remember so clearly how I brushed off that advice, thinking, “This book is no
more than 100 pages!” But never underestimate the power of a small book to rock
your world. I was completely undone. It became clear to me how mixed my motives
were in the pursuit of servant leadership.
The
problem was, I was working a system of governance I’d learned was the way we
“did leadership” in the Vineyard. But it wasn’t until I was destroyed by that
little book that I realized the difference between the ecclesiastical method I
had learned from other pastors and the authenticity of leading others out of a
servant’s heart, like Jesus did.
Don’t misunderstand me, though; real leadership does require
skill. So I am still spending a significant portion of my reading and learning
time on the subject of leadership. I have learned a great deal from Patrick
Lencioni, Henry Cloud, Peter Drucker, John Maxwell, Andy Stanley, Jack Welch
and others.
What I am saying is that all the technique, all the great
Vineyard discipleship-modeling in the world cannot make you a servant leader,
if underneath it all your only real motivation is to learn a new method or to
understand the sociological and physiological buttons to push to get people to
do what you want them to do. The leadership that Jesus lived and modeled
doesn’t need a qualifier; it flows from the deep-well of a humble heart. I
don’t know that you can learn that from a book … or can you?
Book Recommendation
Humility by Andrew
Murray
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