Servant Leadership

“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.

Leadership In God’s Economy

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.”

[bctt tweet=”Jesus…did not invoke his rights or seek his own privilege or advantage. – Hal Hester” quote=”Jesus’ life was one in which he did not invoke his rights or seek his own privilege or advantage.”]

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.

[bctt tweet=”Jesus’ model for leadership was not just serving but also humility. – Hal Hester” quote=”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 that 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, simply titled 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 some 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 and 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?