But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. Matthew 20:26-27

What would you say it takes to be a great leader?  Charisma, brains, a take-charge attitude?

Whether you lead a corporation, a sports team, a small group, or your own children, we are each called to leadership.  The Jesus way of leadership, like almost everything else that Jesus taught, is the opposite of what we might think.  Jesus said that leaders are actually servants! And in the words of Elisabeth Eliott, “The best way to find out whether or not you really have a servant’s heart is to see what your reaction is when somebody treats you like one.”[1] Ouch.  Does that hit as close to home for you as it does for me?

Leading well isn’t a comfortable pursuit, because servants put the needs of those they serve before their own. A truth known by mothers everywhere, but articulated by a popular business writer, is that “Leaders eat last.” Jesus’ example of leadership goes even further for Jesus was not just a servant, He was a suffering servant.  “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve others and give his life as a ransom for many,” the Bible book of Matthew lays out (Matthew 20:28).

“Rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority, Jesus explained.  “Among you it will be different” (Matthew 20:25-6).  Jesus-following leaders are measured by how much they sacrifice, not by how much they gain. “Leaders are meant to be losers — losers of ourselves (and) of our rights.”[2]

 

Resource reading: Matthew 20:20-28

 

[1] Weeks, A. the A. L., & Weeks, L. (1996, May 1). Elisabeth Elliot: Preoccupation with self blunts discipleship. Baptist Press. Retrieved March 14, 2022, from https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/sbc-life-articles/elisabeth-elliot-preoccupation-with-self-blunts-discipleship/

[2] Ibid.