Servant Leadership

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."

– Mark 9:35

Consider it our Book of Life — God’s words for us to live by. 

It’s through the Bible's pages that we learn our Creator not only loves us, but he will do whatever it takes to have an everlasting relationship with us. We also discover that God’s ways aren’t our ways. And his thoughts aren’t our own.

That’s quite an understatement. For example, the world teaches us to beat the competition, climb the corporate ladder and keep up with the neighbors (and then pass them by). We must have the biggest, the best and the shiniest. And we also need to drive the right car and have the right job. After all, life is all about us. 

There’s little room for humility with that attitude. But God invites Christ-followers to see things from his perspective: To be first, we must be last — and the servant of all. Of course, this viewpoint turns things totally inside out. And that invites a question:

How much better would the world be if we adopted a servant’s attitude and put the interests of others before our own?

Jesus responded by example. First, he willingly surrendered his advantages as God’s only son. He was born amidst humble circumstances — in a lowly animal feeding trough. When he grew older, he made a workingman’s living as a carpenter. And he could have lived in splendor as the King of Kings. But instead, Christ chose a nomadic existence to teach the Good News of salvation to his people. 

Of course, Jesus’ ultimate act of humility was to suffer the fate of a common criminal — one that he didn’t deserve because of his sinless, fault-free life. His was a horrific death on a cross to pay for the countless ways we’ve all failed to live up to God’s perfect standards.

How can we acquire Christ's remarkable servant-leader attitude? 

Above all, we must embrace our blessings by recognizing the wonderful things God has done for us — and continues to do for us every day. Without him, we are nothing. But through him, all things are possible.

Embracing servant-leadership to make God’s ways and thoughts our own will never be society’s formula for success. But when we turn our backs on the world and follow The Way, we’ll see that it’s through humility — not ambition — that both we and the world change for the better.