Greatness Through Servanthood Series

Today we are putting a man's name into consideration as a future Elder. I hadn't actually planned a sermon on Eldership (the sermon series I'm preaching through is something I'm working with other preachers on) but the text seemed to be a good groundwork for understanding what Elders do, what their responsibility is to God, and what our responsibility is to the Elders.

OPEN: Years ago, we had a young man attend here who was all excited about Jesus, but he had a hard time figuring out why we did what we did here. It seems he’d been introduced to Christianity in a huge church down in Texas. He explained that the church building there was OWNED by the preacher and his family. That family made all the decisions… and they got all the money. What offerings that were not spent on the building & ministries, paid for the preacher’s salary, home, car, utilities, and vacations. Everything about the church belonged to that preacher and his family. And this young man was fine with that. And so, when he found out I didn’t RUN the church - let alone own the building - that confused him, because to his way of thinking I was the preacher… therefore I had to be in charge!

At one point we had a conversation that went something like this: He asked “Who’s IN CHARGE of the church?” I knew why he was asking the question, so I smiled and said “That would be Jesus”; “No… I mean, who has the AUTHORITY in this church?”, and again I smiled and said “That would be Jesus”; “No, no, no", he protested. "Who has the FINAL SAY here… in this church?” (pause) “That would be Jesus.”

The idea of letting Jesus be in charge of His OWN CHURCH never occurred to this young man, and he was never quite comfortable with that. He wanted to see THE person who was IN CHARGE – he wanted to see THE person who RAN THINGS.

And that’s the kind of mindset Jesus was dealing with here in Mark 10:25-28. “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles LORD IT OVER THEM, and their great ones EXERCISE AUTHORITY OVER THEM. 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 your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

When I first started my research on this sermon, the working title was “Greatness thru Leadership.” And I was uncomfortable with that, because the Bible doesn’t talk all that much about how to be a great leader. What it does talk about is how to be a great SERVANT.

ILLUS: Now, that’s almost counter-intuitive to how the world thinks. Back in 2015, Psychology Today had an article that explained that Public schools were using assertiveness training to help build confidence. And Congress had gotten all this started with an $80,000 grant. He noted that the government does not teach any classes on servanthood. No government grant has ever been issued to teach humility, and self-denial. Servanthood is a counter-culture virtue. It’s not how things are done in this world.

Many people (who want to be leaders) want to have power/ authority/ control. And what Jesus was saying was: worldly leaders (not Godly leaders) want the power to Exercise Authority over others. and they want the power to Lord It Over folks.

Jesus told His disciples “That’s not who you are!” It shall not be so amongst you! If you want to be great… you gotta be a servant. If you want to the person who impresses God, then you need to learn to be a slave to other people’s needs. That’s the Template of what Christians should be like. It’s what we ALL should do if we do things right.

Now. bear in mind… I struggled with the idea of attaining greatness thru leadership. But the more I studied the Bible on this, the more I realized that God has always had leaders for His people. Whether it was prophets, priests and kings (in the Old Testament), or apostles, preachers and Elders (in New Testament) there were always leaders that God raised up to guide and protect His people.

In fact, in Hebrews 13:7 the church was told to “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. In other words – look up to your leaders. Try to figure out how they became men of God… and then imitate them.

Back in the Old Testament, one of the WORDS God used for the leaders of Israel was “shepherd.” The Prophets, Priests and Kings (those who were responsible for the guidance and protection of Israel) were men who were seen by God as being the shepherds of HIS people. Their job was to guide and protect God’s flock.