Glory Of Christian Leadership

Opening illustration: In today’s celebrity-obsessed culture, it isn’t surprising that entrepreneurs are marketing “celebrities as products … allowing them to sell their personal time and attention.” Vauhini Vara’s article in The New Yorker noted that for $15,000, you can have a personal meeting with singer Shakira, while $12,000 will give you and eleven guests lunch with celebrity chef Michael Chiarello at his estate.

In 2007 a classmate of mine and a bunch of other folks were getting ordained at his church in one of the southern states and a celebrity tele-evangelist was invited at the mega church to do the honors for $49,000. In fact, celebrity pastors were paid to speak for 20-30 minutes for a whooping price of $10,000 - $15,000 at any convention or important event in the same year.

Is this the type of glory Jesus manifested or even talked about in His leadership? Let us turn to Mark 10 and see what Jesus has to say about the glory of Christian leadership.

Introduction: Many people treated Jesus like a celebrity as they followed Him from place to place, listened to His teaching, observed His miracles, and sought healing from His touch. Yet Jesus was never self-important or aloof, but available to all. When His followers James and John were privately jockeying for position in His coming kingdom, Jesus reminded all His disciples, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all” (Mark 10:43–44).

In this text, Jesus expounds on His upside-down kingdom leadership paradigm.

What is worldly leadership but not godly (biblical) leadership?

(a) Verse 42: Jesus uses the word “you” three times. His goal is to contrast the world’s leadership principles with God’s leadership principles. Jesus describes how the world operates (10:42) and then contrast God’s kingdom with the world’s system (10:43–44). The world demands respect through pride, power, and pressure. The follower of Jesus is unassuming and seeks to exercise humility, grace, and service. In the world’s economy, the higher up you get, the more you are served. But in God’s economy, the higher up you get, the more you serve others. “The lowliest will be the loftiest. Those who give up most will get most.” The first is last and the last is first. Basically, Jesus pulls out the rug from underneath His disciples feet and deflates their plans of glory with the phrase found in verse 43, “Not so with you.” Jesus proposes an alternate model of leadership (vv.43-45) – Servant leadership!

What is the Glory of Christian Leadership?

1. SERVANT-HOOD (v. 43)

Jesus uses a subjunctive mood for “wish” (thele) which indicates that some will and some will not wish to be great or first. The term is also in the present tense indicating an ongoing desire or ambition. God’s goal is for you and me to wish to be great in His kingdom. Jesus makes a distinction between “servant” and “slave.” The word “servant” (diakonos) originally meant to heap dust because a good servant moved so fast that dust flew around him. Then it was used for the boys who carried the towels in the bath houses. In the religious sense, it took on the idea of one who ministered or rendered a service to another.

(i) Seek to “out-serve” others: Today needs to mark your commitment to have a “service contest” and out-serve your spouse, children, neighbors, coworkers, and church members. Of course, the best place to begin is in the home. Seek to make dinner, take care of the kids, do the dishes, sweep the kitchen floor, or clean the bathrooms. If some husbands and wives would start having a contest like this, we would see some wounded marriages start to heal. The reason is that in most troubled marriages, the problem is either one or two selfish people who want their own way. But when one person seeks to out-serve the other, God can move in a powerful way. Pray today that you will adopt an attitude of servanthood. And, remember, you can tell whether you are becoming a servant by how you act when people treat you like one. Climb down the ladder to greatness. (What could you do at Elim house or in our ministry?)

(ii) Serve in some small way: We are raised with a mindset of getting the most “bang for our buck.” You may want to make a splash in ministry. However, what impresses earth doesn’t typically impress heaven. Try serving God in little things. It’s wonderful to accomplish great things for Christ, but sometimes our greatest works are in the little things. Encourage a servant who is serving behind the scenes in your church (e.g., nursery, pastoral visitation, prayer ministry, facilities/grounds). Ask a servant/leader what you can do to serve her or him. Take the initiative to pick up garbage in the parking lot, take items to the lost and found, reorganize the pew Bibles, etc. Serving behind the scenes in small ways facilitates humility and ensures purity of heart. These acts are most likely to lead to great eternal rewards.