Leadership Equals Servanthood

         When a business or secular organization is looking for a new Director or President, they often have a very specific list of qualifications they want in the man or woman they choose.  He must have attained a certain level of education, preferably from the right school.  He must have a certain reputation in business circles.  Perhaps it’s leadership development skills that are being sought, or a certain style or philosophy of leadership.  Often a qualifying factor is the success record a leader brings with him, either in profits earned or products sold.  We judge a man by the way he presents himself and the record he brings with him.  We may also factor in how impressive he looks and the charisma with which he speaks.

         When Christian ministry is looking for a leader, it often tries to use the same approach.  We look first at education level and denominational background.  Perhaps we then look at the church or ministry that is being left and how much success was achieved, how many people were converted or the numbers involved.

“…Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” 

Mark 10:43-45

         Jesus points us to a different measuring stick.  When we are looking for leadership we are to look directly at the heart.  “He who shall be great among you shall be your servant.”  A leader in the body of Christ is to be the one who is willing to set himself aside and wash feet.  He is the one you might mistake for the gardener or janitor when you come upon him unexpectedly, and indeed he might be the gardener or janitor.  He is the one who is willing to do whatever is needed for the good of the Church.

         “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant…” (Phil. 2:5-7).

         We don’t often look for a servant’s heart as the primary qualification of our leadership.  We like talented people, people with a little flash and charm.  We forget that God values humility, a willingness to be obedient regardless of what is asked.  He wants us to be like Him. God lists very specific qualities that are to be present in the people we choose to teach and lead us. 

Leadership, done God’s way, is very different from worldly leadership.  Ministry is not a business.  Perhaps one of the most important qualifications of a church or ministry leader is that he knows the difference.

Do you want to be great in God’s kingdom and do big things for Him?  Get out the basin and the towel.  Practice a servant’s heart.