Good morning,
Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant.
What does it take to be a leader in God’s world? At one point Mark tells us that Jesus called his ministry team together to give them God’s perspective on what it means to be the kind of leader that God longs to develop for the benefit of his eternal plan. He started with the contrast of how the world develops its leaders. The world wants people who are self confident, resourceful and able to give their followers a clear picture of where they feel they should be going. Jesus called it “lording over their people.” Jesus also pointed out that the world expects their leaders to be controllers who feel that they have the right to require their followers to do things they way they are told, and anything else will get them labeled as trouble makers. Jesus labeled it “flaunting their authority over their followers.” This works nicely for their followers because now someone else takes the responsibility for what they are doing in life.
Then Jesus gave them a completely different picture of what God expected from those who would be genuine reflections of their Heavenly Father. In God’s economy, leaders must be servants if they are going to genuinely demonstrate what it means to be a part of the family of God. Servant’s don’t give orders, they take orders. Servants don’t control their time and activities based on their own preferences. Servants do what their master arranges for them to do. Servants don’t get their value from how well they control things, instead they get their value from how well they obey the orders they are given. Then Jesus took them to a whole new level when he pointed out that if they really wanted to be first among those they were called to serve, they “must be the slave of everyone else.” The Bible in both the Old Testament and the New Testament gives us the picture of the shepherd lovingly caring for the sheep he has been given to lead. A real shepherd has a very demanding job when it comes to meeting the needs of the sheep. Taking care of sheep who want their own way but who have no idea of the dangers all around them, requires the focus of dedicated slaves who serve their master at their own expense of time and energy. Jesus ended his lesson with a personal example that they would soon understand in a whole new way. He said “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Dear Lord, please help us to listen and to learn what you meant when you defined leadership from your perspective.
Mark 10: 43 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Roy Wisner
