It is a sure proof of our spiritual ignorance that we Christians so frequently embrace and praise "leadership"styles" that have very little resemblance to the Savior's, and we commend "individual leaders "who have no real intention of bringing their lives into compliance with biblical servant-leadership.
Jesus Himself is the ultimate originator and model of servant-leadership. "You know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but whoever will be great among you, shall be your servant: And whoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to serve, and to give his life..."Mark 10:42-45
This distinctive and utterly radical model of leadership stands in direct contradiction to the norms of privilege and presumption that have always defined leadership in non-Christian circles. It is marked by radical giving instead of taking, and by being a true helper as opposed to requiring the help of others.
Unfortunately, these teachings of Jesus have been so conflated and synthesized with the popular versions of "servant-leadership" that even the most autocratic Christian leaders and organizations can imagine themselves to be operating in accordance with God's expectations. This can be the case even as they harshly grind the people in their ministries under the heels of their personal preferences and demands.
Business guru Robert K. Greenleaf coined the term "servant-leadership" in 1970, but he himself said quite clearly that he was not a devout Christian. Following his lead, even egotistical leaders in corporate and political arenas today loudly claim to be loyal advocates of servant-leadership and often, by extrapolation, advocates of the lofty teaching of Jesus on this subject as well.
Added to the general confusion in society over the exact meaning of servant-leadership is the confusion of Christians over the matter-the very ones who ought to know better. There are in existence today a number of openly Christian consulting services that address corporate leaders on a regular basis specifically on the subject of servant-leadership-something that would be, if done in Jesus' way, very hard to sell in the corporate world.
But it is monumentally important for us as Christians to be able to tell the difference between what passes for servant-leadership in the world today and what Jesus is actually calling His followers to do. Those differences, after all, could hardly be more stark and clear.
How would the so-called servant-leader in the U.S. military, for example, respond if a subordinate decided not to salute him, or if a subordinate took his designated parking space, or switched dining rooms with him, or handed off work to him late on a Friday afternoon because he didn't want to deal with it himself, or mocked his orders, or received larger paychecks than his own?
These are the things that real servants might have to accommodate patiently on a daily basis. These are the kinds of things that the Lord Jesus endured with grace on a daily basis. Perhaps (but only perhaps!) it would be impossible for the military to operate under a true servant-leadership paradigm. We can all live with that hypothesis, I'm sure. What is dishonest, however, is for a person in "Christian" leadership to take umbrage with insubordination or contradiction while also claiming to be a follower of Jesus' model of servant-leadership.
When a "Gentile authority," as Jesus terms him, encounters a subordinate acting on a preference contrary to his own, he will presume and demand compliance with his wishes. The sincere Christian, on the other hand, even if he clearly possesses the upper hand, will wish to accommodate the preferences of the other person-"to serve, and to give his life." And for anyone who has ever "dared" to explore the limits of servant-leadership, biblically and honestly, there are just two such limits awaiting his attention.
The first is spelled out so simply by Jesus: "to give his life." The authentic follower of Jesus quits serving and giving to others, not when he has gained enough rank or the upper hand, but when his life is spent. Not spent, we are reminded, in the protection of his own dreams and preferences, but in the protection of those who look to him for an example of true love in a twisted and oppressive world.
While a little harder to recognize in any given moment, there is one other limit to a believer's servant-leadership: the wishes of a sovereign God who is the ultimate Master of every Christian life. Of course, this is where the NONservant-leader will look for an easy exit from true Christian service and giving. He will use claims of God's "calling" at every turn to press and excuse his own agenda. Still, for the genuine Christ-follower, when the calling to serve and to give one's life for others is truly embraced, the wishes of our great Master in a particular issue probably will not be all that difficult to get right.
When God's written Word, the Bible, has not specifically addressed a matter, questions of whose preferences I am protecting are most helpful (my own preferences or others'?, those of my favorites or of all equally?, those of the few or of the many?). The servant-leader doesn't usually have too much trouble "knowing"the answers to such questions. "Facing"them and "acting on" them takes a little more devotion to Jesus. Well, actually, a "lot" more.
QUESTION: How do you know if a pastor, board member, or potential "game-changer" in a Christian environment is living in compliance with Jesus' teaching on servant-leadership? ANSWER: By how that person responds when someone actually "treats"him like a servant (i.e. by rejecting his point of view, handing off work to him, taking his designated parking space, mocking his opinion, negatively impacting his finances, etc.).
