Jesus, the Servant Leader
by Dr. Michael Easley, President
Moody Bible Institute
In the 1970s, the business world was mesmerized by a management essay, “The
Servant as Leader.” The author, Robert Greenleaf, asserted the intriguing
concept that the key to leadership was a servant attitude.
Now while this should not be surprising to us, it was revolutionary in a
world where the pecking order ruled. Everyone assumed that getting to the
top meant climbing over others, asserting your own strengths, and making
sure you were heard. Corporate executives as servant leaders? Impossible!
Jesus Christ exemplified servant leadership. Philippians 2:5-7 describes the
birth of Christ as an act of submission: “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, being made in the
likeness of men.” In His birth, His life, and His death, Jesus
Christ—the King of Kings—exhibited the qualities of a servant.
Jesus was born, not with the royal trumpets, but in a rural stable. He was
not born into wealth and grandeur; His parents were ordinary working folk.
Even His birthplace was crude: “And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and
she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no
room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). In a vivid way, this casts a shadow
over His entire earth experience. Jesus lived without a home of his
own. This king had no palace, no court, no trappings of a monarch. Instead
of being served, He washed His disciples' feet. “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 10:45).
When Jesus died, His passing was not noted with a regal procession. He died
on a cross and was placed in a borrowed tomb. The soldiers mocked His kingly
status, nailing a wooden sign saying, “King of the Jews” above his
thorn-pierced head (Matt. 27:37). How could this be a king?
Through His birth, life, and death, Jesus Christ demonstrated that leading
means serving: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and
take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will
lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save
it” (Mark 8:3-35).
Servant leadership. To minister means to serve. It means being willing to do
the jobs no one else wants to do. Jesus showed that service is often dirty,
humbling work. Service means esteeming others as better than ourselves. It
means listening when we'd rather be heard.
Pride finds no place in the heart of a servant. Imagine how it would change
the way we minister if we adopted the servant attitude of Jesus Christ. What
one area can you prayerfully pursue that would demonstrate that you are a
servant leader? May His perfect example motivate us for such service!
from the March 2007 issue of Today In The Word
© 2007 Moody Bible Institute