Servant Leadership

"Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave"
- Matthew 20:26-27

I was reading the Daily Bread today about "Lateral Violence". I did not get the verse at first, until I realised it was about servant leadership when I read the bottom of the page where it mentioned"Only the one who serves is qualified to lead".

Many of us have seen people in high up leadership positions abuse their power and exert their authority over others. Matthew 20:25 sums it all up (I shall use the New Living Translation) "But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them.".

Now I shall mention the rest of the verses until verse 28.
²⁶ But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. ²⁸ 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.”

And then it becomes clear. Jesus is the prime example of a leader that we should all follow. In His life, He served everyone a lot, from washing his disciples' feet to dying on the cross.

And to be honest, if I were Jesus, and I look down upon the vile earth who have taken Him for granted, I'll probably say "to hell with you all" (and maybe mean it literally).

But Jesus didn't do that at all. In fact He didn't have to come down to serve us! We didn't even deserve a single bit of His mercy. However, I can definitely say that His great love for us was what made Him come down to serve us...

So to lead is to serve, and when we serve, we do it out of love. Just like our Father did for us.

And now I leave you all with a song (images may be a bit graphic. I think they're from Passion of the Christ):



Lyrics:
How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocing voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that helf Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I knoww that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom
(REPEAT)
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A really beautiful song. Totally sums up the depth of God's love for us. This is what we should base our servant leadership upon - Serving altruistically.