For those looking for some real meat to sink their teeth into, here it is. This book by Gilbert Bilezikian took me awhile to finish but it was well worth the effort. Taking the time to chew and digest Gilbert’s comments about authentic community, real leadership and the role of women in ministry was eye-opening. Below is an excerpt about servant leadership. Get your steak knives out!
Because Jesus knew that the kingdom he was bringing was not of this world, he also knew that it would not be structured like the kingdoms of this world. Early in his ministry, he made it clear that his kingdom would be for the poor in spirit, the meek, and the merciful. But his disciples lived in a world where these sorts of people were ruthlessly crushed at the bottom of the pyramid of hierarchies that made up their social environments.
The pecking order was an inescapable reality of daily life, whether in the home, at the marketplace, in the synagogue, or in political life; everyone had to assume one’s appropriate rank on multiple ladders of hierarchy in consideration of birth, race, gender, fortune, and influence. This mentality was so pervasive that the disciples could not think of the kingdom of God in different terms. They knew that Jesus was dedicated to the task of launching a new community. They also realized that they would be the charter members of this organization. Because they were the first participants, they also thought that they should be foremost in it. But there were twelve of them, and all twelve of them could not be in first place. So, they argued among themselves as to “who was the greatest” (Mark 9:33-34). They were in competition against each other for the position of front-runner in the kingdom of Jesus Christ!
When Jesus learned of the disciples’ contest, he sat down. Their discussion was a hard blow to him, and he took it sitting down. Gathering the Twelve for an emergency teaching session, he summarized his message in the following words: “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all” (9:35).
Jesus did not condemn as wrong the desire to be first. Leaders are needed, and the desire to use one’s gift of leadership is legitimate. But Jesus transformed the concept of leadership by redefining its style and the motivation for doing it. The style demands that roles of leadership be fulfilled not with the pride of one who comes first, not with the self-glory of one who wins a competition, but with the humility of one who comes in last. The motivation should not be the desire to rule, control, or command, but to support and assist others, just as a servant does.
In other words, leadership among Christians is not authority-intensive but service-based. Biblical leadership is willingness to fall behind in order to help those who are struggling instead of striving to be first and to win the competition for power. There is no command or instruction in the New Testament for any Christian to exercise authority over another. But there are strict orders for all Christians, including leaders, to act as servants within their communities (Matt. 20:26; Mar 9:35; Gal. 5:13; etc.).
In order to drive the point home, Jesus gave the disciples a living illustration of what it means to be servant to others. He brought “a little child” and had him stand in their midst, and then he took the child in his arms (Mark 9:36). The disciples had no use for children. They treated them as a nuisance and wanted them out of their way (10:13-16). But Jesus showed them the deep meaning of servanthood by making a child, who had no significance for the disciples, the most important person in the world for him at that moment. Jesus explained to them that by loving and serving lesser ones, as he was doing for the child, they would really be serving Christ and loving God, who had sent him to serve in this manner (9:37).
Jesus went on to reveal the servant-mindedness that motivates the Godhead by stating that he was willing to identify with the lowly child as closely as he was himself identified with the Father. By receiving children one received him, just as one who received him also received the Father. This was a complete reversal of the competitive, ascendancy-driven values of the world. It meant going all the way down the world’s ladders of hierarchy and lifting up those at the bottom above oneself. Concern for children, for the weak, and for the disadvantaged was not invented by welfare organizations. It was ordained by Jesus as an authentic expression of servant leadership (Matt. 25:34-40).
The disciples seemed to be bent on going out of their way to demonstrate how uncomprehending they were of Jesus’ teaching and of the ways of the kingdom of God. Not long after this teaching, Jesus caught them chasing away parents who wanted him to bless their children (Mark 10:13-16). Jesus became “indignant” and told the bumptious disciples, driven by upward mobility aspirations, that unless they became as submissive and unpretentious as the little children they were despising, they would have no part in the kingdom of God. In order to enter that kingdom, they had to receive it as a child does (v. 15). A child receiving the kingdom does not aspire to positions of authority and power. The kingdom is not for those who use it to position themselves above others but for those who enter it as servants.
Gilbert Bilezikian, Community 101
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