Spiritual Leadership Training: Humble Service

PRAY

Jesus has his work cut out for him. The task is to teach his disciples, in the remaining time that he has with them, how to lead well when all of their examples of leadership have been, frankly, terrible. Nobody leads like Jesus—the way that he would have his followers lead.

The Romans and other Gentile rulers use their positions of authority to browbeat those under them into behavioral subjection. They wear a thin veil of being kind benefactors (Lk 22:25), but only to mask that they are greedy for power; they are ruthless tyrants.

The Pharisees and scribes have proven that they are hypocrites and false guides. They don’t lead as firm but loving shepherds who will give their lives for the sheep. (That would be the new way of Jesus.) Instead, these Jewish religious leaders are self-righteous and self-aggrandizing.

So Jesus here aims at correcting the wrong heart posture of the examples his disciples have seen, knowing well that self-elevation is a struggle too in their own hearts.

Luke 17:5–10 ESV

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ”

The privilege of a leadership position has the tendency to tempt a person toward pride. Spiritual leadership is no different. If we are not careful to view God and ourselves rightly, it can lead to a misrepresentation in our own hearts of merit before God, or that we are deserving of praise and recognition, or that we are of our special value to his mission.

Another connection to the preceding verses (5-6) might also be… that when we have genuine faith in God, and God graciously produces fruit, when he grants results… it can lead to pride in our hearts if we are not consciously humble, recognizing who deserves the credit.

So as we come to vv. 7-10, Leon Morris explains that “Jesus teaches humility by referring to standard practice with slaves.” -Leon Morris, Luke: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 3, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 274.

Similarly, Darrell Bock says, “[The parable] illustrates the ideal attitude that a disciple should have in serving God.” (Bock, 1392)

That’s the direction we’re heading: If God gives us the privilege and opportunity to serve others for his glory, do we expect some kind of praise, recognition, or reward? Or is the proper heart attitude a humility that elevates God and his glory, knowing that belonging to him is the highest reward we could ever hope for?

Let’s consider how Jesus’ brief parable leads us to an attitude of humble service, even or especially as a right heart for leadership.

The hypothetical scenario Jesus puts before them as a parable is like he is saying, “Imagine that you have a slave...” - doulos - bondservant, slave

Imagine What Now? (v. 7a)

The parable is difficult for us to relate to on a couple of levels: On a pragmatic level, none of us are slaves, nor do we have any slaves. It’s fair to say we don’t even know any slaves.

On a philosophical level, we have an aversion to the concept of slavery, both culturally and biblically. Since all people are created in God’s image (according to the Bible), we can hardly fathom that anyone at any time in history ever thought it was ok to own another human being. But the ease with which we now see that point of view, we must admit, is partly due to our cultural perspective on the importance of individual freedom as a matter of human dignity. (Not every Christian in history has stood where we are.)

That doesn’t absolve us entirely of the difficulty of how the Bible handles slavery, because it is fair to say that Jesus, in our record of his teaching, does not condone or condemn slavery. Nor do other NT writings condemn the institution of slavery directly; instead, they teach people how to live in light of the institutions of their time (slaves, treat your masters with all respect; masters, treat your slaves the way you want God to treat you). To be clear, neither the old or new testaments approve of evils like slavery, polygamy, and divorce. But the Bible does give instruction on how to live in certain contexts where the institutions are already in play.

One important final thought concerning slavery is that I believe the Bible DOES ultimately denounce slavery, not only in the broad concept of the imago dei in every human life, but also more directly in the interaction between Paul and Philemon over Onesimus. Paul instructs Philemon to receive Onesimus “no longer as a slave . . . but as a dear brother”—and he appeals to Philemon to “receive him as you would receive me” (v. 17). The result of the Gospel, of Jesus making both men God’s children, is that the relationship ought to no longer be slave/master but brother/brother.

With that understanding of our difficulty and distance regarding lessons that include slavery in the Bible, we must see simply that Jesus used parables as vivid and living illustrations of spiritual realities based on stories or examples that his listeners understood well from practical life in their own day and time.

Parable: The Servant’s Duty (vv. 7-9)

Straight from the field to serving the food: Although an extremely wealthy household would have had separate slaves for such roles, “Most slaveholders had few slaves; thus the slaves did both fieldwork and food preparation.” -Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Lk 17:7–10.

So perhaps the slave has been plowing in the heat all day, or tending the sheep all day. He’s no doubt hungry and tired. When he gets back, the master does not say to him, ‘Take a load off. Here’s some food I’ve prepared for you. Thanks for all your fine work today.’ - Not that there would be anything at all wrong with that kind of grateful leadership! But the point of the parable is to teach humble leadership, but the assumption in the parable is that the slaveowner isn’t going to be like that.

Jesus taught and modeled a leadership that was different:

Luke 12:35–37 ESV

“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.

Luke 22:24–27 ESV

A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

The point of the parable in Luke 17:7-10, then, is for the leader to think of himself as the servant, not as the master… in order to help him have the attitude he needs to serve like Jesus even when he is in the leadership role.

Instead of the master serving him, the master tells the tired and hungry slave, “Prepare supper. And when you’ve finished making it, get cleaned up and dressed so that you’ll look presentable and smell good for serving me dinner. … When all that is done, then you too can eat.”

Finally, Jesus asks, “And if the servant does all these things as is his duty, does the master of the house heap praise on him and thank him profusely for doing what he was told?” - The obvious answer to this rhetorical question is, “No.”

Now as Jesus frequently does, he gives the conclusion and application of the parable. He clarifies that this is a comparative picture of the disciples’ service to God:

The Attitude of Spiritual Leadership Is Humble Service (v. 10)

Your heart approach before God should be: We are not worthy of special praise. We have only done our duty.

The single textually challenging element in v. 10 is how to interpret the Gk word achreios - It means worthless (useless, unprofitable) in Mt. 25:30, where the worthless servant is cast into outer darkness. Or it can also mean unworthy (low, humble). Surely that is the best understanding in this context - undeserving of special praise; not having produced anything to merit unique favor.

The question being asked is this:

Do we merit special praise or reward for serving God?

The humble servant leader knows that he doesn’t deserve God’s favor. The humble servant leader knows that he isn’t gaining for himself extra favor with God by serving him.

“Christians should acknowledge that God owes them nothing and that they owe him everything, even their very lives.” -Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1992.

There is a paradigm-shifting difference between performance-based acceptance, and acceptance-based performance.

If I do not demonstrate my skill and value, I will not make the team.

vs.

Because I am certain that I am a loved and accepted and protected member of this family, and I know that what I do reflects what this family stands for, I desire to be a model member of the values we represent.

THAT’s what the good news of the gospel of God teaches us. Have you accepted that God will receive you as his child if you will forsake everything else (your sin and your self effort) to believe in and follow Jesus?

If you have never truly submitted your life to Christ, may we invite you to entrust your soul to the care of God by faith in Jesus?

To be faithful to what God teaches in his word, I must warn you that the path you are on, which is or was true of all of us… The path of sin and self-reliance is leading you toward ultimate and eternal destruction. If you do not confess your sin and turn from loving sin and loving self and turn to God, if you do not believe in Jesus as your substitute for sin and as resurrected and exalted Lord, then you will remain under judgment (because a perfectly holy and just God burns with righteous wrath against sin, and therefore against sinners).

But at this time God is patient with you. God demonstrated the depth of his love for the ones created in his image (mankind), sending Jesus to be perfect where Adam failed, to be a complete sacrifice where all previous ones were but partial and temporary (shadows of the Lamb of God who can truly take away and forgive sin), who died for your sin and rose again to prove his power over sin and death, and whom the Father has exalted on high in his rightful place.

If you commit your present life and eternity into the hands of God, accepting Jesus and entrusting your whole life and being to God, he promises to not only rescue you from eternal punishment and grant you eternal life with him, but also to give you his very presence in your life even now by the indwelling of his Holy Spirit.

Through faith in Jesus comes assurance in life... and in death. Through faith in Jesus we have hope for the future, understanding for the present, purpose for living each day to the glory of God and to make Jesus known to others in need, and a local and global family that is bound tightly together by the unbreakable cord of spiritual life in Jesus Christ.

God will receive all the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, now and forever. Jesus invites you even now to join in the mystery and marvel of becoming a child of God, to worship the one true God now and forever.

… As believers, we are accepted and protected members of God’s family. And we know that we were not brought in by our own merit, so neither should we think that our service merits us special praise or reward. If there is any reward to be had for faithful service in this life, let it be the pleasure of pleasing God. And if God chooses to somehow reward faithfulness in heaven, then surely a key factor in that would be humble servant leadership… like Jesus.

How might we summarize what we’ve seen today, and in our effort to pull together the 4 lessons of vv. 1-10?

The single most important requirement for being a spiritual leader is to have a heart of humility.

Leadership is not lordship but stewardship.

Leadership is submission to God and service to others. - The Christian spiritual leader ought to by so committed to sincere submission and service to God, so devoted to the heart and mission of Jesus, that he should be able to walk humbly before God in a manner of life that says,

Follow Me As I Follow Christ

The Apostle Paul publicly proclaimed and lived that everything of himself was rubbish, and all that mattered was knowing Christ (Phil 3:7-9). This same humble spiritual leader was therefore able to tell brothers and sisters in the faith:

1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

You are to imitate me, just as I imitate Christ. (Berean Study Bible) Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. (NIV) And what example is that?

Philippians 2:5–11 ESV

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

We are blessed as his followers that the one who is the authoritative head of His church is also our supreme example to follow (of humble servant leadership).

Our assurance is that we cannot go wrong if we will stay tethered to following Jesus and leading others to follow Jesus: He is the message and the model.

Our hearts are humbled to get to belong to him. Our hearts are humbled that he might be pleased to use us in any way that he chooses.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we plead with you to grant our hearts the humility to bow before you. Teach us to fear you, seeing you as you really are, and teach us to follow the example of our Lord Jesus. We are convinced that knowing you better grows into a complete trust in your goodness and power, and it leads us to love you because you are the goal that our hearts long for. And may your grace be our strength to obediently serve you and to lead others to know you and serve you, not only because it is our duty, but because it is our highest good and joy to aim for your ultimate glory. Amen.

Communion:

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