Servant Leadership

I was going to find a story about a bad leader or boss to start this teaching, but then I realized, I didn’t need one. I bet most of you have experienced a bad leader sometime in your life. Maybe it was a pastor who couldn’t listen to different ideas, or a boss who made working for them an emotionally draining season, or a parent who didn’t equip you for life. In fact, many of you are sitting under bad leadership in some area of your life, even today. And if you are, I’m sorry. If, when I said, bad leadership, you thought of me, then I’m extra sorry (and we should probably talk).

When it comes to leadership, the scriptures are so helpful to us. They can help instruct us on how to endure difficult situations and how to positively affect change. But in today’s passage, as we go through the book of Mark, Jesus challenges us in our own personal leadership.

Pastor and author Craig Groeschel has two sayings regarding leadership that are helpful for us today. First, he says, “Leadership is influence. Everyone has influence.” Let that sink in for a second. Everyone has influence on someone so everyone needs to learn how to lead well. The second leadership saying he has is, “Everyone wins, when the leader gets better.”

So as we look at today’s passage, I invite you to examine your hearts and see if there is an aspect of growth as a leader, as an influencer, that God is calling you to today.

Mark 10:35–45 NLT

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.” “What is your request?” he asked. They replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.” But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?” “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!” Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.” When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. So 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. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. 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.”

Pray.

Like Andrew reminded us last week, Mark, the author of the gospel, has written an action-packed story that is about movement. Here, Jesus is leading his disciples to Jerusalem, where (spoiler alert) he will be falsely accused, unfairly tried, cruelly beaten, crucified, buried for three days and then resurrected.

James and John are brothers, who have a unique role as being two thirds of Jesus’ inner three, and having personally witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus. Between that, Jesus’ warnings about his upcoming death and resurrection and the miracles they witnessed Jesus doing, they began to believe that Jesus was going inaugurate a literal kingdom on earth in the very near future.

In Matthew 19:28 Jesus tells his disciples “I assure you that when the world is made new and the Son of Man sits upon his glorious throne, you who have been my followers will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” So James and John and thinking this is about to happen.

So they ask to sit at the right and left side of Jesus. In Psalm 110:1 the psalmist writes “The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.”” The idea of the right and left side of the King is that they want to be in this place of honor, of authority, of pre-eminence, where they are above everyone else.

Now, Jesus’ response to their request is interesting. First, he checks their hearts. Jesus is about to suffer and die and he asks them, are they are able to do the same. Most of us would, I think, respond like James and John do. “Of course!” “Anything for you, Jesus” But when push comes to shove, how willing are we to suffer like Jesus did, when most of us struggle just to give some time to prayer, reflection and study? When most of us who call ourselves Christians who are afraid to share the gospel with the people in our lives because it makes us feel uncomfortable? I fear that most of us avoid suffering, instead of embracing it as a part of our spiritual maturity.

James and John talked a big game but when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, they, like the rest of the disciples, ran away in fear. But thankfully that is not the end of their story. After that incident, when Jesus is resurrected, they are filled with the Holy Spirit and would go on to be world changers for Jesus. James would become the first of the disciples to be martyred. And after planting the church in Ephesus, John would be boiled alive for his faith, and then exiled to a mostly deserted island called Patmos. They would end up suffering and dying for their faith, just as Jesus predicted in our passage in Mark.

But the other interesting thing about Jesus’ response is that he tells them that the decision is not his. It belongs to the father. Jesus is fully God. He is of the same substance and nature of God. The apostle Paul says that Jesus is the exact representation of God. So if Jesus is God, how is there stuff he doesn’t know (like when he is going to return or who will sit on his left and right)?

It’s because Jesus has purposely limited himself when we became human. God is omnipresent, but Jesus limits himself to time and space. God is omniscient, but Jesus limits his foreknowledge when he is on earth. God does not need food, but Jesus limited himself with a body that ate and drank. Jesus limited himself by becoming fully human.

So James and John have made their big ask, Jesus has shot them down and all the other disciples are now indignant. What makes James and John think they they should be above everyone else?

Jesus gathers them all and he teaches them the true meaning of leadership. He says, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. 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.”” - Mark 10:42-45 NLT

Jesus’ main point is that kingdom-based leadership isn’t about authority or prestige; it’s about service. And to drive that home, he uses himself as the example.

In verse 45, Jesus uses the title “Son of Man” to refer to himself. This title goes back into the Old Testament. It most commonly goes back into two books.

The prophet Ezekiel uses it as the name God calls him in his book. God refers to Ezekiel as “Son of Man” and commands him to instruct Israel and to speak prophetically. Ezekiel is empowered by God as a prophet and so that title implies divine authority.

The other place the term “Son of Man” is used is in Daniel

Daniel 7:13–14 NLT

As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.

Where for Ezekiel, the term was a human endowed with divine authority as a prophet, in Daniel, the term is used of the messiah and it proclaims his eternal authority and divinity. By taking the term for himself, Jesus is saying that he is the full embodiment of the Son of Man. He is telling his disciples that he is fully God and fully human and that he has all authority in heaven and on earth for all eternity.

But while Jesus starts verse 45 by claiming the title of the “Son of Man,” he finishes it talking about giving his life as a ransom. A ransom is a price paid in order to buy back something.

If I am kidnapped, my kidnappers will demand a ransom - an amount which my wife would give in order to get me back. Now, my wife is a smart woman so she’s going to think about the demand and discern if it’s really worth it. I say, if it’s more than $50, just leave me. I’ll preach Jesus so much to them they will let me go by either conversion or just plain annoyance.

In our passage, when Jesus mentions a ransom for many, He again connects his disciples, and us, to the Old Testament. Speaking prophetically about Jesus and his atoning death, the prophet Isaiah says,

Isaiah 53:11 NLT

When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.

Sin has kidnapped us and separated us from the God who loves us. We needed Jesus, the eternal Son of God, both fully human and fully divine, to pay our ransom on our behalf because no one else could - no one else is perfectly holy and sinless. No one else is eternal so that the sacrifice would be all-sufficient. Only Jesus could reconcile humanity to God and empower us so that by faith, we could have intimacy with God our father and receive forgiveness for our sins.

And if nothing else, I hope that everyone here today will consider this verse (Mark 10:45 “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 depending on where you are at, respond appropriately.

For those who are already followers of Jesus, your response is one of worship and adoration that God loves you so much that Jesus came to give his life as a ransom for you.

For those who haven’t yet chosen to follow Jesus, for those who are exploring Christianity, I plead with you, see in this verse the nature of God - that he loves you so much he sent his Son, Jesus, and allowed him to sacrifice himself on the cross because of his deep love for you. I plead with you, to let go of everything that is keeping you from following him and turn to Jesus. He loves you as you are and wants you to experience a life that is at peace with God.

This passage should cause us all to turn our hearts to Jesus. But it also has some leadership principles to teach us. So what is Jesus saying about leadership? He is saying, look at me - I’m the Son of Man, fully of eternal and supreme authority - and I didn’t come here for people to serve me. I came to serve people and to sacrifice my life for their sake, to help them be right with God.

When it comes to the idea of leadership, James and John were viewing it in light of the common monarchy that was prevalent in their time. They looked at the kings and those closest to them and saw their power and prestige. They see how people in the culture save the best seat, the seat of honor, which is next to the host, for the most important guests. The used the world’s definition of leadership at the time as the blueprint for Jesus’ rule and they wanted to be as high up as they could.

But Jesus’ view of leadership in the kingdom of God is radically different than how the kings and queens of the day saw leadership. They saw leadership as how you rule others from the top down. Jesus flips the script on them and teaches them that greatness and leadership is about how you serve others from the bottom up.

So how can this play out? Let me give you two servant leadership principles that will help you to lead like Jesus.

A Servant Leader Empowers Others

There are a lot of leadership areas where I still need to grow. But one area that I have been passionate about as a pastor is empowering others. When I was a youth pastor years ago, I would often play sports with my students. Sometimes basketball, but often it was floor hockey. And while I am not a gifted athlete, I was better than the average high schooler, mostly because they were still all gangly and uncoordinated. But as I played, I found more joy in setting up other players to score than I did scoring myself. I would often pass up easy goals and give the ball or puck to a student who, more times than not, wouldn’t score. But at least I gave them the chance. I figured out I would rather pass and lose the game than score on my own.

A bad leader micromanages because they believe that they have to be the gatekeeper of processes and that they alone know the best way to do something. They don’t trust people to do the work and they aren’t open to new ways of doing something. All this is often rooted in an insecurity that their authority will be undermined.

But in Jesus, we have a better way. Because our identity doesn’t rest in our performance, we are free to empower other people to succeed. We can rejoice when someone finds a better way of doing things than we have been doing it. We can share the platform, even if they aren’t as good as we are. We can learn from others and get better ourselves.

Look at what the Apostle Paul says,

2 Timothy 2:2 NLT

You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.

The mark of a leader is not how big your business or church is. It’s not how many sales you made or how many people you have reporting to you. The mark of a leader, as Jesus defines it, is how well you have empowered others to thrive. This is true in your business, in our church, and in your family.

As leaders at our work, servant leadership is about empowering staff to succeed. It means having space for people to share ideas. It means providing the resources for them to succeed. It means training people properly. It means providing opportunities to advance. It means regular reviews that are designed to build up your staff.

In our church, we want to see every one of you thriving. My heart as pastor here is to help you to encounter Jesus and equip you to live out your faith daily. I want to see each of you using your gifts and talents in service to our God. I love sharing this platform with anyone in our church who wants to, or wants to learn how to, preach the Word of God. We want to hear ideas of how we can better impact our community with the good news of Jesus.

In your families, you can help empower others. Parents: don’t raise good kids. Raise prepared people. You get 18ish years to prepare them for adulthood. Give them ever-increasing responsibility. Teach them to do their own laundry, to cook, to handle money wisely. Be present to them, listen to their emotional needs, and teach them how to live out their faith. Empower them to succeed by giving them the life skills they need.

A servant leader is about empowering other people. Jesus didn’t come to serve his own needs. He died so we could thrive and he calls us to lead like he does. So pass the ball, even if you lose the game. The servant leader cares more about empowering people than they care about elevating themselves.

A Servant Leader Embodies Humility

James and John’s request to sit at the right and left of Jesus reeks of pride. They wanted to be above everyone else. But a servant leader embodies humility.

In chapter 13 of John’s gospel, Jesus, the son of Man, the alpha and omega, the one through whom all things were created, takes off his outer clothing, kneels down and begins to wash the feet of the disciples. In a house that had multiple slaves or servants, the lowest one would wash the feet of guests, which, when you consider most people wore open toe sandals through dirt roads and fields, was extra gross. Jesus, the King of Kings, modelled to his disciples, and to us, humility.

To be a leader in the kingdom of God, you have to be humble and so here are a few ways that humility can play out in the life of a leader:

1. You have to be willing to serve in areas that bring you no glory. I have told young leaders who are thinking of being pastors, “you can’t preach from the pulpit if you won’t stack chairs.” You aren’t qualified to lead anything if you won’t clean a bathroom, or do dishes. If there is something that is “beneath you,” you aren’t fit to be a leader.

2. You have to admit when you are wrong. So many organizations lose great staff because the leader won’t t admit when he or she has made a mistake or is wrong. This is also true in families. How many family conflicts could be resolved with a conversation that says, “I was wrong. I’m sorry.”?

3. You have to assume God speaks to and through others. That means creating a culture where people can share ideas, use their gifts and can challenge how things are done.

Jesus humbled himself, to the point where he died on a cross for our sins, in loving service to us. He is the model of how we are to lead ourselves, our families, our teams, and those we work with.

Conclusion

Statistics are somewhere around 1/3 of people quit a job because of bad leadership. And bad leadership isn’t contained to the business world. Some of you grew up with parents who didn’t lead you well. Some of you are around toxic people who negatively influence you.

My heart for you today is twofold: First, that you would see the kind of leader that Jesus is and that you would worship him and follow him. Always, that’s my first heart for you. Secondly, I hope you evaluate your own leadership, your own influence and see where it may need to re-align to look more like Jesus’ because leadership for those of us in the kingdom of God is a servant leadership that empowers others and embodies humility.

Let’s pray.