Since the dawn of time within every organization there has been a structure of leadership. It is both necessary and appropriate, for without structure, chaos would ensue. We see leadership structure in companies, churches and governments. Someone holds the top office (CEO, senior pastor, president) supported by a curated staff of leaders who in turn, oversee specific areas of responsibilities (finance, manufacturing, sales, missions, military, etc.). We can see the necessity for this structure in Exodus 18:17-23, where Jethro advises Moses to select rulers of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.
The disciples knew that any new governmental structure would necessitate leaders. It would be obvious to the disciples that, as they stood in the inner circle with Jesus, they would be part of His leadership team. The excitement of the overthrow of the Roman government and installment of a new Kingdom led by Jesus, and the ignorance of what the Kingdom of Heaven on earth would look like clouded the thinking of the disciples. To compound the issue, consider Jesus’s words just before the parable of the vineyard in Matthew 19:28 (NKJV). “So then Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
We see in Matthew 20:20-28 Jesus’s cousins James and John (the sons of Zebedee, aka the sons of thunder) seeking to establish their place in the new coming Kingdom. This is a normal, intuitive, behavior — to seek promotion, position, and rank. Greatness and value are perceived by one’s position in a hierarchy and the subsequent ability to exercise authority.
The counterintuitive truth is that, in God’s Kingdom, greatness is found in submission not command. Another way to see this is that leadership is not about being the one in charge and having your bidding accomplished by others in the manner that you want. In God’s Kingdom, leadership greatness means considering the well-being of those under your charge — seeking the best for those under your lead.
In God’s economy leadership is serving God first and then serving the people who are within the span of your responsibility. Leadership in the Kingdom of God on earth is 180 degrees out of phase from normal earthly institutions. Several key details should be considered. First, EACH member of Christ’s Kingdom is connected directly to God through the indwelling of the Spirit. Unlike human institutions, the CEO in the Kingdom of God is always engaged on every level with every one of His subjects. Furthermore, there is no point where Christ depends on a chain of leaders for knowledge of a certain situation. Christ is already all-knowing and unhindered by lack of information. The focus of caring for people replaces the titles, privileges, position and authority. A leader is one focused on doing the bidding of God. God would have us support, lift, train, encourage and mentor, those “under” our leadership, and not exercising “authority” (command and control).
Consider Verses 26 and 27.
“Whoever would be first” — Whoever would be a leader …
“Must be your servant” — the word servant translated is “diakonos” — one who executes the commands of another, especially of a master. The master, in this case, would be God. So a leader would first be focused on executing the commands of God, not having others execute their commands. This requires understanding God’s primary aspirations. We know that first and foremost God would desire that ALL of mankind would come to know and be known by Him in a personal relationship. We also know that God would then desire that all of those would then grow and thrive in that personal relationship.
“And whoever would be first must be your slave” — Duolos: devoted to another, an elected master, to the disregard of one’s own interests. Luke 9:23 tells us that if we desire to follow Jesus, we must die to our personal agenda and daily submit our lives completely to Him.
Perhaps the greatest example of this counterintuitive truth can be found in Philippians 2:5-11. Though being God, Jesus laid aside His nature and took on the form of a human bondservant — “duolos.” The truth proclaimed in this passage clearly demonstrates Christ’s commitment to serve God’s greatest desire — to make salvation accessible to ALL mankind, and for all His people to grow in that personal relationship, knowing and submitting to being known by God.
It is impossible to be a great spiritual leader without being a great follower. Without complete submission to our elected leader (God) we will not have the ability to effectively accomplish the mission of the King. Ultimately in God’s economy selfless service is Kingdom leadership.
Our relationship with Christ is strongest when we are the most submissive. We have more power, spiritually, when we seek to serve others from the love of Christ within us … sacrificing our own agendas to achieve His Kingdom goals.
As a parting shot about human leadership, the Apostle John, in his often unread third letter, writes of the awkwardness of worldly leadership in the church. He exposes a man named Diotrephes who never got any of Jesus’ memos regarding leadership. “I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.” (3 John 9-10, NKJV) The first phrase says it all: “Diotrephes, who loves to be first … .” The spirit of this man is alive and well in many churches throughout our country. It may be one of the greatest sources of “church-hurt.” It destroys the dynamic interaction of all the Body parts working together under the direction of Christ by supplanting Him as Head of His Body. It describes the antithesis of genuine servant leadership while embracing fully a worldly definition of leadership.
What makes Christian leadership counterintuitive?
The world’s opinion of the perfect leader will likely fail in the genuine New Testament Church. However, could the counterintuitive spiritual leadership style revealed in Scripture be a viable form of leadership in a business or government setting? (Explain why or why not.)