Biblical Eldership Church Leadership

Servant Leadership

is like saltwater; the more you drink the thirstier you get. The lure of power can separate the most resolute of Christians from the true na ture of Christian leadership, which is service to others. It’s difficult to stand on a pedestal and wash the feet of those below.”4 MARK 10:35-45: SACRIFICE, SERVICE, AND SUFFERING. In the most blatant display of selfish ambition and total disregard for the good of their ten colleagues, James and John ask Jesus to give them the two most prominent seats in His kingdom: “Grant that we may sit in Your glory, one on Your right, and one on Your left.” Their request immedi ately stirs bad feelings among the other apostles, as selfish ambition always does. Mark records that “the ten began to feel indignant with James and John.” Contrary to the glory James and John were seeking for themselves, Jesus calls the Twelve, in verses 38-45, to “sacrifice, service and suf fering.”5 John Stott, author and former rector of All Souls’ Church in London, insightfully contrasts the attitudes of James and John with those of Jesus who walked the way of the Cross: Yet the world (and even the church) is full of Jameses and Johns, go-getters and status-seekers, hungry for honor and prestige, measuring life by achievement, and everlastingly dreaming of success. They are aggressively ambitious for themselves. This whole mentality is incompatible with the way of the cross. “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give....” He renounced the power and glory of heaven and humbled himself to be a slave. He gave himself without reserve and without fear, to the despised and neglected sections of the community. His obsession was the glory of God and the good of human beings who bear his image. To promote these, he was willing to endure even the shame of the cross. Now he calls us to follow him, not to seek great things for ourselves, but rather to seek first God’s rule and God’s righteousness.6 MATTHEW 23:1-12: THE HUMBLE SHALL BE EXALTED. NO one un derstands religious pride like Jesus Christ does. In Matthew 23, Jesus exposes the awful pride, petty selfishness, self—superiority, legalism, and deception of religious hypocrites who love to exalt themselves:

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