Ask someone about their leadership style, and odds are they will respond with something about being a “servant leader.” Since the 1970s, management experts have popularized the concept that leaders aren’t there to be served but to serve. According to this philosophy, good leadership helps those being led to grow, and everyone’s goals are achieved as a result. The idea has taken hold to the point that practically everyone in management knows this is the “right answer” and what a leader is supposed to say.
Here’s the thing, though: servant leadership didn’t begin in the 1970s. It began with Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote, “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” (Philippians 2:5-7). As with all things with Jesus, it’s not enough to say we believe something or to apply a label to ourselves: we have to actually practice it.
You have probably worked for a “servant leader” who took credit for your work or was stingy with recognition. You have navigated receiving orders from someone who didn’t understand how things were done. Maybe you have even completed little vanity projects, activities that really didn’t advance the organization’s mission but that had to be done because a higher up said so. Leaders like this are not servants.
A servant isn’t selfish or trying to impress others – including by calling themselves “servant leaders”. Instead, you “in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3). You value other people’s time as much as your own. A servant looks “not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4). You don’t ask someone to do something you aren’t willing to do yourself – or you at least take the time to understand what goes into it, value others’ input, and try to make the best decision for everyone.
Servanthood isn’t something that just happens. It requires a change in how we think, relate, and ultimately act – but it can be done. This mind is ours in Christ Jesus, if we’re willing to do more than talk and put His example into practice.
Ready to learn from Jesus how to really serve? Check out our “Make Me a Servant” series on our sermon podcast page.