Photo by Jehyun Sung on Unsplash
Life requires leaders. You cannot fight a war, run a company, or get kids to church on time without some leadership skills. But where do we find the best leaders? What does good, godly leadership look like?
In Mark’s gospel, as Jesus heads to Jerusalem he gives his disciples a crash course in leadership.
On the road to Jerusalem, Jesus prophecies about what must happen to him when he gets there. “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death. Then they will hand him over to the Gentiles, and they will mock him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him, and he will rise after three days” (Mk 10:33–34). He repeats this three times to his disciples and each time they don’t get it. The first time, Peter rebukes him, and Jesus responds, Get behind me, Satan! You are not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns” (Mark 8:33). The second time, they don’t understand and are afraid to ask him. Probably because of what happened to Peter last time. The third time, they don't even consider Jesus’s words. In the next verse, James and John ask Jesus to give them seats of honour in his kingdom. Their ideas of greatness and their ideals of leadership don’t yet have a category for the cross.
Jesus corrects them and teaches them about truly great leadership.
Jesus called them over and said to them, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. But it is not so among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave to all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:42–45.
He calls them to be great in the things that matter to God, not in greatness according to the “rulers of the Gentiles.” Jesus builds a picture of great leadership in light of his death and resurrection, showing that the road to honour is the way of the cross. The best leaders are not perched above others. The best leaders lower themselves to lift others up. The best leaders are willing and glad servants.
The Lord of The Rings shows a contrast between leaders on a perch and leaders among people. Saruman, a powerful wizard corrupted by unchecked curiosity and a desire for power, walks onto the balcony of his tower with an army of 10, 000 standing below him. Here is the leader perched on high, sending his minions to do his dirty work. By contrast, Theoden, king of Rohan, rides into battle at the head of his army. While Saruman stays in his tower, Theoden rides shoulder to shoulder with his people.
Saruman uses his army to serve him. Theoden is a king who serves.
This lesson on leadership stuck with Peter. When he writes to the churches of the Diaspora, he calls the elders to “Shepherd God’s flock among you” (1 Pet 5:2). I’ve read that passage many times, but, just last week, the phrase “among you” hit home. The picture Peter paints is of pastors among the flock, leaders shoulder to shoulder, in the field with everyone else. It’s a picture of pastors without private security or special chairs on stage. Good pastors smell like sheep because good leaders don’t stand above but stand beside those God calls them to lead.
The cross provides the reason this kind of leadership is great according to God. True greatness is humble service because “even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” It takes true greatness to willingly descend from the throne in order to die on the cross.
The cross humbles us and exalts Jesus. It reveals our sin with piercing clarity and declares Jesus alone is the all-sufficient saviour. We are saved because he came to serve.
Jesus is truly great in what matters to God. Even after his resurrection Jesus still has scars from the cross. An ever-present reminder of the greatness of being a faithful, joyful servant. A mark of God-glorifying leadership.
Jesus doesn’t call us to be great for greatness's sake. He calls us to follow him. We cannot be great in the things that matter to God if we do not pick up our cross and follow Jesus. The best leaders are humbled by the cross. The best leaders walk with Jesus. The best leaders follow his example and come to serve not to be served.