What’s at the Heart of Servant Leadership?

By Dan Schaffer

In previous articles I have shared how men have abdicated their roles of reproducing a heart for God within the church. We have looked at the father vacuum and the lack of a safe masculine environment within the church, and we have seen how these factors can be major barriers in our personal pursuit of God and in the church’s ability to be what God has called it to be. Now it is time to look at what could be the greatest barrier – the lack of biblical, servant leadership.

You may be asking, “Is it really all that important?” Christ certainly felt it was. In Matthew 20:25, Jesus gives one of the clearest and strongest commands in the New Testament. In essence, He tells the apostles that they are never to lead by “lording over” people, but they are to lead by serving. As I look at the Christian community, I see far too few examples of this. Let’s look at some fundamental elements at the heart of popular, controlling leadership as opposed to biblical servant leadership.

Popular Leadership Controlling Through:
Position
Privilege
Power

Biblical Leadership Serving Through:
Calling
Responsibility
Influence

First Kings 12:1-19 gives us a glimpse as to why servant leadership is so important as a new king is about to be crowned.

Controlling Leadership Results In:
Self Interest
Division
Rebellion

Serving Leadership Results In:
Unity
Trust

The consequences of these dramatically different leadership styles becomes clear when we look at them in light of John 17:21. The ability for Christ to be seen for who He is, the Son of God, is to a great extent determined by the unity of the church. It is our unity that allows Christ to be lifted up and the world drawn to Him. Could it be that our lack of servant leadership is obscuring Christ from our culture? And are we, therefore, participation in sending those in our culture to Hell? You see, if our model of leadership determines our level of unity, then it is clear why Christ told his disciples how they were not to lead; and it is equally clear that if we want to be part of accomplishing the Great Commission, we must lead as servants.

You may be asking, “Is this really an issue in the church?” George Barna writes, “The church is paralyzed by the absence of godly leadership” (Second Coming of the Church, George Barna, p. 101). Without clearly understanding where the church needs to go and who can take us there, we cannot address the challenges facing the church. For most churches the issue of leadership is not seen as very significant. “Only 2 percent of protestant pastors name personal or lay leadership communication or strategic development of ministry as top ministry priorities” (Boiling Point, George Barna, p. 246). It is critically important that we recognize the need to become servant leaders and reproduce that model of leadership in the church. If we do not, are we ready to reap the consequences of maintaining the status quo?

Reprinted with permission from Building Brothers, Winter 2002.

[ Return to Leadership Tips Index Page ]