Lead
Like Jesus
"Not
so with you"
Jesus
was a master of one-liners. A mother of two of His disciples
came to Jesus asking that her sons would be granted the
places of honor and power in His Kingdom, the seats on His
right and left. Jesus responded by asking two of the brothers
if they could drink the cup He was going to drink. This
question was preparing them for the lesson He was about
to teach all of His disciples. When the other brothers heard
about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. Jesus
called them together and said, “You know that the
rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high
officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you.
Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be
your servant” (Matt. 20:25-26).
This
one-liner cuts to the heart of discipleship. God’s
people are not like the world and do not live by world standards.
In the world power, position, and prestige define people
and are sought after. Not so with us. Our place of honor
is serving. “Whoever wants to be great among you must
be your servant – just like the Son of Man did not
come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as
a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:27-28).
Jesus
isn’t asking us to die for our people. But He’s
saying “not so with you” in terms of traditional
leadership. He’s mandating that we set a clear vision
that is going to help the world. For followers of Jesus,
servant leadership isn’t an option; it’s a mandate.
Servant leadership is to be a living statement of who we
are in Christ, how we treat one another, and how we demonstrate
the love of Christ to the whole world. If this sounds like
serious business with profound implications—it is!
The
vision has to be something bigger than you are. Once that’s
set, the Lord’s mandate is servant leader behavior.
Servant leadership starts with a vision and ends with a
servant heart that helps people live according to that vision.
-
Adapted from Lead Like Jesus, by Ken Blanchard &
Phil Hodges
