Servant Leadership: Serving As Jesus Did

An article by

Pastor Bobby

But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.

Luke 22:26 (ESV)

I have always had a deep passion and love for leadership. No matter the style, model, or the type of leadership. I LOVE THE STUDY OF LEADERSHIP! One of the reasons I love leadership so much is because I feel that every Christian and follower of Christ is called to be a leader of some sort. And why I say this among other reasons is that there are many Bible verses about how to be a good Christian leader. So I would take that as a sign that we are all called to be leaders in some sort of way. Another reason I love leadership is because leaders are all around us. And we can learn something from them all. The good leaders and the bad leaders can all teach you about something. They can teach you how to deal with people. How to motivate, or how not to motivate. And so much more. Because of these reasons, I feel that one of the callings that God has placed on my life is as someone to be used by God to raise up effective Christian leaders. One of the ways to do this is to study one of the greatest leaders who have ever lived. And to look at one of the models of leadership they used. So today I want to look at the servant leader Jesus Christ.

I want to do this, because this model of leadership is so foreign to most people. In the Christian world it might be a little more known. But it is more taught about, rather than practiced. And since Jesus taught it, and practiced it. We as His followers should do the same. Besides, I am a firm believer that practicing servant leadership will not only bring people to Christ, increase our influence, and help others to become servant leaders. Like I said before, I believe that every Christian is called to be a leader. So we need a solid model to model this for us. That model is Jesus Christ. In Matthew 20:28 Jesus says, “even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (ESV) Jesus says plainly in this passage, that He did not come to be served but to serve others. Which for one is huge for the son of God, God in human flesh to say this. But second, Jesus wants to serve those who follow Him. And He wants to do this in a couple of ways. First Jesus wants to be our salvation. He wants to die for our sins, so that we could spend eternity with God. Other ways he served His followers were to feed them both physically, emotional, and spiritual. Jesus also washed the feet of His disciples. This is just some of the ways that He would serve his followers. So we must try to do the same as His followers. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (ESV). What Paul is saying in this verse is that we should copy the things Paul does. Because he copies the things Jesus does. So Paul is telling us to be like Jesus and model our walk after Him. So we as well must do the servant leadership model, because it was a leadership style that Jesus practiced.

So, what is servant leadership? Now this may seem like an obvious answer, especially with the opening of this article. But if we want to be able to do servant leadership effectively, we need to be able to know exactly what it is. The definition found online for servant leadership is, “Servant leadership is a leadership philosophy that prioritizes serving others and fostering their growth. It is characterized by behaviors and practices that focus on the well-being of those being served, rather than traditional leadership where the main focus is the organization's success.” So the main part that is so important in this model. Is that the leader in this model is focused on serving their followers, and helping them grow. These two keys are very important when serving people. So you can then make the jump that they would be very important in servant leadership as well. But if you want to shorten what this model is truly about in just a couple words. You can simply say this type of leadership is all about people. To go even further, biblical servant leadership is about people and connecting them to God. This is the best service we can do for anyone. This is also the type of service Jesus did for the 12 disciples and all of His other believers. He would serve them by putting value into their lives, and allowing them to buy into the mission of the group. Everyone who followed Jesus had a role. Which was to go out and make disciples and serve them. This has to be at the core of every servant leadership. If you are not allowing people to buy in and do things, and allowing them to serve others. Then it is not true servant leadership. As I said, biblical servant leadership is serving others by building them up, connecting them to the savior, allowing them to become leaders and serve, and having them go out and do the same. Now there is also the other obvious part of servant leadership. Which is helping your followers with their needs. When looking at the gospels Jesus not only helped people with their spiritual needs, which was the main reason Jesus became human in the first place. But Jesus also fed his followers, and cleaned their feet. So He helped them with their physical needs as well. “13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15 Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children” Matthew 14:13-21 (ESV). This verse shows us that after Jesus preached. He saw that the people were hungry, and so he fed them. Jesus saw the need and helped them with that need. Or you could also say that He served them. And because Jesus did this His disciples were able to see Him perform a miracle. I remember when I first started doing inner-city ministry. One of the first things I learned is that there are many people who will come for help with a physical need or physical services. Then they will stay for spiritual help and service. Now of course there are times that people will only stay for physical needs. But serving those physical needs often shows your followers that you truly care for their needs both physical and spiritual needs.

So, how as followers of Christ do we practice servant leadership? I think it kind of depends on the situation and group we are serving in. But the basics are the same… we serve them. This is not meant to be funny or sarcastic. But the main part is by serving their needs, both spiritual and physical. Now again it depends on the type of group. Is it a small group, a youth group, or a church? Is it to youth, middle age people, a group of homeless people, or people who have addictions. You first see how to serve their needs Then you see how you can move them from that need to connecting them to Christ. Then from there you have them buy into the mission of the group. Now this can be effective both in Christ centered groups and secular groups. If you are a grocery store manager, what is your mission? To serve your customer the best you can. If you are a youth pastor, what is your mission? To connect you to Jesus Christ, and discipling them into a disciple maker so they go out and do the same. Once they buy into the mission you allow them to serve. This couple be by teaching, by serving food, sharing their testimony, or so on. Now of course this is all through the prayers of being used by God to reach more people. But I believe that these steps are the best way to do biblical servant leadership. Now of course while you are doing this, you are also discipling and being used by God to bring them closer in their relationship with God. Remember our main mission as believers is to glorify God in all we do, and make disciples of all nations. “18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV).

The last thing we need to remember about Servant leadership is that. Servant leadership and discipline making goes hand and hand with each other. As I said before, a big key part of servant leadership is to feed into our fellows and develop them into servant leaders or discipline makers. Now depending on the size of the group, you might not be able to discipline everyone in the group. So you would have to start with one or two people first. Like what Jesus did to Peter, John, and Andrew. And once they are at a good maturity in their faith. Then they can help you discipline the rest of the group, or go out and make their own group that they can be a servant leader to. Our purpose is to raise people up and send them out. This is what Jesus did to all of His followers. And is what we need to do as well.

In closing, I pray that God will use you all in your servant leadership journey.