Jesus as Servant Leader

Since servant leadership is so important to the mission of Beacon University it is worthwhile to explore that theme a bit more.

There is a great hymn to the Servant-Leader in Paul's epistle to the Philippians: "Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God, / did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, / but made himself nothing, / taking the very nature of a servant" (2:5-7). Although Jesus was the Son of God, he did not view his divinity as a prize to be seized; it was not his good fortune to be God, he simply was. The Message clarifies the meaning of verse 6 by paraphrasing it, "He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status." Instead, "he humbled himself" (v. 8), or emptied himself; he poured himself out for the sake of humanity.

In our pride and arrogance, human beings look to gain and protect status and entitlement. If that isn't bad enough, status and entitlement run two ways; if there is a higher class, that means there is a lower class; entitlement to privilege and power requires that some be kept poor and powerless. While this is how fallen human beings usually respond and act, it is the opposite of servant leadership.

Servant leaders have redemptive influence by being poured out for others. Jesus' servant leadership led him to the cross. At the same time, he calls his followers to take up their own cross, to be willing to be poured out for the sake of the cross. The great truth of life coming out of death is seen not only in the life of Jesus but in the lives of his cross-bearing followers.

It still seems absurd that radical servanthood might result in anything like leadership. Yet, Paul's hymn ends with, "Therefore," because Jesus emptied himself, "God exalted him to be the highest place / and gave him the name that is above every name" (v. 9). Evidently the servant-leader nature and strategy of Jesus was a perfect reflection of the Father's own nature, an important and essential aspect of divinity itself. Jesus was acknowledged as God because he came as a servant. As a result, in the end every tongue will confess that "Jesus Christ is Lord, / to the glory of God the Father" (v. 11).

But will servant-leadership work in the real world? Yes, if by the "real world" we mean the world under the Father's rule. Servant-leadership will result in real redemptive influence in and through our lives. In some cases, however, we may may, like Jesus, have to wait for the reward.