Some may find it difficult to combine the two words: servant leadership. Together, they don’t make sense in a culture of self-promotion and self-centeredness.
However, in the New Testament, Jesus completely redefined leadership and re-arranged the lines of authority.
Being a healthy leader requires much more than being a ruler or a boss; it calls for dedication and sacrifice. Garry Collins wrote, “Great leaders do not lord their leadership over people, exercise control, and authority, or jockey to get positions of prominence. Great leaders, instead, are servers.” Simon Sinek agreed with his book entitled Leaders Eat Last.
Last Christmas, I highlighted Bob Briner’s The Leadership Lessons of Jesus.
This Christmas, we turn to a book a read this past September, The Servant-Leadership Style of Jesus: A Biblical Strategy for Leadership Development by Dale Roach.
Roach points out that becoming a servant was the foundational plan of Jesus’ ministry strategy. It is a practice that takes the proud and makes them humble. If an individual Christian desires to become a leader, he or she must become a true servant. How does this take place? This type of behavior only happens when Christians live in an ongoing, growing relationship with Jesus Christ, who was the creator and perfect model of servant-leadership.
Click here to learn more about the Servant-Leadership Style of Jesus Christ.