United Graduate College and Seminary Student - Article 3 on Leadership

Gilbert Quarcoopome

Gilbert brings this third of four articles on Leadership. He is a graduate student of United Graduate College and Seminary International. He has his Bachelor of Christian Leadership and is looking to begin his Masters program soon. Gilbert lives in Ghana Africa and does his studies online from his home with UGCS International.

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This brings me to next point which implies that Christian leadership is more of servant leadership as stated in Mark 10:42-45

1. Servant Leadership is not Self-Centered - Matthew 20:20-28

The servant leader is not preoccupied with what they gain from leadership. They are not interested in status - they are happy to see others promoted ahead of them. Neither are they concerned with comfort - they willingly undergo hardship and suffering.

2. Servant Leadership is Others-Centered - John 13:3-16

The servant leader willingly humbles oneself in order to meet the needs of others. They are not too important or dignified to undertake even the lowest of tasks and they do so with no thought of personal gain.

3. Servant Leadership is God Honoring - Philippians 3:3-11

The servant leader follows the example of Jesus and gladly relinquishes status and power for the benefit of others. They do not hang on to leadership because they know it is not a privilege to be contested, but an honor to be conferred.

Servant leadership is best defined by Jesus Himself: “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt 20:26-28). In the Christian realm, all leadership should be servant leadership.

A common misconception among those who want to exercise a leadership role over others is that it comes with glory, power, and positions of honor. In fact, such a mistaken belief was the occasion for Jesus’ words in the above passage. James and John had just asked Jesus to place them at His side when He assumed His throne in the kingdom to come. As a result, the other disciples became indignant at the arrogance of their request (Mark 10:41). And as an object lesson, Jesus modeled the true servant style of leadership. He, the Lord incarnate, bent down and washed their feet, teaching them the true measure of leading by first serving others (John 13:12-17).

The word “servant” in Matt 20:27 means, “slave.” Not every servant was a slave, but every slave was a servant. It is a sad commentary in the church today that we have many celebrities, but very few servants. There are many who want to “exercise authority” (Matt 20:25), but few want to take the towel and basin and wash feet. Paul reminds us that our attitude is to be like that of Christ’s in that we consider others better than ourselves and do nothing out of vanity or selfishness. Rather we look out for the interests of others (Phil 2:3-4). In this sense, then, every Christian is a servant.

The fourth and final part of this article will be posted soon.