I recently read the book Servant Leadership by Robert K. Greenleaf. He says we live in the age of the anti-leader. Some intelligent and serious-minded people, who often have a strong egalitarian view of the individual, denigrate leadership and urge a leaderless society. Others simply ignore leadership as a critical problem; our vast educational structures devote very little care to nurturing leaders.
Therefore, Greenleaf says, we are in a crisis of leadership. Vast numbers of educated people make gross errors in choosing whose leadership to follow. Able and dedicated servants receive little incentive to take the risk of asserting leadership. By default, far too much of the inevitable leadership is in the hands of the gross, the self-seeking, and the corrupt. The outlook for better leadership in our leadership-poor society is not encouraging.
Greenleaf goes on, however, to talk about leadership emerging from a community of love and caring. He says "a new moral principle is emerging which holds that the only authority deserving one's allegiance is that which is freely and knowingly granted by the led to the leader in response to, and in proportion to, the clearly evident servant stature of the leader. Those who chose to follow this principle will not casually accept the authority of existing institutions. Rather, they will freely respond only to individuals who are chosen as leaders because they are proven and trusted as servants."
The question of leadership is one of very real consequence for us in our strategy for renewing or rebuilding the church because when we talk about rebuilding the church we are really talking about a reformation of ministry. Such a discussion touches the church at one of its weakest points.
We remember hired clergy doing most of the ministry in the church. All of us have taken some steps to rectify the sad lack of shared ministry and involvement of the laity in ministry. We have worked toward shared leadership—leadership arising out of and affirmed by a local body. This means no imposed leadership, no single leadership derived out of self-interest for status, credibility, or position.
We have also worked toward submitted leadership— leadership based on a willingness to submit and be open to correction. This means not only a commitment to minister together but a commitment to each other as leaders. Such leadership must be based on the ability to trust decisions that are made by one another and must be based on a two-way process of open communication. This is leadership not by consensus or democracy, but leadership based on fellowship relationships and commitment. Such leadership has a coordinating and equipping function is free of control and manipulation, and is ultimately submitted to the whole body and to its interests and needs.
The third goal we are working toward is servant leadership. I would like to explore this area more widely.
I suspect that we have all had experiences with leadership in our various communities that have shown us that we do not fully understand these principles on the practical level and that we still have much to learn. Often our practices do not match our intentions. We discover personal needs and motivations that get in the way of our desires to be servants and our ability to lead. We discover needs for approval and acceptance which make us self-conscious, insecure, and immobilized, and unwilling to take the risks which accompany leadership.
All of this can be beneficial in the sense that it can serve to being us to a place of humility that God desires for his servant leaders. It brings us to the place of no longer trusting in our own natural gifts and our own natural abilities. Our leadership is no longer based on any professional techniques. We come to understand how empty-handed we really are— how weak we are.
I think the apostle Paul shows us how not only to accept weakness and hardship but even to celebrate it. In 1 Corinthians 2:1-3, Paul says:
When I came to you brethren, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in much fear and trembling.
Paul's testimony about his ability to admit and accept his weaknesses is based on his decision to know nothing among them except the crucified Christ. Paul is saying that he has made a conscious choice to continue the testimony of the power of God that was displayed in Christ's death and resurrection. In 2 Corinthians 4:7-12 we read these words of Paul:
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.
Paul begins by saying that human weakness shows the power of God. He says in the verses following that there is a testimony in human flesh of the death and resurrection of Jesus, and that this testimony can produce life in others. It is difficult to believe that the unveiling of personal weakness will be life-giving, but that is one of the things that makes us approachable and accountable and credible as servant leaders.
The faith necessary for such vulnerability is based squarely on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and nothing else. In 2 Corinthians 4:14 Paul says, "Knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into His presence."
Furthermore, he desires to offer his weakness as grace. "For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving to the glory of God." Rather than seeing his failings as a problem and engaging in self-pity or withdrawal, Paul is able to turn this painful situation into one in which he offers grace to people. Paul concludes in verses 16 through 18:
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Paul continues his reflections in 2 Corinthians 6:4-10. He says:
...as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labors, watching, hunger; by purity, knowledge, forbearance, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good, repute. We are treated as imposters and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
These afflictions, it seems, commend Paul to the Corinthians. They give his ministry authority and credibility. It is not just the endured hardships which produce that authority and credibility, but also the ways in which he responds to them—his purity, knowledge, forbearance, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God. And his attitude in verse 10, "as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything," really begins to sound like celebration.
Later in the second letter to the Corinthians, he is truly celebrating weakness. In Chapter 12:9-10, we read in the context of his prayer about the thorn in the flesh:
...he [the Lord] said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities;for when I am weak, then I am strong.
He speaks of gladly boasting and contentment in that situation. In 2 Corinthians 13:9 he says, "For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong." He is celebrating that weakness.
Living Servant Leadership
We hardly think of our weakness and our suffering as something to celebrate. Other forms of leadership avoid suffering by way of protection, the protection of professional status. Our culture does everything to insulate us from weakness and suffering. But our lives' testimony of bearing the sufferings of Christ is very important. It establishes our identity and our authority as suffering servants.
In the established church, one leads out of skills and natural abilities and natural gifts. Such things alone do not establish leadership and authority. Our ability to be suffering servants is a testimony to renewal, to renewed and redeemed leadership.
It is also very important that as leaders we set examples in our communities in dealing with conflict, fear, violence, and hostility. That conflict can come from within the community or it can come from conflict with our culture; but as we experience that conflict we often get in touch with the fear, hate, and violence in ourselves. As we learn how to deal with this maturely we can live a testimony of peace and healing.
One other scripture deals specifically with leadership and servanthood. It is Jesus' teaching about leadership in Mark 10:35-45:
And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him, and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. "And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" And they said to him, "We are able. "And Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared." And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. And Jesus called them to him and said to them, "You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
This passage not only reveals the ambition of James and John but also their deep need for security. They wanted a protected place and an established role, and childishly asked Jesus to do anything that they asked. They wanted honor, prestige, and recognition.
Before we condemn them we must realize that there is probably a deep need in all of us for such security. We should at least respect the honesty with which they present their deep needs.
Jesus did not respond with condemnation. His reply simply speaks of drinking the cup, which I believe is a cup of suffering. He speaks of being baptized with his baptism, the baptism of fire which he refers to elsewhere.
The disciples' eager, uncalculated response reminds us of how many of us began our pilgrimage into leadership. Jesus assures them that they will experience what they have committed themselves to, but he makes no promises about privileged position or status. That in itself would militate against their need to be totally vulnerable and weak in the tasks that they are agreeing to do.
The indignation of the rest of the disciples probably reflects jealousy rather than deeper insight. We suspect this because it calls forth Jesus' response about their need to be different than the Gentiles. He points to the difference between lording it over people and serving them. That is followed by a reference to himself and his servanthood and the giving of his life. Jesus here speaks about the need for a transformation of their very nature, not just their attitude or their role.
I think there is a common error in applying this passage, the error of seeing being a servant as a role. Often we take on the role of being a servant for awhile as a strategy to be able to lead. We come offering a role or a false pretense of servanthood—and meanwhile Jesus is saying, "No, you need to come empty-handed."
We fail to be free to exercise true authority when it is given to us because we are still trying to act out of some self-imposed servant role. Then we manifest a false humility or an unwillingness to be vulnerable or to take the risk of leading. There is a temptation to remain a "behind-the-scenes" leader, not really emerging to take full responsibility for leadership.
We must view servanthood as becoming part of our nature through the continual work of the cross in our lives. Then we can see leadership as something given or bestowed which we are free to refuse or accept.
Our servant nature must become an indelible part of our character, not something assumed and not something that can easily be taken away, because it has become deeply ingrained in our character. That, I believe, was the depth of servanthood that Jesus meant. He was not talking about a temporary function or role, but really nothing less than his example described in Philippians 2:7, which speaks about Jesus emptying himself of any grasping at equality with God and taking the very nature of man.
One senses that such a "grasping at equality" is a very real danger to be avoided in an age when a necessary and biblical egalitarianism is being sought and must be found. In this search we will not be adequately served by any less a model than that of Jesus. A wrong concern for egalitarianism can wrongly affect our leadership in the church as much as a wrong concern for authority. Marlin Miller, in an article, "The Recasting of Authority" (Sojourners, February, 1979), points this out, and he suggests a third model of leadership. He says that the recasting of authority from the right to rule to the freedom to serve in a community of mutual subordination is a biblical model which goes beyond both the restoration of hierarchical structures on the one hand and egalitarian individualism on the other.
He lists four major characteristics of such leadership. First, all members in a church have a particular and identifiable gift or ministry. Second, there is within the New Testament a particular gift or ministry which is leadership. Third, the New Testament describes the major characteristic of the elder, overseer, shepherd function, and the kinds of people who are equipped to be elders in a house church or in Christian community as the kinds of persons who demonstrate the qualities that encourage and build family solidarity. Finally, the ministry of eldering should be exercised in the context of mutual subordination.
Furthermore, we must remember, as Miller suggests, that authority has been given from God in the areas of overseeing, teaching, directing, correcting. There is a danger of becoming so concerned to serve the Lord's people that we begin to follow their directions instead of the biblical directions. Paul reminds us in Acts 20:20 of not shrinking from declaring the whole counsel of God. We must speak God's word to God's people and not just be a facilitator of a group.
We can get turned around if we are basing our leadership on human approval rather than God's approval. It is important for us as pastors to know God's acceptance very deeply. It is the basis for our approval, and our security in our authority. We need to know his acceptance and how to listen to his voice. Without this leaders are often too insecure to lead.
I don't think there is a contradiction between authority and servanthood. It is easy to be influenced by secular models of leadership which assume that those two things can't go together. Some of those secular models include a good public servant who carries out the will of the people and acts on their behalf and the facilitator of a group, a catalyst of group action who simply stays in a non-directive role.
Christian leadership may do all of these things at one time or another, but must not be afraid to speak clearly and prophetically the hard sayings of Jesus. A leader can and must give direction to those he or she is serving.
The biblical qualifications for leadership which I have just mentioned can inform us about the important things which should be shaping our life together so that leaders can emerge who have the necessary qualities to assist us, to replace us in leadership, or to provide the same quality of leadership in our world, whatever their vocation.
We must teach our members two very important things to prepare them for roles as leaders. First of all, they must become rooted in God's love and revelation to us. Second, they must become suffering servants.
God does have something to offer to servant leaders and prospective servant leaders—his love and the deep security of knowing him and his love personally.
It takes a deep knowledge of God's love to respond freely to the radical call of the gospel in any area, especially in a call to lead. That is seen most, I think, in our ability to know God's love and remain free from condemnation when we know that we are less than fully obedient.
How often do we have the freedom, or how often do we encourage others to have the freedom to say, "I know what God wants, but I am having difficulty doing it." Rather, we tend to deny the radical demands of the gospel and rationalize them. Or we use the trite phrase, "I don't feel God is calling me to do it."
We need a deep knowledge of God's love and the love of his people to say we cannot do something without feeling guilty. But such a confession has more integrity than to say, "God isn't calling me." There are very few things, I believe, that are unconditional calls of God which justify that kind of language. We are called to believe in God's love, we are called to listen to God's Word, and we are called to an obedient response even to the point of suffering servanthood.
Leaders are those who are responding to those calls from God. When they do, we will know who they are and so will the whole fellowship. Then they will be trusted to provide responsible leadership for the life and ministry of the body. We must simply allow them to emerge into the life of the fellowship through, first, the use of their gifts, and second, the recognition of their authority by the body whose members will recognize faithful obedience to such calls as a sign of leadership that they can trust and give authority to for their whole life.
Leadership development is finally the spiritual maturation of people in the body who then become available for servant ministry. Such service in ministry can be expressed in a number of necessary places: in the local body in a full-time ministry vocation, in our testimony to the gospel in other vocations, and in the other places in God's kingdom where leadership gifts might be necessary.
The goal should be an overflow of leadership in our bodies which can move beyond the pastoral oversight task within the church and into the world in evangelistic, apostolic ways. Our structures should provide the possibility of fluid movement for people through different stages of spiritual growth. Within our life and ministry we should find ways to identify, build, and strengthen people. This really means developing a strategy for leadership development.
Leadership development has to involve the whole group. It is within the body that trust must grow so that authority can be given and exercised. Leaders must be able to remain open and vulnerable to criticism and attacks.
There is no better place than a loving and caring fellowship for preparation for the opposition and hostility we will face as we offer our leadership in our world. There is no better preparation place than the body of Christ. It teaches us that our ultimate security must be in our relationship with the Lord and our deep knowledge of his love for us. Nothing less can serve as a basis for suffering servant leadership.
Gene Beerens was the pastor of Christ's Community in Grand Rapids, Michigan, when this article appeared. The article was taken from a talk given at the annual gathering of pastors from communities involved with the Community of Communities.
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