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Servant Leader

Jesus Christ demonstrated what servant leadership truly is. If you follow His life as described in the Gospels in the New Testament, you will see clearly that He walked in a spirit of humility. Certainly, He was all about being servant first. Humility is at the core of servant leadership.

During the final evening He shared with his team, Jesus gave His twelve disciples the ultimate visual aid of being a servant by washing their feet. Taking the initiative, He did what no one else around the table was willing to do. Before a meal in those days, a servant was usually present to wash everyone’s feet because of the dusty roads. Since no servant was present, He took up the towel and basin and did the dirty work of serving His followers. His lesson was clear:

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” (John 13:12-15)

I have always thought that if anyone ever had the right to be served and to lead as a dictator, it would have been Jesus. After all, He was perfect, God in the flesh. But He practiced what Greenleaf called servant first. That is what He was driving home during those final hours with His team. He knew they would be tempted to grab power and become proud because they had served next to Jesus Christ Himself. What did Jesus mean when He asked us to wash each other’s feet? To practice servant first with each other—bathed in humility.

As crazy as it might seem, during that very dinner, an argument arose among the disciples about who was the greatest (there goes that natural human spirit). They were positioning themselves for being C-level leaders on the team. Each felt that he deserved to be number two next to Jesus. Jesus’s response went right to the servant leadership message:

A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 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. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” (Luke 22:24-27)

How is it that modeling what servant leadership really is? There is no better example for us to follow. My definition for servant leadership is “when the leader cares more about the good of the team than his or her own enrichment.”