We are continuing to explore how Christ lived and served the Father. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45) Three weeks ago, we considered Mark 10:45 from the viewpoint of the Jews and how alien this was to their idea of leadership. The next week, we considered that even though Jesus is a King, He did not come to be served. Last week, we combined these two concepts to understand the misconceptions concerning leadership that continue to plague God’s people. Today, we press forward with this endeavor.

Jesus was a servant King whom the world did not recognize (John 1:11). He did not come to be served, like worldly kings were, but to be a servant which is a concept that is foreign to the world, even today. We still resist this idea of being a servant leader, because being a servant goes against everything the world teaches about leadership.

Now you might be thinking, ‘Don’t we call the leaders in our government public servants?’ The answer is yes, but are the majority truly servants like the Bible would defi ne a servant? Do we not see them desiring the best seats and taking pretentious titles the same as the Pharisees did? Jesus said of the Pharisees, “They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi’ (Matt. 23:6-7). Notice what Jesus told His disciples instead: “But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Matt. 23:8-12).

Most of these so-called public servants are not servants; rather, they are like the Pharisees with their agendas, titles, greed, and corruption. As sad as this is, however, sadder still is that this false idea of leadership has even corrupted the church’s leadership. God has left us instructions as to whom we are to choose as church leaders (1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9), but they are neglected for men who are not qualified. When we neglect God’s instructions, we are being just as foolish as the Jews of Samuel’s day were, when they neglected God’s directives and insisted on having a king. Many of our church leaders do not desire to be servants but church executives, just as many of the kings of Israel desired to be served rather than serve. The actions of these unqualifi ed church leaders show their desire to be executives instead of servants.

The same problem that Paul warned the Ephesus elders about in Acts 20 continues to plague the church today — “Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves” (Acts 20:30). If God’s qualifications for church leaders were observed and implemented properly, the misconceptions would be corrected. For this to happen, individual members of the Lord’s church must fi rst eliminate their misconceptions about leadership and become servants themselves, so that they may choose men who will be proper leaders.

Christ lived and served the Father by being a servant King. We must annihilate our concept of leadership and return to the Scriptures, acknowledging Christ as our head and example in all things pertaining to the church. “And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the fi rstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence” (Col. 1:18). Until this is done, we will not correct the leadership misconceptions that plague both the church and our government, which are presently tearing both apart. Just something to consider.