Servant Leadership

“But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” – (Mark 10:43-45)

When I was in Bible college, I went to work for a supermarket chain in the East Texas area. This company had a unique, but refreshing leadership style that I was unaccustomed to at the time. My store manager, and all of the assistants were people that worked hard alongside the employees of the store. They didn’t just bark out orders to the clerks, they were willing to get their hands dirty themselves. It was not at all unusual to see the store manager with a mop in his hand, cleaning up a spill; or out in the parking lot gathering up the buggies (shopping carts). Their philosophy was that in order to be a leader in the company, you first had to demonstrate that you could be a great servant.

I find that in the ministry the same principle should also be true. The pastor, deacons, and other leaders in the church should not be beneath any task that needs to be done within the church. If the bathrooms need to be cleaned, or the lawns need to be mowed, the leadership should be more than willing to pitch in at times to do it. Now, I understand that it may not be the most efficient use of time and talents to have the leaders doing these things that could be done by others, but the leadership should be willing to do whatever needs to be done in order for the cause of Christ to move forward. There are no “big shots” in the ministry. The Lord we serve is the only superstar. The rest of us are merely servants.