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Last week we talked about the different kinds of servant hood. We talked about those who serve
out of fear, those who serve out of duty, and those who serve out of love. In the passage we read
this morning, Jesus talks about another motivation out of which some people appear to serve
God. Thismotivation is self-aggrandizement. According to Jesus, the Pharisees and their cohorts
were more interested in receiving praise from other people than in pleasing God. They worked
hard to make themselves appear bigger, better, and more important than others. If there were
Pharisees today, we would see them riding around in shiny black SUVs, with slicked back jet
black hair,wearing three piece suits accessorized with gaudy gold crucifixes and shiny Rolexes.
They would be preaching in packed auditoriums in front of TV cameras and colored spot lights,
backed up by shiny red rock ‘n’ roll screaming guitars and a chorus of doo wop singers. If we
had Pharisees today, they would be standing up in front of the hungry crowds, the starving
longing for a word of hope, the famished seeking refreshment for malnourished souls, the
ravenous mass of humanity craving a mere crumb of God’s grace, preaching the gospel of wrath
and laying burdens on the people that they themselves are unwilling to carry.
If we had Pharisees today they could be found dining with presidents and kings, partying with
rappers, super models, and popes, lecturing in prestigious halls, and making appearances on late
night TV.
If we had Pharisees todayand Jesus came by I wonder what he would say, perhaps something like
“Listen to what they have to say, but for God’s sake, do not act like them!” Jesus has a different
picture in mind when he thinks about those who are to be leaders in the Church. Jesus says,
“The greatest among you will be your servant.” Leaders do not place new burdens on people.
They help them to lift the burdens they already carry. Jesus models this for us in Matthew 11:28-
30 when he says “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
In the Church there is and can be only one legitimate form of leadership and that is servant
leadership. This being the case, it is important for us as Christians to understand what it means
to be a servant leader. In 1970 Robert Greenleaf borrowed the term Servant leader from the
Church and applied it to business in an essay called The Servant as Leader. In that essay he
enumerated 11 characteristics that mark the servant leader. These include: having a calling,
calling. A person who is called into the ministry of servant leadership by God through
the Holy Spirit will have a seemingly innate desire to serve others. A servant leader
wants to do for the sake of others, to lift others up, never from a desire for self gain but
rather because of a deeply held conviction that serving others is the right and only
worthwhilething to do. A servant leader is willing to sacrifice self-interest for the sake of
2. Listening: the servant leader will strife to be a good listener by developing a genuine
interest in others and in what they have to say. Servant leaders place a high value on
other people. They care about peoples feeling, about their ideas, their hopesand their
dreams. Unlike a calling, which comes as a gift, listening is a skill that can and must be
3. Empathy: A servant leader must be willing and able to walk in the other guy’s shoes. A
servant leader will take time to understand another person’s point of view to get inside
another’s life and understand another’s experience. This characteristic comes more
naturally to some than to others and so is part gift and part skill.
4. Healing: Servant leaders are people who care about the spiritual and physical health and
well-being of others. They will work hard to create an environment in which healing can
and does occur. Those who have the spiritual gift of healing will find that others are
drawn to them in times of trauma and or crisis. They seem always to know the right thing
to say or do to bring healing in any situation. Not all servant leaders have the gift of
very keen sense of reality and will rarely be fooled by appearances. They are constantly
seeking the environmental clues that will inform their perception and thinking.
Awareness is more of a habit than a gift or a skill, a habit that is built up with practice
over time.
6. Persuasion: A servant leader relies on the ability to persuade rather than the power to
demand. Servant leaders do not force others to do things they do not want to do. Servant
leaders do not get what they want by flexing their muscles and looking intimidating. A
servant uses the promptings of the Holy Spirit to convince others of the best way to go.
7. Conceptualization: A servant leader nurtures the ability to imagine the world, events and
possibilities. He or she will encourage others to dream great dreams and not get bogged
down in the day to day business of living. The servant leader values big thoughts and
grand ideas.
8. Foresight: Another name for foresight is prophecy. The gift of prophecy comesfrom the
Prophesy is not fortune telling and it has nothing to do with psychic powers or other
weird abilities. A prophet is a person who is in tune with the way that God is working in
the world and excels at discerning patterns and imagining possibilities. A prophet is very
9. Stewardship: In ancient times a steward was given the task of caring for, protecting, and
grooming the prince to become king. The Servant leader is charged with the task of
caring for, protecting, and preparing the people of God to be the Church.
10. Growth: A servant leader is deeply concerned with the spiritual, emotional, and
intellectual growth of others. They believe that all people are people of sacred worth who
by their very being contribute to the life of the church and to God’s mission in the world.
The servant leader is actively interested and involved in helping others to maximize the
gifts of God.
11. Community Building: In the 13thchapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus gives his disciples a new
command saying: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I
have loved you, you also should love one another.” A servant leader believes in the
community that is the church and in the importance of constantly building upthat
community. The servant leader is one who consciously works to create an environment
Along with your bulletin this morning you should have received a piece of paper with eleven
questions on it. These eleven questions correspond to the eleven characteristics of a servant
leader. Take time this week to look over these questions. Answer them as honestly as possible.
Then ask God to reveal to you the way in which you can best serve in Christ’s Church. Ask God
to help you to develop the characteristics that will allow you to be both servant and leader. If
you feel like God is calling you into a leadership role in this community of faith, I encourage you
to call the church office and set up an appointment to talk with m e or as they say in Hollywood,