When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. | John 13:12–17
Yesterday, I began a short blog series on servanthood. The first post was simply to show that being a servant, and serving one another, is not just something we should do. It is at the core of who we were created to be and how we will live out eternity. Being a servant is not something to avoid, but something to aspire to and cultivate. This second post will be about how God has given the church servant-leaders. I wrote a series on church leadership in the week before the pandemic struck, you can read those here, here, here, here, and here.
While there are a lot of people who love the ideal of a leaderless society, the existence of sin makes this impossible. The idea that everyone should be able to self-govern is an idea that does not come from the Bible. Instead, we see that God, understanding the destruction of sin upon society, continually sets up leadership models at every level. Rather than trying to break down authority and leaders, we should be asking what the Bible says about leaders; how is the Biblical idea of leaders different from what we see in the world.
The best place to go for this is Jesus Christ. When Jesus came down from heaven, the Creator entered into His creation. The sustainer of the world lived among that which He sustained. He used His time here to set up a model for future leaders to follow. We see this as he washed His disciples feet. The people who He was serving here were those who would become the foundation of the church; these were the Apostles. They were about to play a huge role in God’s plan, but before that happened, Jesus gave them a lesson in humility.
As Jesus bent down and washed their feet, He was not just making a point; He was summarizing His entire life and ministry into a moment. Service is not just something that leaders should do, but it is their posture toward all those that they are given to lead. Jesus’ point here is that all Christians should be working to orient their lives toward service, and leaders need to help lead people to serve. They do this by serving. In 1 Peter, we get some direction as to what this service looks like:
So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. | 1 Peter 5:1–3
There are three acts of service that are given here: exercise oversight, shepherd eagerly, and be an example. Let’s think through what each of these means:
EXERCISE OVERSIGHT
To exercise oversight is to take responsibility for the functioning of the congregation. It is serving people by being willing to shoulder the burden. Leadership means taking on the difficult aspects of decision-making, conflict resolution, and discipline that no one wants to do, but someone has to. It is taking blame and receiving ridicule when you don’t choose what some people want. It is a service, because it means that others don’t have to do it.
SHEPHERD EAGERLY
This is pursuing people and helping them to grow and mature. Jesus famously told Peter to feed my sheep, teaching them the truth of the gospel. Caring for the sheep goes beyond feeding them; it is also necessary to protect them from wolves, maintain health, and pursue the lost. To shepherd is to continually put the needs of the church above personal desires. It is to want and work for what is best for the whole. Leaders serve the church by pouring themselves out to attend to the needs of God’s people.
BE AN EXAMPLE
As you can imagine, this can lead to discontentment, because leaders who apply themselves to this will be taking advantage of. Many pastors find themselves frustrated and angry with their church for taking so much from them. Leaders must be on guard against this. This is why the verse above repeats, willingly, not under compulsion, eagerly…The default in all of us, when we feel like we are losing out, is to either take for ourselves or become frustrated and domineering. Many leaders and pastors fall into this. I have had many friends in the pastorate who have stepped away because they saw themselves developing an unhealthy disdain for their people and the work of ministry.
The only thing that I can think of to combat this is to continually return to why. Leaders in the church lead in order to serve Christ. They serve others out of a recognition of what they have been given. The only way to maintain willing and eager joy, is to steep in the glory of the gospel. This makes servanthood a gift, because we are serving the king! All that we fear that we are missing out on in this world pales in comparison to the eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17) that has been purchased for us.
This is the example that pastors must be continually setting: the act of both considering the interests of others (Phillipians 2:4-7), but also maintaining joy and worship in the midst of it. This is service, but it keeps the whole church from giving into the passions of discontentment that lead to sin (James 4:1-3).
What the church (and all spheres of society) needs is not to break down the walls of authority. We don’t need a leaderless society; we need servant-leaders. Servant leaders help to create more servants. The more people we have serving one another, out of service to Christ, the closer we will be to heaven.