Sometimes as Christians, we assume that the terms we use are “biblical”. A common phrase you might hear in the Christian world is “servant leadership”, but interestingly enough, you won’t find this term in the Bible, along with the “Trinity”, “missionaries” and “substitutionary atonement”, etc. But even though we might not find a term or a certain word in the Bible, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s not a biblical or Christian ideal or that it doesn’t have value.
Many terms and words that we use have biblical roots or the overall concepts can be found in Scripture, and without a doubt, servant leadership is supported by Scripture. I’m going to point out just a few examples of how the Bible supports the idea of servant leadership.
The first biblical concept that supports servant leadership is Christian love. Jesus says that the second most important commandment is “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39, NIV) Simply loving others as we love ourselves causes us to serve others. I can’t love my neighbor without serving him or her regularly. Love causes service to become a lifestyle, I should be constantly taking others into consideration in my daily life.
The best definition of love that we have (in my opinion), found in a letter to the church in Corinth, shows that service in an integral part of love – “Love is patient, love is kind…it is not proud…it is not self-seeking…it keeps no record of wrongs…It always protects…always perseveres.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) All of these actions require that I decrease and that others increase, these actions require serving others. Biblical love supports the concept of servant leadership.
Another biblical concept that supports servant leadership is humility. God is very clear in that he does not want us to be proud, but humble. Jesus said – “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 14:11, NIV) Exalting ourselves is a symptom of thinking about ourselves more than we should and more highly than we should – this mindset doesn’t allow us to love God or other correctly.
The whole Bible is full of examples where God exalts the humble: Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, Daniel, the apostles, and Jesus himself. Being humble forces us to serve others because we won’t be obsessed with ourselves all the time. It gives us the capacity to think about and care for others more often. If we are humble, we will desire to serve those we lead because we will be more concerned with them than ourselves or our social status.
Servant Leadership is biblical because God wants all believers to serve one another. Paul said this to the believers in Galatia – “…serve one another humbly in love…Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 5:13, 6:2, NIV) Service is the standard for all believers within the church, and it’s leaders are included in this standard as well.
Jesus was the prime example of being a servant – being God and washing the feet of his disciples. Later, he said to these same disciples – “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:14. NIV) If Jesus was willing to serve, then all believers, and especially Christian leaders, should be willing to serve as well.
Jesus himself tells us very clearly that leaders in his Kingdom should be servant leaders. One of the main texts about this is Matthew 20:25-28 (NIV):
25 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Jesus says that earthly leaders abuse others and their authority, but that the Christian leader (the context of the passage is about leadership) should be a servant and a slave to those around him or her. Jesus also says – “Hey…I’m doing this too.” He was asking them to imitate his form of leadership. It important to note that his decision to be a servant led him to his death and to become a ransom for all – being a servant leader isn’t fair!
In light of these examples from Scripture, it’s clear that God’s Word supports the concept of servant leadership even though the exact words don’t appear in the text. All believers, and especially leaders, are called to Christian love, humility and mutual service regardless of their position in the church. Service is the way of Christ and the way of the Christian leader.