Leaders are servants.  Servant leadership taken from the biblical point of view is totally different from what happens at the market place.  Servant leadership principles go far beyond what cannot be anything but servant leaders.

Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.(I Peter 5:2 – 3) NKJV

It’s interesting that of all roles outside the church, yet God chose the shepherd to be the model of leadership within the church.  When you think of business, you think of tycoons, when you think of politics, you think of political gurus, when you think of a church, you think of a pastor.  But when you think of a pastor, you think of a servant.  Obviously, God’s way is different.  God wants leaders who are ready to serve.  He wants people who will not become lords and reign supreme over those God entrusted to their care.

Jesus of course, was the perfect example of embracing and championing this servant leadership approach.  Here’s what He had to share:

 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25 – 28) NKJV

Jesus’ teachings show a clear distinction between a style of leadership that is authoritative and one that is focused on serving others.  You wouldn’t typically think leaders are first servants, but truly that is how Jesus designed it and all His ways are perfect.  Most of what makes us a servant leader is our attitude towards ourselves and others. Paul explained it like this:

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3 – 4) NKJV

The key to servant leadership is having an attitude of humility. Rather than focusing on our ambitions and our own interests, Paul suggests we first consider the interests of others.  Here’s what I know about the interests of others: they are sometimes different from mine.  It takes a confident yet humble leader to follow God’s calling in his or her own life while also considering the interests of others around them.  We have to live in that tension in order to experience God’s design for the church.  That’s how we accomplish his purpose.

The church of today needs a new kind of leader.  A leader who is ready to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  If a leader refuses the spirit leadership, then obviously, he cannot lead God’s people successfully to the promised land.  The world ought to learn leadership from the church, not the other way round.  In the church, we lead from the heart not the head.  We lead from the bible not from newspapers or Television channels.  The leadership model of Jesus is not just for the church leadership alone – it is a model for us to interact with other people all around us.  When this takes place, Jesus leadership will ultimately spread to every sphere of life.