Two Models of Biblical Leadership Part 2 #leadership 03

Let's talk about a better model of leadership.

In the first part of this leadership post, I discussed the unfortunate popularity of the Moses model of leadership in the Church and in the business world and its two greatest weaknesses: organizational demotivation and toxic centralized power.  Its final great weakness is that it stands in direct opposition to the second model of biblical leadership I want to discuss: servant leadership, the Jesus model of leadership.  

The majority of followers of Jesus adopt a New Testament expression of their faith.  We don’t live under the Law laid out in the Torah, we have the Holy Spirit residing inside us which means that God is literally with us everywhere we go (unlike the prophets of old), and we look to Jesus’ life and teachings as a practical example of the God we love and serve.  You want to know what God is like?  Look at Jesus in the gospels.  

That’s why I continue to be amazed (and disappointed) when people adopt Old Testament practices over New Testament expressions.  The Moses model of leadership is a biblical model, but it’s an Old Testament model of leadership.  We could even call it THE Old Testament model of leadership. It could just as easily be called the “Samson model” or the “King Saul model” or even the “King Manasseh model” *shudder*.  In the Old Testament, God chose a leader, informed that leader of he wanted to have happen, and then empowered them to lead with his authority.   

A New Testament Model Of Leadership

But then things changed. 

A leader came onto the scene who had the ultimate authority of God residing in him.  He had absolute power, and was worthy of complete honor, praise, and submission.  Yet, he chose to lay down his power, share his authority, and serve his creation.  

This is the New Testament model of leadership demonstrated by Jesus Christ, and it was something new.  It directly challenged the power models of the day - the Moses and Caesar models - and inverted the power structures.  With Jesus’ example, the very idea of what it meant to be a hero shifted from being the most powerful and successful conquerer to being the person who was willing to sacrifice their life for a friend.  This is true to this very day in the West.  The person who jumps in front of a car to save a child in the street is a hero.  

I agree with the sentiment of well-known leadership writer Patrick Lencioni, “I want to stop calling it servant leadership, because all leadership is servant leadership.  If it’s not servant leadership, it’s not leadership" (paraphrased from Global Leadership Summit 2021).  

Servent Leadership

What are the hallmarks of servant leadership?

There’s so much that could be said for this model, but I’ll just keep it to three points.

The Servant Leader Loves

A servant leader leads from a position of love.  This love is the humble, sacrificial, and others-focused love that Jesus shows us.  The servant leader’s foundational motive is others.  To the best of their ability, everything they do flows out of a desire to care for the people under them.  

Many people step into leadership to get what they want for themselves.  They have selfish motives.  They want power, influence, authority, wealth, control, or significance.  These leaders are not servant leaders.  They serve out of love for themselves, and their organizations suffer because of it.  

The servant leader believes that people do their best work in an environment where they have what they need to succeed, are loved, valued, included, and challenged to grow.  The servant leader nurtures this environment and then works to protect and evolve it, adapting to the changing world, removing impediments to their team’s progress, and nurturing heathy community and relationships within the team.   

You have to love others to be a servant leader.  

To hear this idea spelled out in greater detail, I recommend Patrick Lencioni's book, The Motive. 

The Servant Leader Serves

In one of the most poignant examples of servant leadership, Jesus washes the feet of his disciples.   You can listen to 1,000 sermons on what Jesus does in John 13, but the point is always the same: the person with the ultimate power and authority assumed the posture of a lowly servant and washed the feet his followers.  This was an undignified act that inaugurated a tectonic-sized shift in the expectation of leaders from that point forward.  

Selfish leaders serve themselves.  Stories abound of unethical leaders who only care about their bonuses, quarterly numbers, or importance.  In the Church, leaders who care more about serving themselves than their congregation are far too common. These leaders often are unwilling to lower themselves to do the work of the people beneath them in the org chart.  

A servant leader is willing to do whatever advances the health and wellbeing of the team.  Does your lead pastor offer pastoral care to the congregation, or is that the Care Pastor’s job?  Is the leader willing to say “no” to a business opportunity that will hurt the employees?  Is your boss willing to clear your windshield on a snowy day when you’ve been working late?

The Servant Leader Develops

In Matthew 10, you can imagine the faces of the disciples when Jesus sent them out in pairs to go do what he’d been doing: to heal the sick, cast out demons, and announce that the kingdom of God had come near.  Jesus was constantly challenging his disciples to step out of their comfort zones and to grow in their ability to do what he’d been showing them.  And when Jesus left, his disciples filled the enormous hole left by his absence and carried on.  Why? Because Jesus had given himself over to the work of development - helping his disciples grow into the potential he knew they had.  

The servant leader looks at each employee and sees beyond the immediate roles they fill and the immediate needs of the organization.  Most employees have a desire to do something more than their current role.  Servant leaders are curious, ask questions, and dream with their teams to understand these desires.  Then the servant leader makes intentional, thoughtful plans to help that employee move toward that dream.  

I remember talking with a maintenance man about his dream to become an HVAC tech. The church had no need for a full-time HVAC worker, but if this was his vision for the near-term, what might it look like for the church to help him move toward that goal?  Could the church pay for trade school?  Could the church provide a flexible schedule that would allow the maintenance worker the time to attend classes?  The idea is that the servant leader is looking for whatever step they CAN do to help that person move along to their next thing, even if that next thing isn’t in with the servant leader’s organization. 

Some leaders hoard talent or refuse to allow people to evolve, keeping them stuck in dead-end jobs, which is a poverty mentality.  The servant leader knows that if they are intentional about developing their teams, other people who want the opportunity to grow will join their team, which is a generous mentality.  It’s best for everyone if the person under them in the org chart progresses toward their potential.  

This is the New Testament model of leadership, modeled by Jesus himself.  Why would a church leadership team or board adopt any other model?  

What model is your church leadership practicing?  

What model if your boss following?  

If you’re a leader - what model are you practicing?