Jesus' Leadership Model

Who comes to mind when you think about great leadership? A basketball coach like John Wooden? An entrepreneur like Lee Iacocca? A social change-agent like Mother Teresa? Maybe you think of a schoolteacher or coach who motivated you to succeed, a minister who shaped your faith, or a coworker who inspired your best work. No doubt you've also known some bad leaders: a profane and bullyish boss, an abusive parent, a religious pied piper who misleads the flock of God.

Jesus is a flawless leader. With the challenge, "Follow me," he recruited, trained, and unleashed a little group of committed men and women who changed the world. He even shaped their thinking about leadership on the night before he died. With the fresh taste of Passover bread and the fruit of the vine still on their lips, the disciples started quarreling about which of them was the greatest. Perhaps they were upset about the seating arrangements. Can't you hear them arguing? "Come on, James and John, you always sit next to Jesus. Give someone else a chance!" How petty people can be! Soon the Lord would sweat drops of blood in Gethsemane. Within hours he would be nailed to a cross. But instead of ministering to him, they were preoccupied with their own desire for control and recognition. It's an all-too-familiar scene. Families self-destruct and churches split because of ugly power struggles. Who is the greatest? Certainly not those who act like that.

So Jesus turned the upper room into a classroom. "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them," Jesus pointed out, ". . . But you are not to be like that" (Luke 22:25, 26). Jesus modeled and taught a different kind of leadership style.

A leader exerts positive influence. If you had been there in the upper room when the disciples started quarreling, what would you have done? If you're a person who follows the crowd, you would have quarreled along with the rest of them. If you're a person who keeps peace at any cost, you would have refused to get involved. If you're a troublemaker, you probably started the quarrel in the first place! But if you're a leader, you would do what Jesus did: step in and move things in a positive direction.

A leader sets an example of humble service. Jesus' words are clear. Instead of being power-hungry and self-willed, "the one who rules" should be "like the one who serves" (v. 26). The road to the heights of greatness always passes through the valley of humble service.

A leader connects with his followers. Jesus said, "I am among you as one who serves" (v. 27). "Among you"—that's where a leader does his best work. Jesus walked among his people—even picking up a towel and washing feet when necessary.

A leader is an encourager. "You are those who have stood by me in my trials," Jesus said (v. 28). What a gracious assessment of the disciples! That same night, they would sleep in the garden while he agonized in prayer. Judas would betray him. Peter would deny him. They all would desert him. Yet Jesus encouraged them. He reminded his men that if they would persevere, there would be more blessings in store: "And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me" (v. 29).

When we follow Jesus' model of servant leadership, parents will lead their children with firm discipline and gentle love. Church leaders will shepherd the flock with boldness and humility. What kind of leader are you? Whose model are you following?