A Good Leader – A Good Follower of God

Jesus, our Savior, our Lord, was first our servant. I have heard it said, to be a good leader, one must first be a good follower. Matthew 20:26 states: “…whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.”

Christian leadership is never about power or commanding your will over someone else. Once that has happened, the Christian element of leadership is lost. Good Christian leaders are always servants first.

Our military follows a similar example. Every single soldier or sailor starts at a lower rank and first learns how to take orders and follow directions. This model develops an excellent leadership ethic that ensures the “Captain” will keep the “sailors’” best interest and safety in mind while accomplishing the required goal. Remember, The “Captain” started as a plebe, and he knows the difficulties of the job first hand.

God the Son, Jesus, started as a babe born in a manger, not in a palace. He was born with farm animals at His side, not midwives, nursemaids, and court servants. Our Lord grew up in a normal middle to low-income household with a blue-collar stepdad and a stay at home mom. The Son of God started His humanity as a regular guy. Jesus was experiencing first hand the human condition, warts and all.

The world looks at this model with disdain. Most royal bloodlines, communist dictatorships, and some high profile business’, handed to their children, don’t survive because the children didn’t experience the same life lessons that helped to develop the original leadership values that created the success in the first place.

The “world” (or gentile) system exercises authority over the “lesser” individual, only benefiting the lord or ruler. Building up the lower class individual was never considered.

The Leader Serves

What these people haven’t realized is building up others, meeting their needs, actually builds up the builder. Matthew 20:26 states  “…whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.”  What I’m trying to say is: If you help someone else, meeting their needs, your own needs will eventually be satisfied.

The Servant Leads

Matthew 20:27  “And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave (v.28) just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”  No one made the mistake of thinking Jesus was a servant, but He served all people right to the end, including sacrificing His life. He served us all by giving His life so we may not have to die a spiritual death.

Build for Life

In my life, I have been privileged to work with a few Dale Carnegie graduates who were solid Christians. They spent a great deal of time with less experienced business owners training and building other business associates like me. Although more than twenty-five years have passed, the respect I feel and the training I received has endured to this day. These acts fostered an environment of hard work that achieved a goal that benefited all people. In short: I wanted to work very hard for them because they cared about me and my needs, teaching me how to be successful. I know this is not in the bible, but I remember this quote: “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for life.”  Matthew 4:19 also says  “…follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  Jesus taught His disciples how to lead by teaching them how to first serve mankind.

The Best Teacher

Jesus is the best teacher. He is God in the flesh sent to build our faith, to heal, to forgive, to show us how to love, to show us how to lead, to show us how to serve others just as He did.

Jesus was born on this Earth to serve and teach us many things. Take a moment and learn how He accomplishes all these things. He served us all by paying the debt of sin we all have committed. He loved us so much He gave His life on the cross, the ultimate act of service, the ultimate act of leadership.

Grow your faith, believe He is the Son of God. Learn His ways by wiping the dust off your Bible. I suggest you start with the book of Matthew. Any place is an excellent place to start but Jesus is the key to your salvation. Follow Him and keep His commandments, become His servant, and become His friend and then become great in Heaven with our Lord.

Merry Christmas and God Bless