I will never forget the chaos that day. President Reagan had been shot and was undergoing surgery at Walter Reed Hospital. A press conference had been called and there was General Alexander Haig choking the microphone with one hand while stating emphatically, “I’m in charge here.” For the first time since Ronald Reagan had taken the oath of office, there was a vacuum of leadership. It was a fiasco. Here were grown men thrown into a national crisis. They were educated, sophisticated, and by the time of the press conference, intoxicated with the thoughts of power. What they all seemed to have forgotten is that leadership is always more walk than talk.
Americans over the last 40 years seem to have bought into the idea that he who speaks the loudest, boast with the most brashness, talks the trash, and confuses self-promotion with self-confidence makes a good leader. From trash talking athletes to hip hop rappers to court rooms and board rooms, we have seen far too many models of perverted leadership styles.
As early as 1977, some corporate leaders realized that a new, yet old moral principle was emerging. According to Gene Wilks, author of “Jesus on Leadership,” Robert Greenleaf (an executive in the communications industry) wrote that in the future, “the only viable institutions will be those that are predominantly servant-led.” As he stated it, people will prefer to follow leaders who help them rather than intimidate them. For Greenleaf, it was simply the rediscovery of an old principle.
As Jesus and His disciples arrived in Capernaum, He asked, “What were you discussing on the way home?” They hesitated to answer because they had been discussing rank and importance. When Peter finally spoke, he asked a question. “Lord, who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.” Jesus answered with an object lesson that affirmed a servant-leadership style. He took a child and said to those men, “Unless you turn and become like children, you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Mark 9:33-35) What did Jesus mean by that? Obviously, Jesus views children as earthly treasures and sees in them qualities that make the Christian life attractive. The quality from which all the others grow is humility.
Jesus said in Luke 9:23, “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” That cross He mentions is the cross of self-sacrifice. J. Oswald Sanders wrote in “Spiritual Leadership,” that “True greatness, true leadership is achieved not by reducing others to one’ service, but in giving oneself in selfless service to them.” It is called humility, and it was perfectly modeled in the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. And it is expected of us if we are indeed His followers.
To be great in the eyes of God, remember what Jesus said. “… But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
