“Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:43-45)
Jesus spelled out the bottom-line difference between the powerful in this world and the powerful in His kingdom: In this world, people seek power so they can be served, so they can call the shots, so they can set the direction, so they can be free from having to take orders.
In Jesus’ world, the powerful are the ones who serve others, who take the orders, who follow God’s direction by giving their lives away to as many people as possible. After all, Jesus said, that’s exactly what He came to do. And that’s exactly what He did.
What is our idea of a leader? Someone who gets other people to help him accomplish his mission. What is Jesus’ idea of a leader? A servant: Someone who figures out how to help other people accomplish their missions. Someone who uses himself up to make other people successful at what they need to do — from finding food to eat to getting the day’s work done.
Think: Do you think of yourself as a leader or a follower? Either way, who is following you? Who are you following? Why?
Pray: Ask God to help you want to take leadership by becoming a servant in the same way Jesus did.
Do: Make a quick list of 5 people who serve you and 5 people you serve. What does your list say about your attitude toward serving others as Jesus did?