Servant Leadership

Each generation, and now we speak of the church, receives leaders from the hands of God, whether the leaders know it or not. The fact that they possess a certain charisma and are chosen through the processes of the church to serve should remove any illusion that leaders get where they arrive by their own design and effort. Yet constantly the church is confronted with persons who thrust themselves forward as “leaders,” “official or unofficial,” who claim the mantle of divine commission, but in fact are probably Godís judgment on Godís feckless people.

At the same time we affirm the truth that it is Christ alone who calls, equips and commissions the leaders of the church of which he is the only Head, it must be said that through the agency of human ambition and the churchís folly, the church all too frequently finds itself led by unworthy shepherds, with disastrous results for its life and mission.

As Jesus entered the city of David on the first Palm Sunday, he faced a moment of truth: Would he be the leader that the people ó and the world then and now ó said they wanted, or would he be the leader whom God had called him to be? Jesus had been tested for 40 days in the wilderness, at the outset of his public ministry, and he was not found wanting. In a sense, the entry into Jerusalem would be the last test, the decisive one, because everything he was, believed and hoped for were bound up in what kind of leader he would be. Surely he could already hear the mocking words that would come from the mouths of his enemies as he later hung helplessly on the cross atop the lonely hill, forsaken and desolate: If you are the Son of God, save yourself.

Jesus showed us in his life and death the true quality of godly service: humility, self-abasement, even death for the Other, without, all the while, uttering a single word of complaint.

Thus it is we Christians who turn to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, to learn the ways of leadership in his church. Leaders whom God will find approving will be those women and men whose lives, quite simply, are a demonstration of the gospel. Theirs will be lives well lived, in the biblical meaning of that term. Theirs will be quiet, steady, purposeful lives that are offered as a living sacrifice in response to the one perfect sacrifice offered on the cross. Theirs will be lives committed to bringing good news to all Godís people. Theirs will be lives that are always seeking to find the point of contact with the Other, rather than building wall after wall to be defended to the death.

Jesus broke down all the walls that divide and conquer the human family, though it has always been our sinful propensity since the Fall to build a wall every time we stop for the night on the pilgrimage we call life.

We do have faithful leaders in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) at all levels and in all places where the people of God live and serve. And we should thank God ó and these leaders ó for their faithfulness in this God-forsaken time of trying to be disciples in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). We should give special thanks for those who have to function in the wilds of the higher governing bodies, constantly exposed to unfriendly ó and even, sometimes ó friendly fire.

Today we should pray for leaders, who like Jesus, will walk the road to self-destruction for the sake of God and the Other, because it is the call of God and not for any other reason. Moreover, we should pray that these leaders will not falter in their purpose. And finally we should pray that we the people will not take our leaders for granted, but will encourage and nurture ó and even honor them ó for selfless service in a time and culture which places utterly no value on such service.

Thank God for our leaders ó good and bad, faithful and unfaithful. They are Godís anointed. All deserve respect, even when we disagree with them profoundly. For they are Godís gift to ó and sometimes instruments of Godís righteous judgment on ó us, Godís faithless servants.