Theology of Credible Leadership - Lesson 5

Dr. John Johnson
Theology of Credible Leadership
Beyond Secular Assumptions
Lesson Transcription

I want to take, in this next segment here to, to give a more particular focus to another text. We looked at Matthew 20, which is a very defining text about definitions of leadership. Because Jesus is confronting, those, he is leading with their propensity to get their reference point, their understanding of definition of leadership from the world around them.  

The pagan culture of Rome that asserted itself. And even we could say the pharisaic leaders themselves, who love to sit at the head of the table, love to be seen on the corners. They looked at the leadership they had grown up with and realized that a leader is someone who asserts his power and demonstrates that he's the one that, deserves, the attention.  

But Jesus again comes and he completely throws that all upside down. And now we come to another text. I think this text is perhaps the most central text when it comes to definitions of a leader. The text is John 13.  

The setting is the upper room. And in this setting here, Jesus gives, I believe, or I should say, he makes one of his most dramatic acts of leadership against all protocol. He performed one of the most demeaning tasks of the day. He took, as you remember, a towel, and to base him, and he washed the feet of his disciples. And he reversed in that moment all assumptions of what it means to lead.  

And of course, the disciples were paralyzed. They didn't know what to do with this. It underscored the radical nature of this definition. So it tells us here with theological precision and clarity. And here John explains, Jesus's actions. Notice what John writes. After reflecting upon this years later, he reflects back upon that night, that evening meal was being served.  

And Jesus, verse three, knowing that the Father had put all things under his power. I want you to, I want you to pause. I want you to think, I want you to look at this text carefully, because John is making a point of definition. Jesus, knowing that the Father had put all things under his power and that he'd come from God and was returning to God.  

So he got up from the meal, took off his gout outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. And after that, he poured water into a basin, and he began to wash his disciple's feet. Now, what is John telling us? So think about it this way. He begins with this causal participial phrase, if I could be a bit technical, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hand, knowing that he was, and is the ultimate authority, the head of all creation, knowing that all of this authority has been given to him, that all of this grounds, therefore the action of the main verb, in which, which implies, therefore you could also translate because of this, or sense he got up because of who he was, because of what Jesus understood and knew about himself because of this.  

Think about this.  

Because of this, he got up and laid aside his garments. The point is, in Jesus's self understanding of his status and power, that he possessed ultimate authority.  

It's because of this. He rose to do the menial task. And, and here we must pause and reflect because there's no conjunction. But it's not that Jesus that, that John says, because Jesus was this in light of, even though he was this still, nonetheless, it's just amazing. But he did this. No, it's more the language of because of this.  

Then naturally he did this. So Jesus served the most menial needs, you see, because of who he is. Meaning that in God's economy, this is the logical movement. This is what leaders do because of their power, because of their authority. This is what defines a leader. So it goes completely contrary.  

Let's say, let's look in the pastoral realm of a pastor who's a senior pastor over a large church who says, yeah, I don't do these things because I am this, Jesus is saying because of this, this is what you do, that there is nothing too low for you to do. And Jesus, after washing their feet, therefore promised them that they would be blessed if they got this. Verse 17.  

This is Jesus saying, did you see what I've just done? I've defined leadership for you. And if you lead as I'm defining leadership, as how you must define leadership, then this will be my blessing on your life. But there would be no immediate blessing because if we look at a parallel passage in Luke 22, which I believe happens later, they were still fighting.  

They were still trying to sort out who's  going to be head of state, who's  going to be Secretary of Defense, who's  going to be Secretary of State. They all wanted to know who's  going to sit closest to Jesus. They were still entrenched in the world's definitions. And so it was so hardwired into them that even with what Jesus had just taught them and just modeled, they didn't get it.  

It's like, I remember years ago reading Chuck Colson talking about what it was like to serve in the Nixon White, white House with people who were all clamoring to see who could get closest to the President, to the point where Haldeman and, Ehrlichman who were aids to President Nixon, actually, and I find this just utterly profound, that when they got on Air Force one, they actually took tape measures to measure how close they were to the how close, what proximity they were to the president's personal cabin versus, someone else on staff to say that the measurement of the distance had everything to do with proximity to power, and therefore rank and status.  

And who really is the leader here?  

What the disciples were doing was exactly the same thing. And Jesus comes and he throws it all upside down and says, if you understand what I'm doing here, and this defines you, you'll receive the blessing of God. But of course, the blessing, at least immediately didn't come because they were back doing the same time thing. Now, the good news is that in time they would get it, but not immediately in time, they would become true servant leaders.  

They would serve Jesus and pay the price without expecting special privileges. They, would finally get it. And hopefully we have to step back with our propensity to do the very same thing they do to get our definitions from the world, to assert ourselves, to try to get to the head of the table, to be heard, to impress people with how great we are when we finally get it, that we're called to serve.  

That's what leaders do. Then hopefully we too will transform the world. But it, it's not only what Jesus did and what Jesus said. We find that, that beyond the gospels here, we, we see that Paul himself underscored and the rest of the epistles underscored this definition of leadership.  

So we look at New Testament statements. Paul is using servant language, all through his letters. He uses it as his working definition. Paul, a servant. Romans one, one, Philippians one, one, Titus one, one. Paul approached everything in terms of service. Let a man, he said to the Corinthians, consider us as this Hoopa Manet, under rowers servants to the Corinthians, who were, who were like the disciples in their earlier mindset, always about measuring performance, defining leaders as who, has, the most captivating personality, the greatest winsome voice.  

Paul said, if you want to consider me, just consider me, as a servant.  

If you want to measure me, if you want to think of me as a super apostle, I'm not a super apostle. I'm a servant. My point is Paul, Paul got it too. He understood the definition of a leader, not that he always was there before Christ. He too was when you go to Philippians three, was trying to impress people with all of his knowledge, with all of his greatness as a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee of Pharisees.  

But Paul eventually said, one Corinthians four, one just regard me as a servant. 'cause he understood the definition. And so it's in Philippians two as an example, verses five to 11, Paul gives perhaps his most precise definition of a leader.  

In those wonderful words, Philippians two, five through 11 and other disciples, in similar ways, took on this same definition. So what are the implications for contemporary leaders? The leader as a servant goes deeper than contemporary. Servant assumptions. Let me maybe say that another way.  

There are today, therefore some who actually say, well, that makes sense. That's a good definition, guys like Robert Greenleaf who wrote servant leadership, who were impressed with this definition and said, that's right. In fact, that's a great definition. 'cause leaders who serve their followers, who place the good of others in the org organization over self-interest tend to generate a healthier, more effective workplace.  

But even writers like him missed the point. Jesus wasn't saying, this is the definition of a leader because this is what will gain greater productivity and create greater profits for the organization. That misses what servant leadership is. Servant leader is God's ironic statement, that, that who a leader is, is someone who serves not for the bottom line, but serves just because this is what leadership is.  

This is who God is, and it does go contrary to a lot of present assumptions. Some would say it's even practical, aren't leaders. Some would say those who stand up aren't leaders.  

Those who assert their authority aren't leaders. Those who point to the future aren't leaders. Those who lead with boldness to serve as, to confuse roles. I just read yesterday in the Wall Street, journal, an article, an opinion piece by a writer who was saying, how are we  going to reach the young men of our generation, because we're losing them? One of his points interestingly, was to say that we've gotta get away from this servant model, because that's not  going to track young men.  

They need to be, I impressed and reminded that they need to self with confidence. They need to lead, they need to take charge. That servant leader is an oxymoron. But Jesus would say no. Again, this is what a, a leader is. The paradox in God's kingdom is that the way up is, is down.  

That the way of ascent is the way of descent. We find our best leadership not in aiming for the highest position, but to descending to the lowest. This is the paradox. We arrive at the highest by seeking the lowest. That's what leadership, leadership is to a certain degree, something that's very selfless, that begins with service to God, that the ultimate task of a leader is to place ourselves and our leadership at God's disposal and leave the results to God.  

At the heart of, of a definition of a leader is a leader who wakes up the morning and he says at the very beginning, ever of everything he does, he gets on his knees and he says, here I am Lord, send me.  

That's at the heart of the definition. The way of power is through humility, leadership, defined as servanthood means a leader does not hold to one's rights, but surrenders to the claims of others does not work to gain power, but aims Ashley to release power in the end. Service. Dia is the essential layer as one put it, of every theory, of every grade, of every prop, proper definition of a leader.  

When you're talking about servant leadership and, and doing things for other people, you mentioned that it's more than just pragmatic. Mm-Hmm. And with Jesus also, wouldn't you say that the essence of that is that Jesus, legitimately cared for individuals? And isn't that the, the basis for why we do servant leadership?  

Mm-Hmm. Well, no, I think it goes beyond that. Unless I have writers like Robert Greenleaf wrong, who, who popularized in, our culture, servant leadership, he, took it largely as, as I mentioned, as something that produces results that, that great leaders aren't the Steve Jobs, so to speak, who come in an autocratic way and almost in an abusive way.  

Great leaders are those who come under and serve the people. Those are the people in the corporate world that people want to follow, that, that lead to great results. But that's not what Jesus, that was not the point of what Jesus was saying about servant leadership.  

He wasn't saying to his disciples, oh, I've got a better way to lead. This will lead to greater results. In the end, this will lead to greater fruit. If you want to be a leader, don't be like, the Roman leaders out there, be a leader like me, because that will gain the greatest, productive way, to grow the church. So, in other words, it's not about pragmatics.  

It's about coming to the essence again of who God is and therefore who we're to be. So, it's, it's not about what works. Again, it's about getting in step with how God defines what a leader is. And it may lead to, it may lead to some great pragmatic results, or it may not, it, it, in a certain sense, if I could say this, it doesn't really matter.  

I mean, the results will always leave to God, right? So if I come into a church and I determine as a leader at heart, I hope people will say at the end of it all, he was a servant leader. I'm not doing that because I believe this is what will really grow the church. I I'm doing it because this is the leader God called me to be.  

Now I have to understand what that means exactly. Right. Because as I mentioned earlier, we can take that too far, one extreme and, and almost then create a leaderless organization under, under the term servant leader. Maybe I could say it another way. Sometimes some could hide under servant leader as, oh, great, I don't have to assert myself.  

Oh, great. I have to take risks. Oh, great. I don't have to call people and dress them down because of failure of performance. Oh, great. I don't have to think about core outcomes. I'm just serving. No, that's, that's not servant leadership. But again, I'm not doing it for what works. I'm doing it because this is what Jesus commanded, and this is what Jesus modeled.  

So if I say to the church, I want to be a Christlike leader. Christlike leader means that I want to, I want to emulate, I want to model Jesus. Well, did Jesus sometimes ather assert his authority? Sure. I mean, whether he still storms or rebuked demons or rebuked his disciples, for a failure of performance, for a failure to live out faith.  

I mean, Jesus sometimes could be just downright, maybe harsh is too well, no, I think harsh actually fits, you know, because, leadership sometimes really demands that. It's like one of the things that I tend to react to after I preach is when someone says, pastor, that was a nice sermon.  

And I think to myself, no, it wasn't. I wasn't called to be nice. I don't find scripture to be nice. I don't find, when I study scripture that God is nice. He confronts, he convicts, he challenges, he pushes me to the edge. And I think a good sermon does that. It's not intended to be nice, but nonetheless, that's not contradictory to servant leadership.  

So Jesus, you know, he, there was nothing too lo for him to do. I mean, someone who washes the feet that was not assigned to the normal slave that was assigned to the lowest of the slave. So to to say to us, there's nothing too low for us. But at the same time as he did that, as a servant leader, it was clear who was in charge.  

And, and so that has to define us somehow. Right? It's, it's, it's, it can almost seem like a contradiction, but, but when you think about it, it really is a centering way to define this thing called leadership.