Leadership or Servant Leadership without Servanthood as the foundation can be problematic.
a. Servant Leadership
There are many books on leadership in Christian bookstores. Everyone in the church wants to be a leader. Some even broadly said that everyone is a leader. If leadership is about influence, then everyone is a leader because everyone affects the lives of others. Rev. Dr. Tan thinks that if everyone is a leader then there is no point to have leadership. Servanthood and discipleship is for everyone.Rom 12 listed leadership as a gift.
Rom 12:8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
To distinguish Christian leadership from secular leadership, we refer to servant leadership. Rev. Dr.
Tan doesn’t believe it is the Biblical leadership. It is in fact borrowed from secular leadership.
Rev. Dr. Tan prefers to think that some servants are called to leadership.
One definition of Servant Leadership is to be a servant in order to influence others to achieve their goals. Servanthood then is just a means to an end (which is leadership.) Servanthood is not a way of life but a way to make the leadership more effective.
Many leadership books use Jesus as a model. He is referred to as the Master Servant Leader. But the verses quoted are normally discussing servanthood, not servant leadership. Jesus was the suffering servant. Jesus said he came to serve and not to be serve. In Philippians, we read that Jesus emptied himself to be a servant. Servanthood is a way of life. It is very much a part and parcel of being a disciple of Jesus,
Many of churches have imported the leadership concept from management schools. Rev. Dr. Tan admires churches that has saving souls in mind. But he doesn’t agree with pastors who just look at the growth in numbers.
The average size of a church in America is 100.
If the goal of pastors is to have big churches, who will take care of the smaller churches in the villages?
There is a myth in America which Rev. Dr. Tan sees as a nightmare – if we work hard enough, we can achieve anything / be whatever you want. That’s one version of the American Dream.
Paul argued that not everyone is a hand, eye, etc.
Another issue in America is getting lost (before the time of GPS.) Men would go round and round before they admit they are lost and ask for directions.
We don’t want to be what we want to be but rather what God wants us to be.
The American Dream also suggests that bigger / faster / newer is better.
If we read our Bible, slower is better, older is better and smaller is better. If we as slower and following the ancient spiritual teaching and if we are smaller, we can be personal. God is personal. God died for the whole world and you and me.
The Bible is God’s eternal Word and it is often counter-culture. That which is highly esteemed by men is an abomination to God. God can grow the church. We need to focus on God. Servanthood simply focuses on doing things obediently for God. Following Jesus is not about doing great things for God because if we do that, we emphasize the great things but not God.
Jesus told his disciples to come apart with him to rest awhile in Mark 6:31. One Canadian pastor said we better come apart and rest with Jesus or we will come apart.
Often God will ask us to do small things. We should do it without telling anyone.
Sometimes God will ask us to do great things. But that’s not for everyone. Most of us are called to do things that are ‘tedious mediocrity.’
One day, we will meet Jesus and greet us as ‘faithful servants’, not ‘faithful leaders.’ There are many unsung heroes. The Bible said the first shall be the last and the last shall be the first.
We are living in the Kingdom of God which is an upside down kingdom. What is valued in the sight of God is often an abomination to the world.
In American Christianity, there are 2 Ses – Satisfaction and Self-esteem. The underground churches on the other hand, understand Suffering and Sacrifices. They have self-esteem and satisfaction because they know Christ. In Bible, we read about those who counted it a privilege to be persecuted for God. They don’t glorify suffering.
Robert Greenleaf first coined the terms Servant Leadership. His book was often quoted out of context. In his book, he discussed extensively how we should be servants before we are called to be leaders.
We are servants before we become leaders. But unfortunately the idea has been distorted into using servanthood as a leader.
Some suggested the terms Leading Servants, with an emphasis on Servanthood. But even that is not acceptable.
Rev. Dr. Tan prefers to refer to them as Servants who Lead.
A colleague of Rev. Dr. Tan thought every book in the Bible is a book is a text book of the leadership. A UK professor disagreed. He thought there is little on leadership in the Bible. He wrote a tongue-in-cheek article called Leadership is Sin with 10 reasons.
b. Servanthood vs. Servant Leadership
(see above)c. Servanthood and Leadership
(see above)d. Leadership
A leader is someone who leads with the vision and a goal, motivating a group of followers to achieve the goal.e. Christian Leadership
Dr. Jeffrey Greenman who was installed as the chairman of the Bernado Leadership in Tyndale Seminary (formerly Ontario Theological Seminary) wrote the following in his book, The Three Tasks of Leadership: Worldy Wisdom for Pastoral Leaders.One of the most powerful biblical texts about the shape of Christian leadership is Mark 10:32-45 – Jesus teachers that the cross determines the nature of authentic leadership. Throughout the New Testament, leadership is cruciform – literally, “cross-shaped.” Leadership is defined as suffering servanthood precesly because Jesus’ cross defined the meaning of service … The cross-shaped pattern of Christn leadership is every but as radical today as it was 2,000 years ago. Still today our culture gravitates toward patterns of leadership oriented by dominance, control and power … When Christians become “squeezed into the world’s mold” of leadership, or even deliberately adopt the world’s leadership pattern, we abandon the way of the Cross and thereby compromise our distinctiveness …
Everything that is true of a disciple is also true of a Christian leader. The necessity of discipleship is intensified dramatically for those giving leadership to God’s work in the world. Leaders are first and foremost disciples, people whose identity is found in the crucified Jesus …
f. When the Laws of Leadership and Discipleship Collide
Bill Hybels said sooner or later the above would happen in our lives. He observed that Jesus broke the Law of Momentum in Mark 1:35.The church is not about building or parking space. We have different models – mega churches or church planting. Never ever assume prayer. The flesh doesn’t like to pray – it likes to show off. When we pray, we humble ourselves and we depend on God.
In Mk 10, Jesus broke the law of leveraging with key people. Jesus chose to spend time with children, who were seen as people who could not help make the church stronger.
Mk 14:32, Jesus showed his vulnerability and anguish. Three times he asked of the Father to take away the cup and yet He submitted to the will of the Father. Here, he broke the law of being strong for the team. Vulnerability is not sin.
Bill Hybels was so busy with leadership in the church that he forgot about a meeting with some 200 mentally-challenged young people. He almost wanted to skip it. God reminded him how he was losing focus. He met them.
Bill Hybel learned that there are no laws of leadership that are irrefutable. He understood he needed to depend on the Holy Spirit.
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