We continue our look at the biblical role of leaders. In my introductory article, I suggested that church leaders have three functions:
To serve, supply, and shepherd.
I will explain each of these in three forthcoming articles, beginning with servanthood in this article. But first, let’s combine the three in a sort of benchmark statement worth reciting.
God has called leaders in the church to serve, supply, and shepherd his people.
Or, an expanded version:
Leaders should serve the people’s spiritual needs, not order them around.
Leaders should supply God’s people with support and skills to use their gifts, not treat them as supporters of their ministry brands.
Leaders should shepherd God’s people with compassion, care, protection, instruction, guidance, and encouragement, not dominate them for their own power or profit.
I am striving to calibrate my life to this tripartite gauge. I believe it is a worthy goal.
But now the focus of this article: leadership as servanthood.
Beware the Disease of Self-Promotion
Jesus taught explicitly against self-promotion. Yet it has become an epidemic among ministry leaders, especially in the current climate of charismatic religion.
High profile leaders—or those trying to climb the ladder higher—advertise themselves without shame and without fear.
The practice is shockingly common—and dangerous. It gives the next generation a model of precisely how not to be leaders in the body of Jesus Christ. And if that baton of narcissism gets passed to the younger generation, the church’s future will be bleak.
Jesus warned his people against the hazard of self-elevation in one of his most familiar, but apparently forgotten, maxims:
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. (Matt 23:12)
It’s really that simple.
The type of saying Jesus used here is known as an “antithesis,” which expresses contrasting ideas in a tight, parallel structure. Further, he made it memorable by setting it in an elegant chiasmus (an A-B-B-A pattern).
Jesus’ little statement is rhetorically brilliant… and devastatingly clear.
In fact, it’s lethal.
In just thirteen English words (only ten in Greek), Jesus shatters a thousand ministries built through self-promotion.
Yet, many of these “Christian” leaders defy Jesus’ own words with brazen confidence. They are witnesses against themselves, unwilling to hide their public expressions of self-aggrandizement.
The expression of their faces testifies against them… they do not even conceal it… (Isa 3:9).
A quick perusal of their websites tells the tale. It took me little time to find a few internet pages to illustrate this point.
One site I saw begins with an animated signature of the ministry hero’s name.
When I asked Google’s AI why websites do this, it answered that the animated signature is meant “to capture our attention, enhance brand personality, showcase creativity, and increase engagement by making them stand out from static content.”
Well, praise God!
On the same site, the name of Jesus Christ is not mentioned until we click into the leader’s web-shop. Before then, every part of the site was designed to exalt the ministry leader emphatically, repeatedly, visually, graphically.
Then upon searching, we find that one of the leader’s best-selling books mentions Jesus in its subtitle. Besides that, the entire site was about the leader, including a digital ticker tape that reported his other-worldly credentials.
Similar sites bombard us with professional promo headshots on little billboards advertising the leaders’ books, conferences, or mentorships. And of course, it’s all for a price.
Sometimes we see highlight reel videos of the heroes’ proclaiming their gospel before adoring crowds. They declare their messages on the stage, above their admirers, pacing, pointing, emoting, and gesticulating to punctuate their messages.
But these are merely visual montages of the heroes’ greatness. We do not actually hear what they are saying. We only watch silent action, like slow motion replays of a great athlete, meant to imply the speakers’ importance.
What does the message matter? Just look at those highlights.
They are images without reality, form without substance, self-promotion without meekness.
We watch the audience pay rapt attention, their faces prayerfully focused and hands raised (ostensibly to God, though visually they seem raised to the hero onstage). Fans await the moment when the “apostle” might condescend to ground level and touch their heads. Some lucky ones then receive prayer, weeping and bowing under the anointing.
Meanwhile, that marquee text is scrolling along the bottom of the screen the entire time, identifying the hero with epithets that would make the original Twelve jealous.
Apostle… Prophet… Church Planter… TV Personality… Best Selling Author…
The ticker tape continues so we will not forget. It does not matter what these gallant knights are like in real life. It does not matter how many families have been shattered by their manipulation. Nor does it matter how many souls have fled from their ministries into therapy.
All that matters is what they say about themselves.
And what they say is awesome.
(Remember what Jesus said: “You will know them by their website claims.” Right?)
For those willing to be honest, it takes a millisecond to see the dissonance between Jesus’ teaching on humility and these self-styled media heroes.
But if we ignore the dissonance, we click deeper into the delusions of grandeur.
When we do, we receive various product overtures centered on the supreme ministry leader. These include offers for mentorship, e-courses, network membership, merchandise, and easy ways to “partner” financially.
Make no mistake, as noted above, it all comes for a cost.
In fact, if we give enough money monthly, we receive a special status among the club of donors, and we get special ministry favors commensurate with that status. This includes access to archives, prophetic classes, and sometimes even a phone call with the “apostle” (if his schedule permits).
The more we give, the higher VIP status we receive, including special seating at events.
In truth, our hearts should sink in sorrow and disgust at the sight of such shameless, anti-biblical self-exaltation. How can Christians fall for this blatant arrogance, so contrary to the Spirit of Christ? How can people read their Bibles with any honesty and continue to support leaders like this? Where is our discernment?
Meanwhile, Jesus’ holy maxim continues to hover, forgotten for now but not forever…
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled…
This is how far Christian leadership, especially in the charismatic sphere, has departed from the humility of Jesus Christ. We must not allow their empty boasts to trick us.
These are not real leaders in the body of Christ.
Such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no great surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will be according to their works. (2 Cor 11:13-15)
If you are a young leader reading this, please do not be duped by the false advertising of bad leaders.
Do not enter their Den of Thieves.
Steer clear of the disease of their self-promotion. It is contagious.
The Heart of Leadership
Jesus treads outside the camp of these marketers and calls us to himself.
If we come to him there, if we really come to him and listen to his words without the filter of these frauds, we hear him teach the heart—his heart—of real leadership in his Kingdom.
Whoever wants to become great among you must serve the rest of you like a servant. Whoever wants to become first among you must serve the rest of you like a slave. In the same way, the Son of Man did not come to be served. He came to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many people. (Matt 20:25-28, emphasis added)
Come to me, all of you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to carry and my burden is light. (Matt 11:28-30, emphasis added)
Jesus describes humility as his very heart. Once so self-described, he bids us come to learn his humility as leaders among his little lambs. We cannot and will not ever learn such humility from the leaders of self-promotion and merchandise.
We must come to Jesus himself.
He offers himself as the main teacher of his own leadership ethos.
Once in his presence—kneeling before his great but gentle lordship, under his yoke, and immersed in his words—he saturates our hearts with his humility. Here we cannot help but learn that leaders in Jesus’ Kingdom would never exalt themselves to build their brands. They only lower themselves to build his people.
With this in mind, I want to emphasize a central role of servant-leadership among God’s people.
Christ-like leaders serve his people by offering themselves as examples of the faith.
Servants are Examples
If we cannot offer ourselves to God’s people as models of Christ’s meekness, love, and holiness, then what on earth are we doing in leadership?
Several of the websites I checked were conducted by relatively young men. I am left to wonder, Who mentored these egomaniacs? Who were their examples? They seem to know nothing about servanthood, but a lot about how to use people to build their brands. Yet they are potentially setting the tone for the next generation to follow their toxic examples.
Where are the godly mentors of Christ-like servanthood?
By contrast, listen to Paul’s words to his young apprentice, Timothy:
Let no one look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in your speech, conduct, love, faithfulness, and purity. (1 Tim 4:12, emphasis added)
Paul told Timothy to resist contempt for his youthfulness, not by exalting himself over others, nor by claiming to have status via Paul’s endorsement, but by becoming an example of Christ-like character. That should be Timothy’s weapon against his detractors.
Let’s do that too.
Be Real
Any con artist can project an image online or onstage. But Kingdom leaders are transparent; they are real people in real life.
Humility means being an authentic human being.
Real leaders can afford for people to see them in their natural habitat—amid their family, on the job, behind closed doors, during trials, facing problems—because they lead by example, not by image.
True servant leaders develop down-to-earth, Christ-like characters to help others do the same.
They consecrate themselves for those they serve, as Jesus himself prayed.
For their sakes I sanctify Myself…”(John 17:19)
Consider what Paul told the church he planted in Corinth:
I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you, be imitators of me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church. (1 Cor 4:14-17, emphasis added)
Read those highlighted words again. Paul actually urged his church to imitate him. Can you imagine modern leaders urging their congregations to copy them in their day-to-day lives?
When people saw Paul’s lifestyle among them, they knew how to be the church.
Paul was the practical prototype of the gospel he proclaimed. He was the paradigm to which he pointed as a living type of what Christ-centered life was supposed to be. Indeed, when the Corinthians lost their way, Paul sent them his faithful spiritual son, Timothy, to remind them of his ways in Christ Jesus.
Notice: Paul did not refer to “the Lord’s ways,” as we might expect. He referred to his own ways. Because that is what the Corinthians saw when Paul was among them. They were not present to see Jesus serving God among the towns and countryside of Israel, nor dying outside Jerusalem.
No, in order to see Jesus “before their eyes, publicly portrayed as crucified,” they had to have a real apostle embodying the crucified life of humility and love before them. And Paul could confidently refer back to that personal history as an example they must remember.
Do leaders plant or sustain churches like that anymore?
It is easier to put on “services” than it is to serve—to live as servants of Christ who give their churches examples to follow.
It is hard to imagine planting churches the way the apostles did:
- Proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.
- Teach the new disciples through biblical instruction and observable, practical lifestyle.
- Train up local leaders to do the same.
Here are a few more statements from Paul to make this point:
Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. (1 Cor 11:1)
Brothers and sisters, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. (Phil 3:17)
As for the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Phil 4:9, emphasis added)
Imagine one of these ministry marketing geniuses claiming to their churches what Paul claimed above: “If you saints would simply spend time with me, and put my personal lifestyle and gospel teaching into practice, then you would enjoy God’s peaceful, manifest presence.“
Is not God’s experienced presence the central feature of what we call “revival”? Yet Paul did not instruct his churches to pray for “revival”; he instructed them to follow his example of Christ-centered character. Then they would experience a kind of “revival,” because…
“The God of peace will be with you.”
In my opinion, this has to be a major reason we do not see genuine, prolonged “revival”—because we do not have servant leaders whose lives are worthy of reproducing.
So we have to beg God to “send” revival.
People have to pray like Baal worshippers to get God to come among (or to come despite) our idolatrous ministry machines. We implore him to come as a substitute for our refusal to confront the Den of Thieves.
And who is often leading such prayer meetings? The same leaders who demand attention and power, the same leaders who advertise themselves, the same leaders who fleece the sheep, the same leaders whose pride God is resisting.
This is also why we often hear some of these social media gurus’ prophesying how revival will come if we get rid of “the religious spirit.” Yet it is their ministries that host the religious spirit that must be removed.
In any case, which is easier? To prophesy that “revival is coming”? Or to lower ourselves as servants whose lifestyles would, if copied by others, manifest God’s presence among a people conformed to the image of Jesus?
I say prophesying is easier, especially if it consists of hype and empty charismatic jargon.
Servanthood is harder.
And less profitable.
But we should choose the Jesus way, the harder way, because it is the real way. And it results in the peaceful, manifest presence of God for which we long.
I believe real leaders are servants who can be copied as models of the faith.
And just so we do not think this standard applies only to apostles like Paul, here are a couple of NT passages specifically addressed to local churches and their local leaders:
Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their way of life, imitate their faith. (Heb 13:7, emphasis added)
Therefore, I urge elders among you… shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not with greed but with eagerness; nor yet as domineering over those assigned to your care, but by proving to be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. (1 Pet 5:1-4, emphases added)
Let us Lower Ourselves
Here are a few practical ways to heed the Bible’s call to servanthood.
First, embrace the servant’s mindset held by Jesus.
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility-of-mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this mindset in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, and being made in the likeness of men. (Phil 2:3-7, emphasis added)
Second, be content with your relationship with God.
Insecure people need praise, so they cannot be real servants. And if they cannot be servants, they cannot be leaders. Narcissists are narcissists because of deep insecurity. Their egos are gigantic but fragile. They must be seen; they must be in control; they must be running their mouths; they must be the heroes. So when they do appear to “serve,” it is only for the optics of looking “Christ-like” for the crowds and receiving their praise.
It is certainly true that, as normal people, we all need encouragement from one another. That is good, necessary, and biblical. But that is not what I am talking about here. Our need for encouragement from true friends is healthy and right.
Egomaniacs need more than healthy encouragement. They need constant validation without criticism. Do otherwise and they push you out of their ministry.
So crucify any need for praise and be satisfied with Christ. Be content in your identity as a child of God (see John 13:3-5 in its fuller context).
Third, be part of a leadership team.
Do not be like Diotrephes, who was “the one who loves to be first” among the others (3 John 9).
But as for you, do not be called Rabbi; for only One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters. And do not call anyone on earth your father; for only One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called leaders; for only One is your Leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest of you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. (Matt 23:8-12)
Do not seek to be the one who has to be recognized as the leader to whom everyone else must submit. I used to be on a leadership team where the “senior leader”—who would call himself “first among equals”—reminded us often that he was still the main leader. Though he claimed at times that we were a team, he still treated us as inferiors, not equals, when it mattered the most.
In my opinion, the sheer fact of someone in that position should be a red flag.
Crucify the need to be first. Do not usurp Jesus’ place of lordship. Be part of a leadership team and dare to submit to Jesus and one another.
Finally, be an actual member of the faith community you help lead.
“Leadership” may be a distinct role, but it is not an elite social status among God’s people. You are not in a special category that plays by different rules than any other member of Christ’s body. This double standard among leaders is a plague in the church today, and it applies well beyond those caught abusing others. Many “lead pastors” and traveling ministers see themselves in a special category whether they are willing to admit it or not.
Each of us is a member of the body of Christ and should be submitted to our local church like everyone else (Phil 1:1; Eph 5:21). We are subject to the same temptations and weaknesses as anyone else. We need real friends and natural accountability. We must know people and they must know us.
Our need for the body is just as great as everyone else’s need. In fact, we have a greater need for the body—a greater need to be consistent, responsible members of a local church.
How can we be healthy leaders of God’s people if we think we are too important to be actual members of God’s people?
One traveling Christian speaker told me proudly how often he travels and only attends church when he is in town. And this of course is typical. Whether such traveling speakers realize it or not, they are telling us that their ministry to the church is too important for them to be consistent, productive members of a church.
But that is a stark—and hazardous—contradiction. The leaders who bypass their accountability as true members of a local church, are the very same leaders who go everywhere instructing churches. Right there is a subtle form of pride that we have tolerated and even celebrated, and to which many local shepherds have exposed their churches.
If we do not have the humility to be true members of a local body of Christ, then we certainly do not have the humility to serve churches as leaders.
Servants honor people more than status. So they must insist on being members of the local body before they claim to be leaders. How can they preach unless they are sent?
Being actual members of local churches keeps us transparent and real. It keeps us humble, which is the heart of leadership.
I pray for a return to the Jesus way of leadership.
May we lower ourselves before the Lord to attain his summit of servanthood.