Abstract

If a servant is to be a follower, how is that same person in the ranks with a leader?

Leadership is a commodity that many people aspire to hold. People want to be the leader of
their team, work places, community organizations, or class assignment. Most of the time,
these responsibilities are attributed to those leaders who carry certain traits, Obamas
charisma for example. When the concept of leadership began to gain a momentum in the
interest of researchers, many started with the trait approach, but in 1970s, Robert
Greenleaf shared with the world an almost radical and paradoxical view of leadership
called Servant Leadership. My personal theology is plastered on the strength and outright
belief in the works and life of Jesus Christ.

What is Servant Leadership?

In Northouses (2013) Leadership: Theory and Practice, servant leadership as

defined by Greenleaf (1970) is defined as,

The natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious
choice brings one to aspire to lead The difference manifests itself in the
care taken b the servantfirst to make sure that other peoples highest
priority needs are being served. The best test is: do those served grow as
persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more
autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the
effect on the least privileged in society; will they benefit, or, at least, will they
not be further deprived (p. 220).
For a deeper understanding of this definition I would like to parallel it with the spirit of
work that is described by Autry (2001). The spirit of work is similar to Greenleafs concept
of choice. Theres such an irony in this choice. This all feeds into the paradoxical nature of
servant leadership. This decision entails the capability to actually be, rather than having to
do (p. 8). Leaders lead and servants areI know it sounds very unfinished and maybe
unpolished, but that is its presentation. A better way to distinguish leaders and servants
was shared in Chapter 2 of The Meaning of Servant Leadership. Here, leadership is a role
and servant hood is an identity. Typically, we do not intertwine the categorization of our
identities in society with who we are; they are mutually exclusive.

There are five ways of being that are presented by Autry. They are authenticity,

vulnerability, acceptance, presence, and usefulness. These are all simple concepts at first

sight, and whos to say that a leader cant just be that? In theory and practice these concepts
are more difficult to encapsulate if its not who you truly are. Countless times servant
leadership has been described in a manner that suggests it must come from the core of who
you are, thus adjoining it with an occupation diminishes its usefulness to change people.
Servant leadership speaks to the deepest sensitivities of the human spirit (Meaning of
Servant Leadership, p. 13). Not everyone can do this. There arent many organizations who
would be willing to define its success as giving, measure its achievement by commitment
to the service at hand and count the wins through the creation of a community of
collaboration. I doubt many large companies are comfortable with this lack of
competitiveness that underlies servant leadership.
Theology of Servant Leadership

Servant leadership wants to build up people and create a sense of community while

also catering to autonomy. My theology of leadership is deeply rooted in the spirit of God. I
believe that the God of Abraham, the father of Jesus, who came and wrapped himself in
flesh, is the prime example of what the truest form of servant leadership looks like. From
the Old Testament God to the New Testament God who knew that a sacrifice was needed to
grace todays people. I would like to focus on three aspects of Christ that I follow that lends
itself to the action of servant leadership. Through Christs way of being or attitude, his
demographic of people and his extremist views he wholly embodies servant leadership.
A Way of Being

Earlier I shared Autrys Five ways of being. Being, was considered a conscious

choice about how you choose to be and about how you choose to live your life at home as
well as at work (p. 9). While action plays a major role in these attributes, the actual

decision to just be enhances the redundancy of simple actions by adding a sense of

spirituality to the work. Being is simply an attribute, not a process or technique. I believe
that Jesus was authentic, vulnerable, accepting, present and very useful in his three and a
half year ministry before his crucifixion. I could share countless example after example of
this, but right now, Id like to draw attention to his acceptance.

Feed the hungry. Raise the dead. Heal the sick. Befriend the sinners and social

outcasts. This is what Jesus set out to do throughout his ministry, but he didnt just do the
actions, he made a decision to be in these actions. In Biblical times, the outcasts were just
that, outcasts. No one had the desire to talk with them or have any dealings with them
because of their status in society. Jesus came, the Son of God and decided that those were
the people he wanted to associate with the most. Much like today, people were more
consumed with religiosity, than they were with relationship. They were outwardly
religious and hypocritical and more concerned with financial gains than anything. Matthew
23 says this to the Pharisees and teachers of the law in particular:
2.Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: The Pharisees and the teachers

of the Law are experts in the Law of Moses. 3So obey everything they teach
you, but dont do as they do. After all, they say one thing and do something
else (Bible Gateway, 2016).

Firstly, it was outright bold for Christ to say what he said about them and as he

continued he further disseminated their character by sharing that they just like to be seen
in front of others. While leadership was described as out ahead, servanthood was risking
the vilification of those who are offended by a leaders positions on controversial matters (
Sims, 1997, p. 11). Towards the middle of the passage in verse 11 he states, Whoever is the

greatest should be the servant of others. Being the servant of others means helping those
less fortunate. If the definition given by Greenleaf is the end-all-be-all of servant leadership
than when he says a servant leaders goals are focused on the people and more specifically,
their highest priority needs I quickly think of Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. At the very
basic physiological level of needs, people need food, water, shelter and sleep. The following
levels also dive into safely and belonging. I believe that Jesus style of leadership centered
on these things.

Isaiah 58:7 says share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless.

Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.
Many Old Testament scriptures gave instruction and wisdom in the way that people should
go, and when Jesus came, he took heed to the words spoken before him. An example is
following the death of John the Baptist. Jesus respected John the Baptist and wanted to have
some alone time (to mourn I suppose) but when the crowds learned of his arrival they
decided to follow him. There are a few things that occurred here, one being that he
consciously decided to think more about the peoples needs than his own. Secondly, he felt
for the people and healed all who were sick when he could have turned them all away.
Thirdly, he mobilized the discipleswho wanted to tell everyone to go home because of
their long dayto feed the people around them. All 5,000 people were fed with two fish
and five loaves of bread and this was only through the authority and belief that Christ had
about his followers. Just as the father enabled Christ, Christ enabled the disciples. About
two months ago I heard the greatest correlation to empowering people around you to do
what you do. During a service my pastor shared with us that mind blowing idea that the
bread and the fish did not multiply in the hands of Jesus, but as he gave to the disciples, it

multiplied in their hands. Here, I believe that Jesus was honoring the personal dignity and
worth of all who are led and evoking their own innate creative power for leadership (
Sims, 1997, p. 11). This was another definition given for the concept of servant leadership.
Later, the chapter makes the claim that servant leaders build up people so that the system
will eventually build itself.
The Great Commission in Matthew 28 was more than a mandate to make more
disciples; it was more than an assignment. It was empowerment from Christ to do as he did.
In a sermon by Calvin Oule (2012) on Leading Like Jesus, he ends the sermon by sharing
the manner of empowerment that Christ led with. In Acts chapter 1:8 Christ also shows his
resourcefulness. Though he knew he would leave, he promised the Holy Spirit to be a guide
upon our acceptance. The word associated with the Holy Spirit was power, and with power
comes love and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7). It proves to be an arduous task for me to
separate Christs being from who he is. This proves that leadership is most definitely a role
and servanthood is an identity as described by Sims. It is the part of you that refuses to
allow you to wage war with an enemy, but to pray for them. Leaders today go back and
forth with other competing companies or people so that only one will be victorious, but
when you understand that love always wins than you live life without fear, shame, or
compromise. You live like a true servant.
Personal Application

I work at Starbucks and easily I can get very overwhelmed with all that I have to do,

especially the interactions with the hundreds of people I make drinks or take orders for
each day. Whenever I walk into work, I am sure that I bring an attitude and way of being.

One of my recent decisions have been to create an atmosphere that is anti-conflict. Autry
(2001) shares that preventing and solving conflict are important. When left unaddressed,
conflict will poison the atmosphere well beyond just the workers most directly involved
(p. 172). At my store, there is a lot of chatter and talk that tears down our team morality
than it does our productivity. I think that as a servant leader I have the responsibility to
foster the ideal response to conflict so that others will see my actions or re-actions and
want to do the same. If I can learn to overcome the challenge of disagreement over process,
I can diverge the flow into the personal conflict. When things get personal, they are much
harder to be dealt with.

As a co-worship leader of Master Builders Music Group at Master Builders Church

in Northeast Philadelphia, I have been challenged the most to walk in that attitude of
servant leadership. For most of my life, Im realizing that most of my decisions came from
the top down. Now, my interactions are more on the level of what do WE all need to do in
order to get where we need to go? Servant leadership is a loss of control in the normal
sense because the success is based upon the community of people. It is also based upon the
call to ministry. Ive learned that ministry in Greek actually means servant, waiter, or
attendant. If I am a ministry leader, I have to first be the servant and second be the leader. I
want to really embody Ubuntu and see people. Even when people dont see or
acknowledge me, it is my hope that like Jesus who was denied by Peter three times and
doubted in times of fear, that I would be unmovable in my purpose to serve.

Essentially, I want my attitude to shift. Philippians 2:5 charges the Christian to have

the mind of Christ in all we do. If he befriends the sinners, I do the same. If his team didnt

consist of the most educated people, I dont need only people with a BachelorsI just need
people who are willing to be led and who are open to creating a legacy. I must come not to
be served, but to serve (Mark 10:45). I say the things that are offensive only if it changes
the hearts of those willing to receive it. The list continues and so will the legacy that Christ
left so impactfully on this earth.

Sources
Autry, James. The Servant Leader: How to build a creative team, develop great morale, and

improve bottom-line performance. United States: Three Rivers Press, 2001

Northouse, Peter. Leadership Theory and Practice. United States: Sage Publication, 2013.

Oule, Calvin. [Villageavecc]. (2012, November 11) Leading Like Jesus. Retrieved from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-yzZn0ffh4

Sims, Bennett. Servanthood: Leadership for the third millennium. United States: Cowley

Publications, 1997
Bible Gateway. Retrieved from: www.biblegateway.com, 2016