(This is a guest post by Pastor Mike Sharrett, my pastor while I lived in Lynchburg. He has a ministry called Fortifying Shepherds, aimed at assisting church leaders to embrace and model humble, other-centered servanthood. He is available for consulting, guest preaching, retreats and workshops.)
Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash
I exhort the elders among you…shepherd the flock of God that is among you…
clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another… 1 Peter 5:1,2,5
Many good books are available to help church leaders reflect on the multiple aspects of their roles and responsibilities. Recent publications, regrettably, have needed to address the issue of abuse among church leaders, including the scandal of narcissism and the “bully pulpit.” The PCA’s DASA Committee has produced a report with particular attention to spiritual abuse inflicted by church leaders. Add to this the experience of many Sessions that struggle relationally, whether tension between Ruling Elders and Teaching Elders, or lack of vision to rule collaboratively and collegially, or those lamentable occasions when Teaching Elders do not leave their call well. What’s happening? While many factors contribute to strain in these situations, you can be sure what isn’t happening: humility. To be a bit simplistic, much of this dysfunction originates in the heart: neglecting to constantly battle pride and to cultivate the indispensable qualifier for an officer of the church: humble, other-centered servanthood.
The Biblical Basis of Humble, Other-Centered Servanthood
What is the source of the phrase, humble, other-centered servanthood?
Reflect on Jesus’…
…humble heart:
Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
…other-centeredness:
2 Corinthians 8:9 …For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
…servanthood:
Mark 10:45 The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Paul exhorts all believers to adorn the mindset and example of Jesus’ humble, other-centered servanthood with these words:
Philippians 2:5-8 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Jesus humbled himself, by emptying himself for other-centeredness, in the form of a servant.
Christ-followers, not least their leaders, are called and privileged to do the same:
…In humility:
1 Peter 5:5,6 Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another…humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God…
…With other-centeredness:
Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more important than yourself…4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
…As a servant:
2 Corinthians 4:5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
Log-blindedness
I have found in my experience, however, too many instances of the opposite. Having peered as a pastor into the smoldering ruins of many wrecked lives- marriages, friendships, leadership boards, and organizations that have crashed and burned- I rarely find gospel-created, humble, other-centered servanthood amidst the wreckage. Much pride, indeed, but seldom the kind of self-sacrificial other-centeredness that beautified the life of Jesus. I encounter people who, to use Jesus’ image in Matthew 7:3-5, easily detect others’ specks but not their own logs. These encounters include even well-meaning folks who inadvertently inflict harm on others due to their own “log-blindness.” They specialize in the faults of others, but keep skipping the class that examines their own faults. They assume they stand in the truth with little need of correction. As a rule, they have difficulty admitting wrongdoing, resist correction, need to be right all the time, and seldom question their motives.
Motives of a Servant
When Peter exhorts elders to shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight (1 Peter 5:2), he contrasts three godly and ungodly motives for leading, concluding with being examples to the flock. An example of what, exactly, we may wonder? An example of humble servanthood. Peter’s charge to all in 1 Peter 5:5,6 (Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another…humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God…) should be clearly evident in the shepherds of the flock. The verb clothe referred to a servant tying an apron around their waste. Elders lead with aprons on, eyes on the sheep, laying down their lives in sacrificial service for the flock in the pattern of the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ (John 10:11; 13:14).
Servant-leaders are not called to a position (I am Lead Pastor!), but to a team and its mission. They won’t use their privilege to another’s disadvantage, but rather for another’s promotion:
2 Cor.4:15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
They ask not what they themselves desire, but rather, what the sheep need, endeavoring to use their authority to bring that to pass. They enter Session meetings as into a barn, not a board room, ready to care for sheep. Their knowledge and gifts pale in comparison to the priority placed on their love for those they serve:
1 Cor.13:2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
1Thess.2:8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.
Therefore, elders should aim to love those they lead as they rule with wisdom, truth and grace, as they fix their gaze upon Christ, relishing his mercy, kindness, beauty, power, glory, humility, gentleness, self-sacrifice and authority:
1 Cor. 2:2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
“If you should ask me what are the ways of God, I would tell you that the first is humility, the second is humility, and the third is humility. Not that there are no other precepts to give, but if humility does not precede all that we do, our efforts are fruitless.” – Augustine
