Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today let’s examine Christ’s standard of servant-leading.

Today’s scripture, Matthew 20:26‭-‬34 (NIV), follows an argument between disciples of regarding status with God. In response Jesus said…
“…whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.” Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.

Consider…
Robert K Greenleaf is credited for coining the phrase “servant leadership” in an essay he wrote titled the “The Servant as Leader.” According to the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, Servant Leadership is a non-traditional leadership philosophy, embedded in a set of our own behaviors and practices that place the primary emphasis on the well-being of those being served.

I wonder if Mr Greenleaf read today’s scripture when coining and defining the phrase. Specifically when Jesus, the greatest leader ever, said…
“the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Fortunately the philosophy of servant leadership has become more common in today’s society. Unfortunately, the emphasis is different than what Jesus was describing in today’s scripture. The way the philosophy is used today focuses on leading others to do what one wants by making them feel prioritized. However, Jesus was describing serving others because they are the priority.

In my opinion, the closest example of the servant leadership that Jesus is describing is parents with infants. The parent tends to every need and responds to every cry for the baby’s benefit. The only agenda is meeting the baby’s needs. As those needs change, the parent adapts how they serve appropriately. For example…

• until potty trained, parents change baby’s diapers when they see the need
• when the baby starts coming to the parent to change the diaper, serving shifts to teaching the baby how to potty in a toilet
• once potty training is completed the parent serves by buying and washing the child’s underwear

These three examples show us the same way Jesus served others according to what they needed. Meaning He didn’t give sight to the deaf or hearing to the blind. And He didn’t just heal broken bodies and overlook broken souls. Rather, Jesus asked and answered the need articulated by the one He was serving.

This sets up our examination of Christ’s standard of servant-leading seen in today’s scripture.

The first observation is Christ’s focus wasn’t on Himself as the server, rather He focused ‘souly’ on the served. Read Jesus’ words again…
the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many

When you are serving, who are you focused on? Notice, Christ standard of serving was giving His life for the many sinners willing to be served.

If you’re saved, you’ve been served.

When serving, what are you sacrificing for the benefit of those being served?

A second observation from today’s scripture is Jesus heard and stopped to engaged the people asking for His help. This is a convicting one for me because I would rather give money than my attention. 😔

That admission makes me think of the following story from Acts 3:1‭-‬8 (NLT)…
Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money. Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!” Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them.

Notice, these brothers-in-Christ…

• Were going to a prayer meeting at church
• Encountered a lame (physically) beggar
• Engaged him
• Offered him healing in Jesus’ name
• Took his hand and helped him up
• And the man FOLLOWED them into church

Now that’s a true example of servant-leading. However, before you become overly impressed, recall Peter was with Jesus in today’s scripture, so he was really just following what He saw Jesus do with the two blind men. I like to call Jesus’ standard of serving the SEA response to cries for help…

• Stop
• Engage
• Address

I think I will rename my second observation to the Christ’s SEA standard of serving.

By the way, although Peter didn’t have what the beggar asked for, he gave him what he had and saw he needed, which was a healing touch from Jesus. That shows us that although we may not always feel like we have the resources to help, we can always offer the Source of help!

The third and final standard of serving set by Christ is how it inspires the served to follow Him. I base this observation on the scripture saying…
Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.

In the story we read about Peter healing the lame man, we saw where the man followed him into the temple.

Imagine following Peter’s example and serving people in a way make them want to follow you to Christ.

Peter showed me that Christ-like serving should lead the served to follow Him. When you serve others for Christ? Do you inspire them to follow Him?

A bonus observation about Christ serving standard is that His primary concern was a person’s broken soul. In the same way a parent changes a baby’s poopy diaper to quiet their discomforted cry, Jesus mended broken bodies, in order to heal sin-sick souls.

Never lose sight, we serve so that hopefully Christ can save. We may be the hands and feet to fill a physical need, but Christ is the Bread of Life that we want them to allow their soul to feed.

Recapping, serving like Christ is…

• Focusing on who is being served rather than who is serving
• SEA responding to the storms of life
• Serving like Christ, means meeting a person’s physical need in a way that inspires hunger for the Bread of Life to feed.

That last bullet just made me think that how we serve should give people a taste of the goodness of God. And inspire them to trust Him more! (Psalm 34:8)

Serve others like Christ, and they will be inspired to follow Him!

Today’s song is…
Less Like Me

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)