Rethinking Greatness in the Church
The Way of the Cross in Leadership
Introduction
Last week, I brought us some thoughts on leadership from Hwa Yung’s book, Leadership or Servanthood? The key point — greatness in God’s kingdom comes through service. This week, we continue by looking at what that means for our life together.
If leadership flows from servanthood, how do we live this out? Yung suggests we need fewer “servant leaders” and more “leading servants” — whose faithful service may sometimes lead.
Confidence
John 13:3 tells us that before Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, he knew “that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God.” Confident in his Father’s love, he was free to take the lowest place. Yung notes, “Living in the security of his Father’s love and protection, he did not need to entertain doubts about his ultimate destiny.”
Shared
Biblical leadership is shared. Paul tells Titus to appoint elders — plural — (Titus 1:5). Yung reminds us, “Outside of missionary situations where new churches were being founded, leadership as practised in the New Testament was consistently team leadership in which no single person had sole, undisputed authority.”
Character
Character matters far more than competence. Paul served “with great humility and with tears” (Acts 20:19). The qualifications in 1 Timothy 3 focus on integrity and faithfulness, not charisma. Yung warns, “Until and unless the principle of servanthood has been internalised in our lives, any talk about leadership development invariably encourages self-seeking ambition.”
Slow
God often forms leaders slowly. Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness. Paul spent more than a decade in obscurity before his missionary journeys. As Yung recalls, “God took two days to get Moses out of Egypt, but forty years to get Egypt out of Moses!”
Faithfulness
The church’s calling is not efficiency but faithfulness. “If the church is not a hospital for the poor and broken, the wounded and lame, and the suicidal and hopeless, what in the name of Christ is it?” Yung asks. Our role is to embody a “faithful presence” that points to Christ.
Summary
Ultimately, Christian leadership is not about striving to rise but surrendering to serve. Yung concludes: “Leadership in the cause of Christ does not come from our striving to be leaders but is the by-product of a life of humble service to him and others.”
Reflection Questions
1. What does it mean for you to find your security in the Father’s love, like Jesus did?
2. How could the New Testament emphasis on shared leadership work in Watford?
3. In what ways might God be using seasons of hiddenness in your life to form you for future service?
Closing Thought
If we learn to be servants, leadership will follow naturally in God’s time. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, who came not to be served but to serve, and let us walk together in his way of the cross.
Your brother, Malcolm
