Being in charge is not all it is cracked up to be. Sure, there can be advantages to authority and the power that comes along with it. Yet, there are also considerable responsibilities, particularly when the person in the leadership role is looking beyond their self-interest to the wider picture; seeking the best for the overall situation and the people they are leading. We’ve all been in contexts where a classmate, team member, or other leader used power for themselves. Hopefully, we’ve all also been in situations with a leader who didn’t.
In this week’s gospel reading, two of Jesus’ disciples ask him for positions of power when he is finally in charge. Never mind that immediately prior to this request, Jesus told his closest followers that he would be arrested, abused, and put to death by the government. Never mind that he has been trying to help them see that his reign will be very different than anything they have imagined about the messiah. They are stuck in an old mindset. Jesus acknowledges that though they will experience some of what he will face, but that he is not granting positions of power.
The others are angry when they hear this conversation (What? You want to be second and third in charge? The nerve! Why you and not me!?). Jesus explains to them that his reign will look different than they are imagining. Then, he reminds them of rulers who are tyrants over their people, who “lord it over them.” Jesus explains that among his followers, leadership and power are inextricably woven together with service. “Whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.”
Who are the “servant-leaders” in your life? Where have you seen or experienced people who use their leadership roles to further the wider good, to help and make room for the people they are leading to grow and succeed, who understand the connection between service and power? In my life, these are the leaders who have helped me learn and grow, to use my abilities and gifts, to have a commitment to the goals we were working toward together. This is the kind of community Jesus calls us and all his disciples to build. A world where the powerful see and truly value the people who make up the community. A place where hierarchy has a different meaning. A community marked by leaders who serve and endure hardships for the sake of others. Jesus models this kind of leadership and invites us to do the same.
Peace,