The words servant and leader together would seem to be a paradox, an oxymoron, but the term fits the concept of Jesus. I have studied it and distilled it into seven principles for audiences all over the world. The principles are these:
Leadership Is . . .
1. Leadership is predetermined, not preference.
Leadership is not something you do; it is something you are. You cannot retire from it, as a bird cannot retire from flight. Just before Jesus laid out His idea that you had to be a servant, a mere slave even, to be great, the disciples were arguing about position, wanting preferred slots. “We prefer to sit there,” they said. He said, “Look, you can’t prefer in God’s kingdom. It’s already predetermined.”
Matthew 20:23
Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”
There is a place in God’s Kingdom administration for you and every other human on earth. No one can take your unique spot of gifting, and you cannot take anyone else’s spot either.
These places—these positions of authority, greatness, and leadership—belong to each one of us specifically designed, preselected and fashioned for that particular spot of gifting.
The Creator is preparing you for what he has prepared for you.
Your position of leadership preceded your conception. You were built with spiritual, mental and physical circuitry for your specific leadership gift.
2. Leadership is a prepared position. In God’s kingdom, everybody has a place set aside. It is a leadership position, and it is prepared for you. God predesigned your spot before he made you. He made you to fit the spot. “You don’t go looking for it,” Jesus says. “The Father has already prepared it. He has set aside places for everyone who is supposed to have them” (see Matthew 20:23). When you prepare something, it means you establish it beforehand. What you were born to do is, in effect, predestined. You can refuse to fulfill it, but you will suffer bitterly as you turn into something God did not intend.
3. Leadership demands a price. To get to your spot, you have to pay a price. Jesus said, “You have to drink the cup to sit in your spot.” Matthew 20:22 “You don’t k now what you are ask ing,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink ?” “We can,”
they answered. Even though you were born to be a leader in your arena, it comes at a price. It is a process of preparation, training, development, and refinement.
The position is prepared for you, but you have to prepare yourself for that position.
4. Leadership is inherent. Leadership is not given to you by request or by prayer. You are born with it. Whether you develop it, whether you use it, whether you actualize it, whether you deploy it, is totally up to you,
but the capacity is built in. Few of us will ever need to drive our car ninety miles an hour, but the capability is there. The manufacturer put it there. Humanity is the only part of creation that has this choice, this problem of whether to use our capabilities. God built in this unique component called the will. We can decide to not be what we are supposed to be.
5. Leadership is a divine deposit. When Jesus told his colleagues James and John that their Father had already
“secured a place for you” (John 14:3), He was implying that they were requesting someone else’s position, and they were appealing to Him to get it for them. It was not His decision, not His to give, but the decision had been made and the security deposit had been paid. We do not get to decide what our leadership gift is. It is deposited in our very being. He says to us, “Look, God has arranged this, and I cannot give you anyone else’s position. You can fast and pray, but I can’t change the positions.”
6. Leadership is not for you, but for others. What you were born to do is serve. Your gift is not for you. It is there so you can serve it to others. Leadership is like a smile. When you smile, others can see it, but you cannot. It benefits others more than it does you. The car does not exist just to get itself from place to place. It exists to transport someone. Leadership is service.
7. Leadership is becoming yourself for the benefit of others. Become yourself. Leadership is not something you do; it is something you become. You have to find out what you were born to become. That is your area of domain. Becoming yourself is a process that begins
with self-discovery. If you are ready to take the journey, ask yourself:
Who am I?
What is my gift?
How and whom can I serve?