The Greatest Among You

The greatest among you will be your servant (Matthew 23:11 NIV).

One day, as Jesus and His disciples were traveling, a conversation began among them. The disciples were trying to figure out who among them was the greatest. You can picture it, right? Maybe they were comparing who had done the most miracles, or who was closest to Jesus, or who knew His teachings the best. It is a pretty human thing to do—wondering where you rank compared to others.

Leadership is often tied to power, position, and comparison—who has the largest congregation, the most successful ministry, or the biggest following. Yet, Jesus teaches us that greatness in God’s kingdom is not measured by these standards.

When Jesus said, "The greatest among you shall be your servant," He was calling us to redefine what leadership means. True leadership is not about how many people answer to you or how much influence you have—it is about how well you serve those around you. The best leaders are the ones who are not afraid to roll up their sleeves, help others, and put the needs of their team before their own.

You can find unmeasurable amounts of material teaching about leadership, with useful guides and instructions in every aspect of leadership. But what distinguishes Christian leadership from non-Christian leadership is that leading is serving with humility. To learn and internalize that, you will need to turn to Jesus, the one who gave up everything to serve a broken world: “He who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” (Philippians 2:6-7).  This mindset should be at the center of every Christian leader from which we develop our leadership skills and execute our leadership responsibilities.

Reflect

How can you live out servant leadership in the role you have and the context you work in?

Pray

Heavenly Father, let my mind be that of Christ so that in leading others I might serve them as your Son Jesus served the world.