What is True Leadership
“Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.” “What is your request?” he asked. They replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.” But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?” “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!” Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.” When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world Lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.””
Mark 10:35-45 NLT
According to the Lord, true Leadership is when you are willing to go lower and serve others. The Kingdom of God is not designed like the world. In order for us to go high and be in places of authority, our role is of one that serves others. We can see that all throughout the word of God where Jesus says that he did not come to be served, but he came to serve. We are not structured like the world, we don’t look for places of authority to Lord it over people and to call out orders, but we come under them to support them and help lift them up.
We can see the world using these principles of Leadership through the marketplace because the more value you offer to solve the problems of people, the more money you make—why? Because people are willing to give whatever they need to in order to get out of pain. A person who is starving will give whatever they have to get food. We actually see that in the lives of Jacob and Esau.
“And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: and Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.”
Genesis 25:29-34 KJV
We see that Esau was in a position where he was exhausted and wanted to eat, he was so weary that he was willing to give up whatever value he had just to eat. Well, this also shows us that he didn’t find much value in the “birthright” that belonged to him as the firstborn son. This birthright was also considered The Blessing of Abraham. Esau says to his brother, “What profit shall this birthright do to me?”— he did not know how valuable it was and actually believed that it had less value than the food he needed in that moment.
True leadership is recognizing value. Leaders who know the value of what they have are not willing to compromise for things that are of lesser value. What happened in this story of Jacob and Esau was an example of desperation and compromise. When we compromise what is valuable, we lose it and then we have to live with the consequences of trying to recover what was lost—which sometimes is impossible to get back, just like Esau losing the Blessing.
True Leaders know how to combat the desires of temporary pleasures for long term gain just as Jesus did on the mount. He was hungry and Satan tried to tempt him with food, but he refused because he knew what was in store for him. He had his eye on the goal and wasn’t willing to compromise. We must walk in this same light.
