Leading the Way

Mark 10:35-45

I’d like to share a couple of news stories with you.

The first happened back in June.  A high school junior named Meghan Vogel was running the 3,200 in the Division III girls’ state meet in Columbus, OH.  She’d already won the title for the 1,600 meter race, and she’d only had an hour to rest between that race and the 3,200, so she wasn’t expected to win.

As she came around the final turn for the last lap, she saw a runner from another team collapse.  Vogel went to the other girl, helped her up, and then pulled the other girl’s arm over her shoulders. 

When they reached the finish line, Vogel made sure the other girl crossed first.  It was the first time Vogel ever finished last in a race.

The second story comes from Minnesota.  Earlier this month, another high school junior named Tom Anderson was competing in a 5k.  About two miles into the race, he was on pace to post a personal best time when he saw a boy from the other team fall. 

Anderson helped the other boy up and ran with him, supporting him for about half a mile until the other boy could begin running on his own.  Anderson finished with a significantly slower time than he normally would have had.

These two runners are excellent examples of leading through service.    When their coaches were interviewed, both runners were called leaders.  Their leadership wasn’t based on their ability to win races.  Their coaches talked about a concern for their teammates, their willingness to help others and give newer runners the benefit of their experience.

James and John want to be leaders, and that’s why they’re asking Jesus to make them his right and left hands.  Their request makes it pretty clear that they think being a leader means being in power, being in charge.

They’ve been following Jesus for a while now.  They’ve watched him reach out to the poor and disrespected members of every community they’ve visited.  They’ve watched him heal the sick and minister to the hurting.  He’s taught in the synagogue, and spoken to huge groups of people.

In hundreds of little ways, he’s been teaching the apostles about service. 

Now he’s telling them about what’s going to happen.  He’s telling them that he’ll be taken by the pharisees and handed over to the Romans.  He’s painting a picture of abuse and death by crucifixion.

And James and John respond to this by moving to make sure that when the time comes, they are in a position of power.

The other apostles are irritated, but not for the right reasons.  They aren’t mad because the brothers seem oblivious to the danger that their messiah is in.  They aren’t mad because the brothers have apparently missed all those lessons in serving.  No, they’re mad because James and John got there before them.

The apostles have all made the same mistake - they’ve come to the conclusion that leading is synonymous with power.

And they’d be right, if their leadership was being measured by the world.

In the world, winners come in first--they don’t lose, even if it’s to help someone else.  In the world, leadership is measured by the power wielded, by the number of people controlled.

If there is one thing that Jesus makes clear on every step of his journey, the choices we make when we follow Him will not make sense to the world.

The apostles had some trouble with this idea, and so do we.

We ridicule leaders who have the nerve to apologize when it’s needed, who dare to reach out in peace instead of anger and hate.  We label them as weak.

As Christians, we suffer from a basic conflict within ourselves.

We know that, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger,” from reading Proverbs 15:1.  But the world tells us that we can’t be a doormat.  When someone threatens us, or treats us badly, we have to loudly proclaim our intentions to exact revenge.  We’re afraid that the gentle answer recommended in Scripture will make us appear weak, make us a target.

Our leaders are put in a no-win situation.  They don’t want to be seen as war-mongers, but they don’t want to be seen as putting our country in jeopardy either.  If they reach out to people and countries that we see as opposing us, they aren’t praised as peacemakers, they’re reviled as dangerously soft.  If they take a hard stand, they still can’t win because any conflict that arises from that position will be their fault.

There’s no way to win, and simply doing what your conscience and your faith demands can easily destroy the work of a lifetime.  I don’t think you could pay me enough to step into that meat grinder.

Pastors have the same problem, although on smaller scale.  We want our pastors to lead, but we don’t like to be led.  We want our pastors to always make the biblical choice, but when we don’t agree with that choice, or the choice doesn’t go our way, we cry foul.

We want leaders.  We want people who make decision based on what’s right for the greater good.  Unless, of course, that decision makes things difficult for us - then we’re not interested in the greater good.

A prime example of that is housing.  As Christians, we believe that we have a responsibility to care for the “least of these.” 

But when someone proposes a housing project for low-income families, the town hall is going to be packed with people voicing concern about crime, drugs, violence, and property values.

And if our leaders actually lead, overriding those worldly concerns to do what is right, they’re probably pounding a nail into the coffin of their career.  We won’t praise them for swimming against the flow to follow the lessons of Jesus, we’ll gleefully burn them at the stake as soon as the first problem shows up.  And that’s if we gave them a chance to actually act in the first place.

In our churches, we see leadership as the ability to have a positive effect on the community.  We want to see lots of big, flashy ministries, and a nice big church with beautiful windows and plush carpeting.

We point to those people who lead the committees, and we call them leaders.  And they can be.  But a lot of times, the real leaders in a church aren’t the ones heading up the Trustee Committee or the Ministry Council.  Sometimes, the best leaders in your church are the people who never get called to the front of the church to be recognized.  They’re the ones who show up early to every event to set up tables, and stay after to clean up.  They’re the ones who stop by the church two hours before Sunday service to make sure the steps are clear of ice.

We don’t see them as leaders because we make the same mistake James and John made.  We equate leadership with power.

The real leaders in our churches and in our communities are the people who are willing to serve without reservation or judgment.

Those are the leaders we need, if we are going to follow Jesus not only as individuals, but as a church.

If we want to lead, we have to learn to serve.  We have to learn that every act of service is important, and that every failure to act is equally important.  We cannot truly lead in our communities until we are willing to serve every member of the community without reservation or restriction.

The world won’t understand that kind of leadership.  Reaching out to the unwanted or invisible people isn’t going to fill pews.  Serving people who’ve made bad choices - and keep making them - isn’t going to put money in the offering plate.  Offering God’s love to anyone who needs it, no matter what church they go to or what they believe, isn’t going to pay for the repairs to an aging church building.  Standing for what is right, speaking up, and supporting others who are trying to do the right thing might make our own property values fall.

Serving, truly serving, isn’t always appreciated and it doesn’t always get us the recognition we’d like. 

But it will make us leaders.