“You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” Mark 10:42-45

Two disciples of Jesus including James and John in Mark 10 approached Jesus and subtly requested leadership positions. Jesus then replied to them by letting them know they had no idea what they were asking and that they were not leveraging the best way to get these positions. Another way to understand what Jesus means is: “We do not pray for such positions, but we pay a price to get it”.

We would be naïve to think that James and John are the only ones who were looking for such positions. In Verse 41 of Mark 10, the 10 other disciples showed resentfulness toward the attitude of James and John because they were also probably looking for leadership positions. Jesus then took the opportunity to zero in on the leadership lesson in Mark 10:42-45. He used a comparative or contrasting analysis in his teaching by first mentioning the leadership style of this world which consists of dominating the followers by all means possible. The current president in a Western African country would say: “What allows a sitting president to be re-elected is his ability to subjugate everyone.” . Unfortunately, that is the method most leaders of this world including leaders in developing countries use to get their leadership positions.

However, Jesus disapproves of that attitude and recommends a servant leadership attitude which is not easy but remains the standard Christians should adopt: “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all” (Mark 10:43-44) . That is called servant leadership attitude. In the servant leadership style, the service of the followers must be a priority, and the leader must act as a servant first and not as a dominator. Jesus did not only teach that style, but he also demonstrated it during his 33 years spent on earth including the time spent with the 12 disciples. In John 13:14-15, He washed the feet of his disciples, recommended washing one another's feet and mentioned in the same passage that he was setting them an example they should follow.

Do you want to be a leader? Nothing is wrong with that, but you must first be a servant of everyone.