Down is up

What it means to lead

There can be many qualities to describe men. They are strong, visionaries, fathers, mentors, protectors, e.t.c. But more often than not, the word servant is not one used. In our culture the word servant carries many negative connotations such as, weaknesses, poverty, cowardly, even slave. This has caused us to aim for something that we assume is in the complete opposite side of spectrum, and that opposite is the word leader. We all want to be one, a man amongst men, a fearless statue in the face of uncertainty. Solid, unwavering, fixed points that encourage bravery and inspire vision. We aspire to be one so much that we follow the ones that we assume have reached that position. We look up to men in whatever our fields are.

Athletes, government heads, pastors, chefs, artists, millionaires; whatever it is that holds our interest we know of a man that has achieved it and we want to become just like him.

This world teaches us how to achieve it. Work hard, be tenacious, dog eat dog, identify your enemies weaknesses and exploit them, this is how you reach the top. But is this what we really want? A lonely mountain top in which to rule our desired fields? If I may be frank, the men that have achieved "leadership" by the methods of this world have achieved nothing else but solitude. They are alone in their "success" and when they die there won't be a humble man willing to take up their mantle in honor and respect, but a blood thirsty shark excited to devour their corpse and prove that they are better than their predecessor.

I know a couple of things for sure. One is that God is good and kind, two is that God made men to be leaders. If these two statements are true then something must be off. Leadership must be more than a lonely mountain top and the way to it must be different than the blood stained trail that the world shows us, there must be a right way, a God way.

Mark 10:42-45 ESV

And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

I love how Jesus starts off this statement, "You guys know how everyone of your leaders like to tell you what to do and remind you that they are better than you. Yea? Well that is not how we do things at all in Heaven." Jesus continues to then speak words that sound entirely backwards for us humans, "If you want to lead, serve" not just that but he uses a very heavy word, He straight up instructs us to become slaves to all! This is absolutely nuts! Yet this is how He puts it, there is no other way around it, we were created to be leaders therefore us men where created to be the ultimate servants. This is a big change from what the world teaches, all of the sudden leadership is not a post on a lonely mountain, but a post next to the worker in the field helping him pick up the slack . In fact this is what Christ did, he humbled himself and as God became man, all to die a slave's death and pay for our mistakes, not his, but ours. This is absolutely beautiful and absolutely true.

Imagine a world in which men are not self absorbed but instead are always looking for someone to help, imagine a world full of husbands that instead of demanding their way, they listen and aid to find a solution to problems. Marriages would be restored and children would grow up with a genuine care for humanity instead of a selfish desire to get ahead no matter the cost to others. All of this because we decided to put down our jaded version of leadership and we decided to pick up the true definition which is a servant.

This is what men are called to be, not leaders in the sense the world puts it, but people that put the needs of others before theirs, servants. Servants to our wives, servants to our children, servants to our friends, servants to our enemies. It makes zero sense, but it is so fulfilling. With our God down is the way up and that's where I plan to head. I hope you can join me in this journey to become a servant and discover true manhood. As always thank you for reading and have a fantastic day.