Deacons Training: A Leadership Lesson for Servant Leaders

Title: Deacons Training:

A Leadership Lesson for Servant Leaders.

Segment: Week 2 – The Ultimate Model:

Jesus, the Servant King.

In our last session, we learned that Jesus turned the world's leadership model completely upside down. But it is one thing to understand a concept and another thing entirely to follow a person. In this session, we move from the idea of servant leadership to the Person of the Servant King. We will discover that servanthood is not merely a strategy we employ. It is the very identity we receive from Christ. In this session, we look at perhaps the most powerful visual demonstration of Jesus' command in all of Scripture: the account of Jesus washing the disciples' feet.

Before we examine the act itself, the Gospel of John shows us the heart and mind of Jesus. In John chapter thirteen, verses one through three, we read that Jesus knew His hour had come to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas to betray Him. Yet Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power, and that He had come from God and was returning to God.

This is not a random act of kindness. It is a deliberate, theological statement made at the most critical moment of human history. Notice three things about Jesus in this moment.

- First, He knew His identity. He had come from God and was returning to God. He was completely secure in His position, His authority, and His relationship with the Father. His identity was not up for grabs.

- Second, He knew His mission. The hour had come. The cross was only hours away.

- Third, He knew His betrayal. Judas had already made his deadly bargain.

Here is the point: servant leadership does not spring from insecurity. It springs from supreme security in our identity in Christ.

You cannot serve from an empty cup. Jesus, fully aware of His divine power and authority, makes His move. What does the most powerful being in the universe do? He gets up from the meal to serve.

John tells us that Jesus got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him. Taking off His outer clothing is a picture of laying aside privilege and status. The Apostle Paul would later describe this as Jesus emptying Himself, making Himself nothing. And consider the task itself. In the dusty, manure-filled roads of Palestine, feet were filthy.

Washing feet was a job reserved for the lowest Gentile slave in a Jewish household. A Jewish slave was not even required to do it. The disciples, who had just been arguing about who was the greatest, would never have stooped to do this for each other. But Jesus does the job no one else would do. He does not simply tell them to serve. He shows them. He embodies the message.

He redefines greatness not by what you take, but by what you are willing to lay down.

Peter's reaction is our reaction. He is horrified. He says, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" This was beneath the Messiah. But Jesus insists: "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." This is profound.

Jesus is saying that to share in His life and kingdom, we must first accept His service toward us. We cannot lead for Christ until we have been served by Christ. We must let Him cleanse us from our sin and pride. And then, we must imitate His service toward others. Jesus says, "Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet.

I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you." This is not a suggestion. It is a mandate to replicate His posture and action. Servanthood is the mark of those who truly belong to Him.

Now, the Apostle Paul gives us the internal mindset that fueled this external act. In Philippians chapter two, Paul writes: "In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage. Rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant. And He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross." This is the mind of Christ. It is a fundamental reorientation of our thinking.

The world's leader uses position for personal gain. The Servant King uses His position for the good of others. And notice that servanthood was not an act for Jesus. It was His essential nature. This is our call: to let servanthood become our core identity in Christ.

Finally, Jesus does not leave us with a burdensome command. He ends with a gentle invitation. In Matthew chapter eleven, He says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." The world's leadership is heavy with the burdens of pride, competition, and image management. Jesus offers a different kind of leadership—one modeled on His own gentle and humble heart.

The yoke of a servant, when worn with Him, is not a yoke of shame. It is a yoke of freedom and rest.

So here is your challenge for this week. It is called the Towel and Basin Mission. Each man is to prayerfully identify and commit to one specific, intentional act of service that fits the "lowest servant" criteria. It should be something menial, not glamorous.

It should be something unasked, done proactively. And it should be done quietly, without seeking recognition. That might mean cleaning the bathroom at home without being asked.

It might mean taking out the trash at church after a meeting. It might mean waking up early to make breakfast for your family. Share your mission with an accountability partner, pray for one another, and ask for the humility and love of Jesus to carry it out.

Let us pray

Lord Jesus, You wrapped a towel around Your waist and washed the filth from the feet of Your followers, including Your betrayer. We are in awe of Your humility and love. Forgive us for clinging to our pride and status. By Your Spirit, give us the same mindset that was in You—the mind of a servant. Help us this week to lay down our robes of self-importance, pick up the towel and basin, and find our true identity and rest in following Your example. In Your serving name we pray.

Amen.

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