Leadership or Servanthood?: Walking in the Steps of Jesus
Leadership or Servanthood?: Walking in the Steps of Jesus
The world is obsessed with leaders: identifying them, training them, becoming them. Even in the church, this preoccupation is all-too apparent. Jesus, however, is not interested in developing leaders. Rather, he is interested in the formation of servants.
In this powerful reflection on leadership and servanthood, Dr. Hwa Yung addresses the overemphasis on leadership development within the church. Challenging a culture of hubris, ambition, and self-seeking, he reminds us that ministry is not a call to position and power but to service and obedience. He draws us back to the example of Christ, who came as a servant of God and of his kingdom, who lived in submission to the Father, and who rooted himself in his identity as the incarnate Son of God. Linking spiritual authority to these three characteristics, Hwa Yung offers examples from both Scripture and church history to demonstrate that it is in fact the faithful practice of servanthood that leads to leadership impact.
In recent years the world of Christian publishing has been awash with books on leadership development, many offering principles and models gleaned from the business world, often promoting charisma and celebrity status above character. This book, from a seasoned leader in the Majority World, including reflections from a lifetime of experience, cuts right across that emphasis, calling us to recognize afresh the need to follow the model of Jesus Christ - a model of servanthood, submission to his Father, with a clear sense of identity, in our case, as children of God, which is diametrically opposed to the leadership paradigm taught in many circles today. – Lindsay Brown
