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On Sunday the house church, of which I am a part, continued our study through Mark's gospel. During the study I came face to face with something that is very relevant to our ongoing discussion around Christians and politics. Certainly what we read goes way beyond politics, but it relates to politics. The passage we explored speaks to questions of power and authority - which are political questions, church questions, workplace questions, and familial questions.

In Mark 10 there is a conflict between the disciples about who wants to, and who should be able to, sit in places of power and authority beside Jesus in the kingdom he is going to rule over. (Never mind the fact that they had an entirely wrong view of the kingdom!) Jesus interrupts their dispute in this way:

Jesus called [the disciples] together and said, “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. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

It hit me on Sunday that in this passage Jesus doesn't compare and contrast a "worldly" exercise of power with different "Jesus" exercise of power. He doesn't say, "They lead this way, but you need to lead this different way." Instead Jesus does what he did in many other situations. He calls his followers to a radical different paradigm that completely usurps the old.

"When you have the chance at authority," he seems to say, "let go of it and simply serve." "When power is within your grasp, release it and become a slave to those who would otherwise be beneath you." And then, he holds himself up as the example of doing just that. (This is one of the beautiful things about Jesus. He never asks of us what he, God in the flesh, doesn't do himself first.)

"Servant leadership" is a popular term these days. It seeks to take the principles of servanthood and put them alongside power and authority structures. The motivation is normally because those we lead will feel respected and therefore be more productive. The goal of this leadership is still productivity, output, and the bottom line. But true servanthood is not guided, in any way, towards "getting the most out of people." True servanthood exists for the sake of the other. Period. That is what Jesus embodied in life and death. That is what he invites us to.

Think about men and women you have known who have embodied this kind of servant love and concern for those around them. Give thanks to God for them and consider what you can apply from their example. Then join me in considering what areas of your life you might be trying to pursue, or hold onto, power and authority. At work? In the classroom? In a marriage? With kids? On a volunteer board? As a coach? Consider Jesus invitation and pray that he will help guide you (us) into better living out his servanthood as a radical counter to the power and authority structures of our world.

P.S. I don't believe Jesus meant that there would not be roles to play in order to structure society, church, workplaces, etc. A business owner is in a different role than an employee. They are "the boss." But there are very different ways in which one can be "the boss." The Jesus way is to come alongside as a servant, truly seeking the best for the other. I don't pretend that this is an easy thing for us to navigate or figure out how to embody in our world. As someone who is in a "leadership" position, I'm very aware of the tensions. But I believe it's better for us to try to figure out our way forward in the midst of tensions than to simply set aside what Jesus is calling us to.