Jesus knew that the kingdom He was establishing would be so different from what people were accustomed to that He spent much of His ministry teaching about the Kingdom of God. At times, He directly contrasted His kingdom with the ways of earthly kingdoms, as He does in Matthew 20:25-28.
In this passage, Jesus explains to His disciples that the way authority is exercised in God’s kingdom is very different from the ways of earthly kingdoms. Leadership in His kingdom is not about power and control but humility and service.
The kingdoms of this world rely on power, force, wealth, and hierarchy. Success and greatness in leadership are seen as climbing up the ladder to a position of status where one can give executive orders from the top and enforce change on those below to control outcomes and make things happen.
But Jesus tells His followers, “Not so with you.” God’s kingdom operates differently, and He points to Himself as the example. So, how does Jesus exercise His authority and get things done? “...the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
God’s kingdom is advancing through loving service, not power and control.
Paul, in Philippians 2, points out that:
- Instead of pulling rank or defending His rights, Jesus humbled Himself to serve us.
- He obeyed the Father, trusting in His ultimate plan to save and exalt Him.
- Jesus is the ultimate servant-leader.
Jesus redefines the use of authority through humble service, not dominance. He came down to serve, laying down His life to remove our sin and shame and enable us to follow Him. Paul calls believers in Philippians 2 to adopt the same mindset—to adopt the same servant attitude when it comes to being his church and making the good news of Jesus and his kingdom known in this world.
However, the ways of this world are so deeply ingrained in us that, without thinking, we often structure churches and carry out kingdom work using institutional hierarchies, political power, wealth, and influence— no differently than the kingdoms of this world.
The church was never intended to function as an institutional hierarchy. According to God’s design, as laid out in the scriptures, the church is to function and be ordered as a loving, extended family. In the church, authority is meant to be carried out and exercised by serving others through spheres of loving family relationships and responsibilities.
Therefore, we need to understand that exercising authority and trying to get things done the way institutions and governments do may be efficient. But when we do, we achieve results through compliance motivated by fear, duty, or social pressure.
But when we follow the ways of God’s kingdom—exercising authority and getting things done through loving service to others —we end up growing in people a willingness to obey that is motivated by love, trust, and respect for Jesus, our King, who laid down His life for us. The ways of God’s kingdom may not seem efficient or even effective in the short term, but in the long term, His ways always prove to be better.
The truth is, the more we focus on leveraging political or institutional power to get things done, the more we become like the kingdoms of this world and the less powerful our witness and influence in the world become.
God’s kingdom is advancing through loving service, not power and control.
This whole idea of exercising authority by serving others through loving family relationships may seem weak and ineffective from a human perspective. But remember: Jesus and His apostles undermined the oppressive political system of their day—not by leveraging positions of power or using force, but by prayerfully serving others, inviting those they served to trust in Jesus, and welcoming all who believed into local church families. There, they willingly submitted to discipleship and were equipped to follow the ways of Christ and serve others in the world.
The most powerful empire on earth at the time could not stop this movement of unarmed, ordinary people who, through love, humble submission, and bold proclamation, tore down spiritual strongholds, winning hearts and minds for Christ.
We must recognize that the battle is not won through institution-building or by trying to legislate non-Christians into obeying Christian values. It is won by inviting people to trust in Jesus as we lovingly serve others and model the way of Christ—both personally and as a community.
The whole point of the gospel is that legislation from the top down doesn’t work! Without Jesus serving us and giving us new life, true obedience is impossible.
Politics and institution-building are poor, misguided substitutes for the transforming power of the gospel and the radical, servant-hearted love of Jesus Christ for sinners like you and me.
“The symbol of worldly power is the throne; the symbol of Christ’s power is the cross.” - John Stott
Questions:
- How does Jesus’ way of leading through humble service challenge the way you usually think about leadership and getting things done?
- In what areas of your life do you have some level of authority or influence (e.g., at home, work, church, friendships)? How can you use whatever authority you have to serve others as family?
- How would the way we do church and get things done look different if we all focused on serving others as family?
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