“But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,” Mark 10:43
When James and John asked Jesus to allow them to sit by His side in His kingdom, they were asking to exercise the power that Kings who sit on thrones possess, the power to tell others what to do, the power to force others serve them, to provide for their every need and desire.
All the world loves power. All the world lusts for it. Even in the church there is this lust for power, for making a name for oneself, of building bigger churches, of getting larger numbers of people to come to them, of big claims of how dynamically the Lord is moving. But I wonder who gets the glory? There is a saying “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Give some people power and authority you see how fast it goes to their heads, how fast it corrupts and changes them, especially if they claim to speak in the name of God. Then who can challenge them? He or she is now God’s spokesman.
There are plenty of people like that running around who are not humble or loving, out to build their own little kingdoms on the backs of others. People get power and think that God would be lost without them. They have that unique vision or unique skill that makes them indispensable. Yet the truth is powerful leaders are useless to God. What God wants are humble servants, people He can use. The tools of the Christian leader are not the rod and staff, not money, but a basin of water for washing the feet of others.