The Week in Review

Servant Leadership – Purpose for Today, Impact for Tomorrow (part 2)

Written by Minister Jewel D. Williams

Written December 2009

Biblical Examples of Servant Leadership

It has been established that a servant leader must be one that is willing to serve others. David S. Young, author of the book Servant Leadership for Church Renewal: Shepherds By the Living Springs, explains how servant leadership should be viewed from the Christian perspective. He states “The best leaders are servants – servants of God and servants of the people. To be a leader, one must first be a servant.”[1] Young presents seven characteristics of a servant leader from the Servant Songs in second Isaiah. He states a servant leader first feels a sense of calling (Isa. 40:2). The second trait of the servant leader is seen in the personal and humble manner of the leader. “The Servant experiences internal change to humility and does not cry aloud in public, making a big scene (Isa. 42:3).”[2] Third, the servant leader leads from a heart of peace. Much of leadership is connecting with what happens within people, that a leader must be able to “discern” or have discerning gifts (Young 1999, 33).


The fourth trait is one of clear vision. “All through the Servant Songs in Second Isaiah, we see the tremendous vision of one called by God for a purpose, to establish justice and a right-ordered society (Isa 49:5 GNB).”[3] The fifth trait Young presents from the scripture is a servant-leader must listen. “In the third song, the Lord actually opens the servant’s ear every morning. Servanthood originates with attentiveness to God (Isa. 40:4b, NRSV).”[4] The sixth trait is that the servant does not have a dazzling appearance. The servant is chosen for good inner qualities rather than outward appearance (Young 1999, 35). The seventh trait builds on the other six. The servant leader as presented by Young experiences power in weakness (cf. 2 Cor. 12:9; 4:7). Young concludes by stating, “People who are willing servants are key in deliverance and renewal because they lift the spirits of others as they open themselves to God. They mediate the covenant of God through their very presence…Thus our mission is defined.”[5]


Lorin Woolfe presents the biblical basis for servant leadership. In the book, The Bible on Leadership: From Moses to Matthew: Management Lessons for Contemporary Leaders lists the biblical characteristics of a servant leader. The first of the biblical examples is honesty and integrity (Prov. 24:26; Ps.7:8). Woolfe writes, “…if you have failed to back them up in the past (or even if you simply lack a track record of trust and honesty), no one is going to line up to follow you through a deep mud puddle, let alone the Red Sea.”[6] Moses’ integrity helped him in leading the people of God.


Woolfe mentions purpose next (2 Cor. 4:16; Acts 20:22). “Noah, a novice shipbuilder if ever there was one, was spurred on by an ennobling purpose…to save enough of the sinful world so that is could continue to survive after the most catastrophic natural disaster it had ever experienced.”[7] Abraham had a purpose, to unify the entire universe. Moses’ goal was to lead the Hebrews out of Egyptian slavery. Woolfe mentions kindness and compassion (Job 29:16; Dan. 4:27). Then he presents communication. “A leader who cannot communicate clearly, powerfully, and succinctly barely qualifies as a leader.”[8] Woolfe presents other examples of communication to consider such as, the Sermon on the Mount, the protests of the prophets against idol-worship, Moses’ exhortation to the Israelites as he led them through the desert and the delivery of the Ten Commandments (Woolfe 2002, 87). “Without frequent and appropriate communication of overarching ideas, mission, and vision, Judaism or Christianity would not exist today.”[9]


The other biblical examples include performance management (Prov. 12:1; Acts 20:18), team development (1 Cor. 12:12, Prov. 27:17), courage (Ezek. 2:6; Joshua 1:9), justice and fairness (Ps. 106:3; Amos 5:24), and finally leadership development (1 Kings 1:47, Deut. 3:27-28) (Woolfe 2002, 109-195). Woolfe posits, “Cynics believe that Jesus’ words, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,’ are an ideal that belongs only in an ‘ideal environment,’ such as a Sunday School or Monastery.”[10] Truly this is an unusual idea that one should lead the way the Bible sets forth, yet many modern leaders have been able to permeate their workplaces with kindness and compassion without them sacrificing the achievement of their business goals (Woolfe 2002, 50). The servant leader understands the principle of reaping what is sown. The servant leader knows how he invest in people today, determines the results he will receive tomorrow. If he is uncaring, he cannot expect to have people that care about his vision. An apparent question is how does the biblical example of leadership express itself in the characteristics of today’s servant leader? (Come back next week for the third installment and the section titled, “Characteristics of a Servant Leader”)

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[1] David S. Young, Servant Leadership for Church Renewal: Shepherds By the Living Springs (Scottdale: Herald Press, 1999), 32-33.


[2] Young, Servant Leadership for Church Renewal: Shepherds By the Living Springs, 33.

[3] Ibid, 34.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Young, Servant Leadership for Church Renewal: Shepherds by the Living Springs, 36-37.

[6] Lorin Woolfe, The Bible On Leadership: From Moses to Matthew: Management Lessons for Contemporary Leaders (New York: AMACOM Books, 2002), 2.

[7] Ibid, 24.

[8] Ibid, 87.

[9] Ibid, 88.

[10] Woolfe, The Bible on Leadership From Moses to Matthew: Management Lessons for Contemporary Leaders, 50.