The sin of servant leadership, June 4, 2025.

Introduction.

Okay, and so what comes after this?

What sin comes next?

The sin of loving Jesus?

Yes, the title is certainly provocative, at least in some quarters,

but this merely highlights yet

another aspect of the diseased understanding of discipleship that prevails in these troubled times of

ours. We tend to simply take it for granted that being provocative is problematic. This is yet

another characteristic of one of the sins of the age, which is that of fuzzy thinking. What is being

provoked? What is the intention

behind the provoking? And does whatever it is need to be provoked. Bear with me, and I think we might

be able to come to agree by the end, there really is a sin that we cover over with the white

paint of that alluring phrase servant leadership. Not only is it a sin, but it is a black mold kind

of sin, hard to identify, difficult

to notice, and really destructive. And if the black mold is deep in your walls, another coat of

paint is not the solution anybody should be looking for. Now, of course not. We should start our

discussion of this by being careful not to jump to conclusions. The dangerous toxin in the phrase

servant leadership is not found

in the word servant, but rather in leadership. This is not a rant against sacrifice and service.

It is a case against selfishness and cowardice disguised as servanthood. No true Christian objects to the

summons to deny ourselves daily, to take up the cross daily. Matthew 1624. That is what it means to

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