Who would want to be a political leader at the moment? Whether it’s Deputy Premier James Merlino and Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton making decisions about Victoria’s fourth Covid lockdown, or Prime Minister Scott Morrison or Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck trying to answer questions about the slow vaccine rollout in aged care settings. Leadership can be a hard and challenging role, especially when making decisions that will anger or upset people.
Being a leader has always been difficult. Just ask the prophet Samuel … or Moses before him. Samuel had the role of a Judge in Israel, settling disputes between people and acting as a messenger between God and the people. Towards the end of his life, the people rejected this model of leadership and demand that a king be appointed instead. It’s personal and it’s painful for Samuel. He knows how the thirst for power and greed can corrupt any leader and warns the people about the potential dangers a king will bring. But the people eventually get their way and Saul is chosen to be king.
A thousand years later, kingship is a failed institution in Israel, yet the people again long for a king, a Messiah to lead the people and throw off the oppressive yoke of the Romans. They wonder if Jesus just might be the hoped for Messiah, but he resists the temptation to go down that road. When two of his disciples jostle for positions of power under Jesus, he offers a startling critique of leadership by suggesting that those who want to lead must instead serve others.
It’s easy to criticise leaders. We think we could do a way better job. But could we? If we pause for a moment we may recognise that if we follow Jesus’ model for leadership, it will require us to let go of our own ambitions and desires and instead to serve the needs of others. This self-emptying and taking on the mantle of a servant is hard work, and our best efforts will still disappoint some people. So spare a thought for our leaders – whether in politics, or in the church or in the workplace – and remember that it’s a difficult role.