Servant Leadership

In our social-media obsessed culture, we assume that everyone wants to be in the spotlight. Everyone wants attention. That’s what Facebook, Instagram and TikTok want us to believe. But being the center of attention can be exhausting and isolating, too.

Actor Johnny Depp once said, “[Being famous] is a little bit like living like a fugitive. Everything has to be some sort of strategy: To get you into the hotel, to get you out of the hotel, to get you into the restaurant, to get you out of the restaurant.” Fame is a double-edged sword. There are benefits, but there is often a price to pay.

In today’s Gospel from the Liturgy of the Palms, Jesus is making arrangements to enter the city of Jerusalem for Passover. He knows he can’t just enter quietly, anonymously. He realizes, too, there has to be some sort of strategy. As word spreads through the crowd that this Jesus from Nazareth is coming to town, the people throw down palm branches in his path—symbols of victory and peace—and shout “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Hosanna is an old Hebrew phrase that means “Please save us!” It’s a cry for help. The crowds of people lining the streets of Jerusalem this day were shouting it joyfully. They had heard of Jesus’ teachings. Many of them had seen his miracles. This was clearly the right man to challenge the power of Rome and restore the throne of David. They were ready to welcome Jesus as a new political and religious leader. It reminds me of this quote from author John Naisbitt: “Leadership involves finding a parade and getting in front of it.”

Jesus wasn’t looking for a parade. The parade was looking for him. The first day of Holy Week is celebratory. “Hosanna! Please save us!”  Unfortunately, it’s all downhill from there.

By the end of the week a mood of hate and hostility has supplanted the mood of Hosanna. So why is the world so hostile to Christ? How did we go from the palm branches and parades to the crown of thorns and the cross?

The world is hostile to Jesus, first of all, because of who he says he is. Jesus claimed to be God in human form. “When you have seen me you have seen my Father” (John 14:9).

Life would be so much simpler if we could just make Jesus into whomever we want him to be. He could be a prophet, a guru, a role model, a buddy. But Jesus made the truth crystal clear: he is God incarnate. And he made us an offer: take up our cross and follow him—or ignore him and miss out on the blessings only he can provide.

The world is also hostile to Jesus because of what he intends to do, which is to bring God’s kingdom on earth. That was the major theme of his teaching—the kingdom of God. That kingdom is about peace, not power. It is about love, not bigotry. It is about gentleness, not about domination.

Remember the prophecy that Jesus fulfilled when he chose a donkey instead of a stallion for his entry into Jerusalem: “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey’” (Matthew 21:1-11).

Jesus never used bait-and-switch tactics to bring people into the kingdom of God. He made it very clear from the beginning of his ministry what God planned to do through him. He was coming as the Prince of Peace.

The problem is, it is easier to rally people’s energy and emotions around war than it is around peace. War is tangible. War requires weapons and strategy and clear-cut goals, and an enemy. In a war, it’s easy to tell who is on our side and who is not.

But peace requires humility and communication and cooperation. It requires putting others’ needs before our own. The end goal in war is to conquer your enemy. The end goal in peace is to conquer ourselves. To conquer our selfish, greedy, human nature and work together for the sake of God’s glory.

The world is hostile to Jesus, first of all, because of who he is. The world is also hostile to Jesus because of what he intends to do. He intends to bring God’s kingdom to earth—a kingdom of peace, love, and respect for all people.

Finally, the world is hostile to Jesus because his kingdom is eternal, not immediate. The Jewish people wanted to be saved from the oppressive power of Rome. From unjust laws. From the sting of being ruled over by a pagan government that didn’t honor their God or their society. They gave no thought to the rule of God in their lives, or the priorities of eternity. And when Jesus lost his popularity, when he looked like a victim of Rome and the religious leaders, they turned against him.

The people wanted a flesh and blood king, not a king that offers his flesh and blood. Not a king who conquers by way of humility and submission. They wanted immediate power and an earthly king who blustered and threatened and called his people to war and destruction. They didn’t want a heavenly kingdom open to all people. They wanted the glory of immediate security, not the glory of an eternal God who is working out His purpose for all people and all nations for all time.

Are we any different? We want deliverance now, not later. We, too, are crying Hosanna, save us from the pestilence currently raging in the world.  We want a king who will restore and protect our comfortable lifestyle, not one who commands us to care for the hungry and the sick. We want immediate relief and security, not eternity. And so we try to twist Jesus’ words and his priorities to fit our lifestyle. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Sameer Dholakia is the CEO of SendGrid, one of the world’s most successful business email platforms. Sameer’s name appears in every list of the highest-rated CEOs in the technology industry. Sameer’s colleagues and employees all refer to him as a servant leader. That’s an interesting term, isn’t it? “Servant leader.”

Sameer credits his mother, who was killed when Sameer was just 15 years old, for teaching him the mindset of servant leadership. There was a particular Indian parable she loved to recite for him. She would say, “When we enter this world we all enter as babies with our fists clenched, kicking and screaming and crying. When we leave, we all leave at peace, with our hands open. There’s a reason why this is: we all carry into this world a special and unique gift—a gift you clench in your fists as a baby. Your job, the point of your life, is to discover what that gift is and then give of that gift. When you are done giving of that gift, then it will be your time and you will pass at peace.”

Jesus faced the last week of his life with peace because he knew that he was giving the ultimate gift, his life, for the salvation of the world. He left this world not only with open hands, but with nail-pierced hands . . . and it was for us. Yes, it may be Palm Sunday right now – but Easter is coming.