When the church goes looking for leaders, it is easy to reach for the same qualities the world celebrates. Confident. Driven. Magnetic in a room. Able to cast a vision and rally the troops.
There is real good in those gifts. God uses them all the time. But Jesus added something the world tends to leave out, and it still surprises us if we are paying attention. He did not say the greatest among you will be the most gifted. He said the greatest among you will be the servant.
If your church is looking for leaders, that is a beautiful place to begin. Not with talent alone, but with a towel in hand.
Jesus Redefined the Whole Thing
The disciples wanted positions. They wondered aloud who would sit where, who ranked highest, who would have the place of honor in the coming kingdom. It is a very human thing to want. Jesus understood the impulse, and then He gently turned the whole idea upside down.
“Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all” (Mark 10:43, 44). He was not offering a nice sentiment for a sermon. He was rewriting the entire definition. In the kingdom, you do not climb to lead. You kneel.
This is the heart you are looking for. Not a person hunting for influence, but a person already serving when no one offered them a title.
He Showed It, Not Just Said It
Jesus never asked His followers to do something He would not do first. On the last night before the cross, with all the weight of the world on Him, He got up from the table, wrapped a towel around His waist, and washed the dirt off His friends’ feet.
This is God in the room, doing the job of the lowest servant in the house. “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14). That is the model. Leadership that gets its hands dirty. Leadership that serves the people it could so easily command.
When you are evaluating someone for a leadership role, watch their hands. Are they reaching for the microphone, or are they reaching for the towel?
A Servant Heart Shows Up in the Small Things
You cannot fake this for long. A servant heart leaks out in the unglamorous moments. How does this person treat the volunteer no one notices? Do they stack the chairs, or do they assume someone else will? Are they still kind when serving costs them something and earns them nothing?
Paul put the standard impossibly high and then pointed straight at Jesus. “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3). More significant than yourselves. That is the test. Leaders with a servant heart genuinely believe the people they lead matter more than their own comfort and credit.
The loud leader builds a following. The servant leader builds the followers themselves.
Servant Hearts Outlast Strong Personalities
Here is the long game. A charismatic leader can fill a room for a season. But personality fades, energy dims, and eventually the shine wears thin. What lasts is character. What lasts is a leader who poured into people instead of feeding off them.
Peter told elders to shepherd God’s flock willingly and eagerly, “not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:3). The word there is examples. Not bosses. Not stars. Examples. The kind of leader people can actually follow because the path has already been walked in front of them.
Years from now, your church will not remember how impressive a leader was. They will remember how loved they felt.
So Look for the Towel
When you are praying over who should lead, resist the pull toward the most polished candidate and pay attention to the most humble one. Ask who serves when it is inconvenient. Ask who lifts others without being asked. Ask whose first instinct is the towel.
That is the heart the church needs. Not leaders who want to be served, but leaders who already know that following Jesus has always meant bending low.
The greatest among you will be the servant. He meant it then. He still means it now.
About the Author
Derek Harsch has spent over a decade working at the intersection of ministry and leadership development. As a contributor to MinistryJobs.com, he writes on church hiring, ministry culture, and the qualities that make leaders effective in local church contexts. His work helps ministry teams think more clearly about who they hire and why it matters for the long-term health of the church.
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