I recently wrote an article entitled “Kenosis and the Leadership of Jesus: A Sacred Texture Analysis of the Philippians Hymn.” Here is the conclusion to that article.
In summary, Jesus’ leadership as seen through a sacred texture analysis of Philippians 2:5-11 reveals three major truths. First, the beginning posture of Christ as a servant is not service towards humanity, but humble obedience and love for God the Father. Jesus’ leadership lay outside of himself and his followers, thus anchoring his leadership, wisdom, character, behavior, and attitudes in a divine point of reference. Such an objective, transcendent point of reference allows true spiritual (Fry, 2003; Hoppe, 2005), authentic (Gardner, Avolio, Luthans, May, & Walumbwa, 2005), or servant (Winston, 2002; Sendjaya & Sarros, 2002) leadership to be most fully expressed and experienced.
Second, as the incarnate Son of God, Jesus empathized and identified with us not only so he could relate to us, but also so that he could bring us back into the full expression of human living the way it had been divinely created. Divine purpose for human life underlies all human activity (Miller D. , 1998). Leadership involves at some level or another helping people move towards a destiny for which they were created. In spiritual terms, leadership has a redemptive, transformational role in human life.
Third, Jesus’ posture of service flowed from the attitude of humility and self-giving exaltation of others. Such a distinction is vitally important. Motive and attitude distinguish true servant leadership from servant behaviors concealing a personal agenda (Rinehart, 1998). Servant leadership is ultimately the emptying of oneself on behalf of the other (Bratcher, 1986), so much so that life itself would be sacrificed.
Bratcher paints the picture of the “Servant-Christ, the ‘man for others’ who bends himself to struggle for the wholeness and healing of a wounded world” (n.p.). As a leader, Jesus bends himself to fit those to whom he has been sent in order to bring them into the fullness of human experience. This self-giving, self-emptying orientation far exceeds the pragmatic foundations or motivations of contemporary leadership that attends to servanthood or spirituality. Rather than servanthood or spirituality being seen as optimal ways in which to view and relate to followers, Jesus’ leadership originates in his relationship to God the Father. Jesus comes to serve because he is self-giving, obedient, humble, and other-exalting. He doesn’t measure success based on how well others follow or whether his service to them met their needs. Rather, he simple poured out everything of who he was and measured success by the degree to which God was exalted.
