Titles and Bosses

In case you might forget, Barbara Boxer is a senator.

The feisty California lawmaker felt the need to remind an Army brigadier general of that fact recently during a hearing before her Senate Committee where the military officer testifying had the apparent gall to call Boxer "ma'am."

Brig. Gen. Michael Walsh, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was testifying and began to answer one of Boxer's questions with "ma'am" when Boxer immediately cut him off.

"You know, do me a favor," an irritated Boxer said. "Could say 'senator' instead of 'ma'am?'"

"Yes, ma'am," Walsh interjected.

"It's just a thing, I worked so hard to get that title, so I'd appreciate it, yes, thank you," she said.

"Yes, senator," he responded.
Sad, isn’t it, when someone has to prop themselves up in front of others. You’d think someone of the mature age of 68 would not be so needy.

Too often and in a similar way, many pastors and ministry leaders enjoy the feeling of power and control that comes from an “I’m in charge … I call the shots … I’m the boss around here,” mentality.

There is a scene that took place in Luke 22 which speaks to this subject. In this account, there was a power struggle going on among Jesus’ disciples. They were discussing who the “greatest” was going to be when Jesus came to power. Knowing this was going on, the Lord began to share some Kingdom lessons about what being great was really all about…and it wasn’t about titles.

Here’s the dialog:

“Within minutes they were bickering over who of them would end up the greatest. But Jesus intervened: ‘Kings like to throw their weight around and people in authority like to give themselves fancy titles. It’s not going to be that way with you. Let the senior among you become like the junior; let the leader act the part of the servant. Who would you rather be: the one who eats the dinner or the one who serves the dinner? You’d rather eat and be served, right? But I’ve taken my place among you as the one who serves.'” Luke 22:24-27 (THE MESSAGE)

Some may not recognize the difference in values between the worldly “boss” mentality and the biblical “leader” mentality. If someone were to ask me what each typically connotes, I might spell it out like this:

A boss creates fear
A leader creates trust (1 Thessalonians 2:10-11)
A boss serves himself
A leader serves others (1 Corinthians 9:19)
A boss aims to make himself successful
A leader aims to make others successful (1 Timothy 4:6)
A boss says, "I"
A leader says, "we" (1 Corinthians 3:5-9)
A boss fixes blame
A leader fixes mistakes (Philemon v.18-19)
A boss knows how
A leader shows how (Exodus 18:17)
A boss makes work a grind
A leader makes work worthwhile (Nehemiah)
A boss drives
A leader leads (John 10:11-15)
A boss wields authority
A leader empowers people (2 Timothy 2:2)
A boss relies on the power of authority
A leader relies on the power of servanthood (Matthew 20:25-28)

If we’re needy of titles or props, we’ll always fall short of greatness in God’s eyes. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Everyone can become great because everyone can serve.” If I could add an postscript to that, it would be “…everyone can serve without the need for titles.”


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