Doug Wilson writes on Blog and Mablog about what he perceives to be “the sin of servant leadership“.
His argument is that the problem is not with the word “servant” but with “leadership”. We would be deeply uncomfortable with the term servant lordship”. So our problem is not with service but with authority.
He argues that the phrase is used at marriage seminars and essentially it means that a husband should find out what his wife wants then makes it happen. Now whether or not such teaching has happened at events he has been to, I would consider that quite a lousy and lazy caricature if the teaching I’ve witnessed on marriage.
Now you can throw as many words as you like in the mix to replace “leadership” in my opinion. In fact more power to your elbow if you do. I’m not keen on talking about leadership in marriage and church as it tends to draw upon thinking more associated with politics and business. What about “lordship”? Well yes and no. Peter talks about husband’s as lords but I wonder if we are meant to make too much of a rhetorical point? We want to emphasise that Jesus is out true and unique Lord. Indeed, we are not meant to be like the rulers of this world who Lord it over one another. Perhaps we do better to not stray too far from the NT term. What about “servant headship”?
He goes on to suggest that servant leadership tends to mean “leading by serving” when really it should be about serving by leading. Such a definition is fraught with difficulties. The reason we attach the word “servant” is to help us know exactly what type of leadership or lordship we are meant to exercise. We know that it is not meant to be like the World’s Lordship. So what is it meant to be like? Wilson”s approach gets us no further. Donald Trump, President Xi and Keir Starmer might all argue that they are serving their people by leading but their approach to leadership looks very different. So too, a husband who makes every decision and whose word is law may claim that he is serving his family as he rules with an iron rod.
Jesus’ point when he shows that he came to serve is to show us exactly what service looks like. Of course it doesn’t look like consensus building and of course it doesn’t mean making what others want to happen come to pass. Yet we cannot ignore that when Jesus shows what servant leadership looks like, he washes feet, he literally does the job of a servant.
Further, when Scripture talks about Jesus coming as a servant, the link is to his death on our behalf. So , when Paul tells husbands what it means for them to fulfil their role as the head, he tells them not to lead, not to be Lord’s but to love their wives. They love as Christ loved the church, giving up his life for her.
It’s noticeable that Wilson did not offer the alternative term “servant love”.
Faithroots 