GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 9:35
The Essence of Leadership
Some writers credit the twentieth-century author Isaac B. Singer with coining the phrase, “The truth always sounds like a lie the first time you hear it.” The essence of that aphorism, however, goes back through history and was illustrated in a conversation Jesus had with his disciples. The men had been arguing about who was the greatest among themselves as they walked along the road to Capernaum. Readers are left to wonder what criteria they used to judge a person’s stature. When questioned about the argument, they remained silent, perhaps embarrassed by their childish quarreling. Then Mark wrote, “And after he sat down, he called the twelve and said to them, ‘If anyone wishes to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.’” (Mark 9:35) The verb Mark used—“must be”—is to be understood as an imperative.
Jesus’ principle seemed to contradict the natural order, appearing at first like a lie. In Jesus’ era, the Roman emperor remained emperor because he had the strongest army. The governor of the Decapolis remained in power because he had the support of the Roman emperor, and so on.
For years, I had a note card taped to a file cabinet beside my desk, on which I had typed a sentence I found: “Anyone who wishes to lead must first be led.” The file cabinet is gone; the card now rests in a folder, but the principle lives on. That brief maxim redefines leadership in much the same way Jesus’ lesson redefines the idea of being first. Both are still valuable goals.
I recently read Plutarch’s account of Paedaretos, a Spartan citizen who sought a prominent royal post. When he learned that the electors had not chosen him, he walked away cheerfully instead of becoming angry or ashamed, saying, “I’m glad there are 300 men in Sparta better than I am.” Centuries before Jesus, Paedaretos demonstrated the very principle Jesus would later teach his disciples—a truth that remains timeless.
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