Called to serve: The heart of leadership

Today I want to talk about service. This word is baked into the public institutions which our society is built upon: the Civil Service, the National Health Service, the Crown Prosecution Service...

The first words King Charles III said in Westminster Abbey at his Coronation summed up his new role as sovereign: “I come not to be served, but to serve.”

But what does service really mean? And what difference can it make to our local communities, workplaces, and families?

Called to live for something greater

Leadership – and especially Kingship – is normally thought of as one person lording it over everyone else, sat at the top of the pyramid handing out edicts to those below them and enjoying the trappings, status, adulation and other privileges that come with the role.

Which makes the coronation pledge a useful starting point. Indeed, King Charles’ words are an echo of Matthew 20v28 where, after telling the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, Jesus reveals to the crowd that He, the Son of Man – fully God, yet also fully human – “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Wow.

The Creator God becomes the ultimate servant leader. The highest becomes the lowest, to set free those in His care.

In drawing the contrast between “to be served” and “to serve”, Jesus picks up a thread that runs throughout the story of Scripture: that we are called to live for something bigger than ourselves.

Public life in this country was built on such foundations. In his inaugural speech on the steps of Downing Street, the Prime Minister invited us to join his “government of service in the mission of national renewal”.

Politicians

Government is an institution of service, not rulership. The origin of the word “minister” comes from the Latin: meaning servant, attendant, one who acts on behalf of another.

Just as the word is used to describe a pastor or a vicar ministering to a parish, a government minister is to tend to the nation’s needs.

Often this happens away from the media gaze, through quiet dedication and hard work. But this isn’t how we view public servants today. We celebrate nurses, teachers, carers, but think somewhat less of politicians and civil servants.

Our cynicism is partly understandable: every human is fallen, and so every public servant will be too. There is an accurate sense that they – we – have let people down. We’ve been given power and in some way at least, we have abused that power. We’ve acted selfishly, whether we mean to or not…

Compassion and personal sacrifice

However, rather than falling into cynicism, can I offer an alternative response: what about choosing compassion and personal sacrifice?

Of course politics is a mucky business, but for Christians the Biblical vision of service is striking.

The Bible repeatedly calls God’s people to serve: Paul was determined in his letter to the Philippian church that in humility they should value others above themselves (Philippians 2v2-3).

Peter was equally sincere in his encouragement to Christians in the Roman provinces that they should each use whatever gift they had to serve others (1 Peter 4v10).

Service, then, is justice in action. And Jesus perfectly models this: His power expressed in compassion not domination. The Son of God who made Himself nothing but humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2).

So we are called to engage with, not withdraw from, public life. The Old Testament shows believers like Joseph and Daniel serving faithfully as politicians in “pagan” administrations, as witnesses to God’s goodness. They endured terrifying moments where they were persecuted to the verge of martyrdom, yet mostly their service was dutiful, largely uneventful, and indeed unrecorded… but it didn’t escape God’s attention. He saw every moment of their service and He sees yours too.

Serving God

Public service is not merely administrative or political; it is spiritual – we are God’s servants and our service to the public is our offering to God. Through serving others, we serve Him in the places where He has put us, as His hands and feet in our communities.

Throughout history, faithful individuals have chosen to live out this powerful calling on each of our lives.

The 19th-century reformers inspire me: people such as Lord Shaftesbury, who saw poverty in every pocket of the city and said “no more!” He became a lifelong champion of education for the poor and the welfare of children in London. Or Elizabeth Fry, the prison reformer who cared for the women in Newgate prison. Both were saints spurred on in their service to God's people.

So let’s ask God how we can seek to model a form of renewed public service that will be a powerful witness to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and a blessing to our communities.

Let’s pray today about how we might each give ourselves humbly and faithfully for the good of others and the glory of God.