INTRODUCTION: The Ladder And The Towel:

Most people picture LEADERSHIP like climbing a LADDER: higher rung, better view, more people beneath you. Jesus pictures LEADERSHIP with a TOWEL and a BASIN. LADDERS lift you UP; TOWELS send you DOWN to lift OTHERS. In this fourth installment, we trade the LADDER for the TOWEL by taking on the MIND of Christ.

SCRIPTURE: Philippians 2:5–7 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:”

BIG IDEA: To LEAD with LOVE like Jesus, we adopt His MINDSET, take His POSTURE of SERVICE, and PRACTICE His SACRIFICIAL LOVE in everyday, tangible ways.

1. JESUS LED THROUGH SERVICE

a. In a world that measures LEADERSHIP by TITLES, Jesus measures it by TOWELS.

b. The Son of God, fully equal with the Father, “made himself of no reputation” and chose the form of a

SERVANT.

c. True SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY flows from HUMBLE SERVICE, not from STATUS.

i. Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a

ransom for many.”

2. LOVE IN ACTION

a. LOVE is not just a FEELING we HOLD; it is a FORCE that MOVES.

b. Biblically, LOVE is a VERB aligned with TRUTH. The biblical writers resist the REDUCTION of LOVE to

simply INWARD WARMTH.

c. Jesus didn’t merely have kind THOUGHTS, He MOVED toward PEOPLE with HEALING HANDS, ATTENTIVE

EYES, and a COMPASSIONATE HEART.

i. Acts 10:38 “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about

doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”

3. SACRIFICIAL LEADERSHIP

a. At the CENTER of Christian LEADERSHIP is a CROSS.

b. LOVE GIVES, then it keeps GIVING, even when it COSTS.

c. The MIND of Christ in Philippians 2 becomes the MODEL of laying down OUR rights for ANOTHER’S good.

i. John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”