Servant-hearted Leadership
Servant-hearted Leadership
In Parshat Devarim (Deut. 1:1–3:22), Moses begins his final address to Israel. It’s not just a retelling of events, he shares words shaped by concern, memory, and the ache of leadership. He recounts the wilderness journey, the rebellions, and the burden of judgment, not with bitterness; but with the language of fatherly and pastoral care.
“How can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife?” (Deut. 1:12).
This verse is not a complaint, it’s the cry of a leader who has carried his people in prayer, in grief, and in hope. Moses doesn’t distance himself from Israel’s failures; he brings them close, bearing them as a parent would a wayward child. In the wilderness, his intercessions softened divine anger. His rebukes were tempered with tears; and in his farewell, every word is wrapped in fatherly love.
Servant-hearted leadership (Matt. 20:26-27), as Moses examples, is often intercession. Leadership is not just administration, it’s advocating for the people you lead. Moses stood between the people and God, pleading on their behalf in moments of terrible failure. The heart of a true servant-leader bleeds with the struggles of the flock.
Moses does not gloss over the failures of the people, he recounts them to point to the Lord’s faithfulness and their growth. He is not shaming them, rather Moses uses memory as a reminder of the Lord’s mercy.
Moses knew their complaints and rebellions, yet he still called them beloved (Deut. 7:6-8). The burdens in the wilderness were not easy, but those burdens were holy. A servant-leader loves not because it’s painless, but because it is a witness to how He has loved us (Ro. 5:8; cf. 1 Jn. 4:19). Servant-leadership is blessing packaged within the burden of life.
As you lead … yes, as you lead … in ministry, family, or community, remember: love does not erase hardship, it sanctifies it. May we look to the teaching example of Moses and lead with: memory, mercy, and the unshakable commitment to bear the burdens of His people (Gal. 6:2).
And even more so, may we be shaped in leadership by the love of Messiah Yeshua/Jesus, who said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (Jn. 10:11). He loved His own to the end (Jn. 13:1), and gave Himself willingly, offering not just leadership, but redemption, renewal and reconciliation. He led and made the way through the impossible for us, and He has called us into that way.
May our servant-leadership be with faithfulness, not selfish ambition, leading by our identity in Him, not from position. Messiah stooped down to reach us. He carries our burdens. He serves and protects the flock. He then called, equipped, and released servant-leaders empowered by the Holy Spirit to make disciples.
Leading like Christ is not a management strategy, it is redemptive work done to the glory of the Father (1 Cor. 10:31). His yoke is easy, not because the task is small, but because His heart is pure. As we labor unto Him, our servant-hearted leadership is expressed by intercession, burden-bearing, and equipping others for the harvest fields. May we endeavor to serve in faithfulness, and a purity of heart that desires “all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4); but to do so, we must love those placed in our care.
Maranatha. Shalom.
Justin D. Elwell, Th.D.
