Lead Others by Serving Others -Matthew 20

by Chuck Adair on July 28, 2025

Lead Others by Serving Others -Matthew 20

Read Matthew 20:20-21

Today’s Truth

Matthew 20:20-28 reminds us that leadership isn’t simply shouting orders. Jesus says, “… just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve…” While the mother requested her sons be granted high positions of leadership without the work attached, Jesus responded that true leadership comes from serving others. Jesus set this example. He did the hard work. He labored and He humbled himself. He set an example that encouraged others to follow, rather than simply giving orders and demanding obedience.

Discussion Questions

Think about the best leaders you’ve worked alongside. How did those leaders serve you and others well? What can you learn from their example?
What does it communicate to the people we lead when we serve them well? What does it communicate when we don’t?
What’s one way you can serve the people in your group?

Application

True leadership is found in serving others. What this looks like will vary according to the situation, but the ultimate goal of a servant’s heart is to do our work with the aim of glorifying God.

Tags: matthew

About the Author

Chuck Adair

If you ask Chuck his favorite thing in life to do, he would tell you it is the teaching and preaching of the scriptures and to call all people to engage in the great adventure of abiding with Christ. He desires to connect people with the richness, adventure, and fullness of life that comes through Christ alone and to reach the unchurched, de-churched, dead-churched, and unmoved. Chuck is married to his best friend Kristin and has two adult children, Taylor and Linley. Kris and Chuck believe the quality of their marriage rises and falls, not on circumstances or feelings, but based on their daily abiding with Jesus (Jn 15.5).

Lead Others by Serving Others -Matthew 20