In researching the topic of Jesus as a model for youth leadership, I found several books with promising titles referring to Jesus and servant leadership. While the books were amply filled with Bible quotations, they tended to describe how one can use Jesus’ “techniques” to run a successful business, to be a corporate leader, and, one could assume, become a millionaire in the process. This was not exactly the kind of leadership model I was looking for!

So I turned to the Gospels themselves to see how Jesus exercised leadership, especially in relationship to his encounters with young people. Of course, the scene at the Last Supper when Jesus washes the feet of the Apostles is a great lesson on servant leadership and came to mind immediately. It is a wonderful story, and to really get a feel for the depth of the spirituality this model evokes, I would highly recommend you read Jean Vanier’s book, The Scandal of Service: Jesus Washes Our Feet. But this did not speak to me particularly about youth ministry.

Then, as I did some keyword searches on Bible.com (http://www.bible.com/), one passage in Mark simply leaped out at me. How many times had I heard or read it? But I suddenly saw it in a totally different way. You could almost refer to it as the commissioning of youth ministry. Here is the passage:

Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’ (Mk 9: 33-37)

First, this Gospel passage captures Jesus’ consistent teaching on leadership. Over and over he tells his disciples that if they are going to be the leaders of his new church they must count themselves last and be servant to all. When our society thinks about great leaders, we see strong men and women who are at the top of their professions, who control every situation with their power and charisma, who are looked up to and admired by all.

Jesus says of them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt.” (Mk 10:42) But it cannot be that way for the leaders of his church. They must be servants not rulers, they must put the concerns of others before their own.

Then in a remarkable juxtaposition, Jesus draws a child near him, embraces the child, and gives us what basically amounts to a commission to welcome the children as we would welcome him. In Jesus’ time children were on the lowest rung of the social scale, the weakest of all. So Jesus uses them symbolically to represent all the lowly ones his disciples are to serve. Yet at the same time, Jesus is very much referring specifically to children as needing all the special care, concern, and protection that the word ‘welcome’ implies.

Jesus linked a key aspect of discipleship and servant leadership to working specifically with children. Not only that, Jesus gave us a path to God that starts with our welcoming of the little children. This is a special commission he has given us: to work with youth, to guide them and nourish them ‘in his name,’ and to serve them with special love and care.

As youth ministers, we are privileged to be called to this special apostolate of welcoming the little ones. It is our way of welcoming Jesus and the Father into our hearts. To explore all the ways that this plays out in our work as youth ministers would take at least a book. But I encourage you to pray over this Scripture passage and see how it speaks to you about the leadership you bring to youth ministry.