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An NBC Student's Thoughts

A Servant Posture

This is an excerpt taken from a response to one of the lectures in Group and Organizational Behavior class.

When I was reading about this concept of posturing, I couldn't help but think about how Jesus postured himself, but He did this in a completely different way than the kind of posturing John Newstrom is talking about.

Jesus influenced others by having the posture of a servant, washing his disciples' feet. He postured himself for visibility but by sitting with sinners and prostitutes, not with the "executives" or higher-ups of Jewish society. Our human instinct is to, as Newstrom noted, practice those one-upmanship skills over others. Jesus set a standard that is the complete opposite.

"But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great one’s exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many'" (Matthew 20: 25-27 ESV)

Jesus set the example for us as Christians to place ourselves in that servant posture as well. I think it really is worth noting that a best sort of leader serves others.

*Newstrom, John. Organizational Behavior: Human Behavior at Work. 14th ed., McGraw-Hill, 2014.

Alexandra Holzberger, NBC Counseling Ministry major (printed with her permission)