Matthew 23:1-12

If religion is to be true, its leadership must be true.

—Frederick Dale Bruner [1]

Humble Leadership

Whenever Anthony Bloom, a former bishop and archbishop serving in London, would teach, he would begin with this: “As I am a beginner myself, I will assume that you are also beginners, and we will try to begin together.” The humility in this statement speaks, I would argue, to exactly the kind of leader Jesus desires for his Church. Matthew 23 at its heart is a warning against the kind of leaders Jesus saw amongst the Pharisees of his day. That is, leaders who built themselves up, rather than the god they supposedly worshipped. And while Jesus is clearly here criticizing the Pharisees, the teaching remains relevant to us…