“I want to go home.”
There is a very powerful moment early in the movie the Gladiator, where the main protagonist, general Maximus, learns that he is to succeed the emperor. The emperor has chosen Maximus as his successor over his own son, Commodus.
It is very clear that Maximus doesn’t want the job. This is incredible enough if we pause to understand the amount of power that came with the role, and the fact that the Roman Empire was then at its peak. It is more incredible that all Maximus wants, after been at the battle front for more than two years, is to go back to his farm and be with his wife and son. All he wants is to go home again.
The emperor comments that it is Maximus’ lack of desire to be the emperor that qualifies him for the job.
In the end, as much as he doesn’t want the role, Maximus decides to accept it because of his loyalty to his emperor and his commitment to serve him. The rest of the movie unfolds the consequences of this decision.
Watching this sequence in the movie, one is drawn immediately to Jesus’ teaching on leadership in passages like Mark 10:35-45. A number of thoughts come to mind.
1. We need to disengage the issue of leadership from the issue of significance.
Leadership is a role that is needed. But being a leader doesn’t make you any better than your fellows. We all need significance. But true significance comes from being loved. We are already significant if we are children of God, beloved by the Father.
2. We need to see leadership in terms of service.
Since becoming a leader doesn’t give us true significance, we don’t have to pursue leadership to be significant. We are then free to see leadership the way God sees it, as an expression of service. As Jesus puts it, ‘whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant’ (Mark 10: 43a NLT).
3. Perhaps we need to use the term ‘leading servants’ instead of ‘servant leaders’.
In a recent GCF public lecture on leadership, Dr.Robert Banks challenged us to move beyond the language of ‘servant leadership’ to embrace the language of ‘leading servants’. He said we must be clear as to which term is the main noun and which term is the qualifier.
These truths, so clearly portrayed in the movie, are easy to expound, but difficult to practice. They are another blow to the idolatry of self and the call to replace God back in the centre of our lives.
Yet these are truths that desperately need to be embraced, expounded, and exhibited. We are going through times of bewildering change.We need competent leadership we can trust, in all areas of life – in the church, in government, and in the corporate world.
Its a pity this movie probably came too late to be screened at the UMNO elections. Well there is still the MIC elections. But finally, virtue, like charity, begins at home.
In your heart of hearts, what do you really want to be-a leader or a servant? Can God entrust you with the most important jobs then?