"DO YOU KNOW WHAT I HAVE DONE TO YOU?"

​Everywhere He went, He was leading, He was teaching, He was creating a new culture for those who would follow Him.  

When the children came to Jesus, He embraced them with tenderness. When the woman touched the hem of His garment, though unclean by her flow of blood, He accepted and healed her. When demoniac of the Gadarenes, disheveled and filthy, chased after Him cursing and swearing, He set him free and put him in his right mind. When the prostitute washed His feet with her hair, when the adulteress was condemned before Him, He offered them forgiveness and restoration. He said love those that hate you, forgive those that malign you, give to those that ask you and pray for those that spitefully abuse you. And when He wrapped a towel around His waist, took a basin of water and a rag and knelt before His disciples and washed their feet one by one, He was showing them a new way to live and lead. It would be a culture where every person was valuable and no one, regardless of their title or position, could lord their authority over another. It was to be a culture of collegiality. 

The gospel of John tells the story: “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. …So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you.’” (John 13:3-15) 

This is leadership according to Christ. Yes, one may have a title; and yes, one may have authority and the right to command others; but never should that leader seek to elevate his worth over others or somehow imply that he is more important. Each of the disciples whose feet Jesus washed would become the future leaders of the church He was building. The message to them was clear: “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.” Do not elevate yourselves over one another. Don’t allow your egos to get in the way of serving together. Be a servant to one another. Value each other more than you value yourself. Defer to one another, support one another, trust one another and serve one another. The culture of leadership in His Kingdom was to be a culture of collegiality. And when leaders serve as a collegium, then the trust of leadership is secure. 
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So how does a leader promote collegiality? There are several practical elements that come together to demonstrate it. 
 
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