Mike Baird and Barack Obama (CREDITS: Kate Ausburn, Whitehouse via Flickr)

At this moment in time we are witnessing a change in the leadership of the Premier of NSW and the President of the USA.

Both offices are positions of power, and both roles provide a powerful influence.

This makes it a good time to reflect on what Jesus thinks about leaders and leadership.

When one of his disciples tried to climb up the leadership ladder to grasp authority, Jesus said:

“You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42-45)

This ‘servant leadership’ runs against the grain of the world, which encourages people to climb the ladder of power, even if it means treading on other people’s fingers.

Yet, in his most famous sermon, Jesus made it clear that this is not the way things should be.

Instead, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5)

Those who will inherit God’s blessing will be the ones who recognise that Jesus is king, and who follow Jesus’ leadership in serving others, as meek people, not as arrogant.

This is a very difficult thing to do in public office, and this is even more reason why we should be active in praying that our leaders recognise that the ultimate leader showed meekness and majesty as he willingly died for those he came to save.

After all, “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” (1 Corinthians 1:27)

One of the core values of Australia is the right to a ‘fair go.’ When someone doesn’t get what they deserve, it often causes our blood to boil.

When one kid gets more lollies than another, then we hear the cry, “it’s just not fair!” And when one employee gets paid more than another person who does exactly the same job.

But imagine if everybody got paid the same, whether or not they worked a one-hour day, or an eight-hour day. How could that be fair?

Jesus tells the story of a landowner who hired workers for his field, and agreed to give them a set fee.

Later in the day, he recruited some more workers, and at the end of the day, he paid them the same amount, even though they’d worked far less than the others.

The workers who started in the morning were angry because they felt it wasn’t fair. They grumbled against the landowner and said, ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ (Matthew 20:12)

But Jesus said ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’  “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” (Matthew 20:13-16)

Jesus has chosen to give the full gift of eternal life to all who trust in him, whether that person followed Jesus from childhood or came to trust in him on their deathbed.

And given that none of us deserve any mercy, we should all be eternally grateful for the forgiveness God gives us when we trust in Jesus as our loving ruler and saviour.