WHEN EVALUATING the GOVERNING BODY
At the end of the day, we need to ask… “Would Christ do it that way?”
Christ’s teaching on leadership is unambiguous.
- He didn’t offer it as an ideal.
- He framed it as a rule that runs opposite to worldly power.
What Christ explicitly rejected
He contrasted his model with the systems around him:
“The rulers of the nations lord it over them… it must not be this way among you.”
So, Christ identified three traits of illegitimate leadership:
1. Lording i... moreWHEN EVALUATING the GOVERNING BODY
At the end of the day, we need to ask… “Would Christ do it that way?”
Christ’s teaching on leadership is unambiguous.
- He didn’t offer it as an ideal.
- He framed it as a rule that runs opposite to worldly power.
What Christ explicitly rejected
He contrasted his model with the systems around him:
“The rulers of the nations lord it over them… it must not be this way among you.”
So, Christ identified three traits of illegitimate leadership:
1. Lording it over others
2. Using authority to insulate oneself
3. Demanding obedience rather than earning trust
Thus, giving us a very clean diagnostic.
“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your minister, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave.”
— Jesus Christ (Matt. 20:26–27; Mark 10:43–44)
Because Christ didn’t just teach ideas—he modeled method.
Clearly, the Governing Body leadership is structurally arranged so that:
- Decisions are unquestionable
- Accountability flows upward only in appearance
- Discipline flows downward with force
- The Governing Body shields itself from:
< Transparency
< Correction
< Consequence
That is the inverse of servant leadership.
A servant:
- Bears the cost of error
- Absorbs blame
- Protects the vulnerable
- Remains visible and accountable
In the organization, it is we, as members, who bear the cost:
- Of doctrinal shifts
- Of policy mistakes
- Of failed predictions
- Of legal and reputational damage
This cannot be described as service.
This is purely risk transfer.
Jesus:
Refused coercion
- Rejected political leverage
- Spoke truth without enforcing compliance
- Allowed people to walk away
- Accepted misunderstanding rather than compel agreement
- Bore the cost of leadership himself
Jesus NEVER:
- Enforced loyalty through fear
- Punished questions
- Shielded himself from accountability
- Claimed immunity from scrutiny
- Confused obedience to men with obedience to God
That’s not romanticism. That’s what the Bible texts actually show.
Christ very decisively told us what we should see…
He said leaders would be recognized by fruit, not by claims.
So the question isn’t: “Do they call themselves servants?”
It’s: “Who suffers when leadership is wrong?”
In a servant-led structure: Leaders suffer first.
In a power-led structure: Followers do.
This cuts through all the rhetoric and lays it on the bottom line!
Heidi
Jehovah will fix this, but when is the question. How long do we suffer from within in silence borderline being hypocritical at the same time just to save the peace.
