I experienced a bit of providence in my daily Bible reading. The Old Testament reading was from 1 Kings 12, where the new (and young) King Rehoboam asks for opinions about how he should establish his authority. Coming after his father, King Solomon, Rehoboam had big shoes to fill!
The older councilors gave this advice: “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.”
But the young guys, all friends that Rehoboam had grown up with, gave this recommendation—you need to get street cred quickly! Tell them that you’ll be twice as tough as your daddy! Tell them, “My little finger is thicker than my father’s thighs.” And, “My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions” (1 Kings 12:10-11).
Well, Rehoboam foolishly followed their advice, ruled the people of Israel with an iron fist, provoked a rebellion, and split the country in two. So much for the wisdom of youth.
In a striking bit of cosmic alignment, my New Testament reading was from Luke 22. Verses 24-27 read:
24 A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. 27 For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.
Rehoboam rejected the counsel of the older men when they exhorted him to serve his people. Rehoboam asserted his dominance and provoked a civil war. Rehoboam rejected the way of Jesus. The older men presented the way of Jesus—and the way of common sense.
For us as teachers (or as parents, or in any type of leadership), serving those under our authority pays rich dividends.
As teachers, we become great when we serve our students, and their families. Our temptation is to rest in our degrees, in our how many books we’ve read, and how many languages we can read or speak. But, while that might be impressive, that’s not what students really care about.
As the saying goes, “People don’t care about how much you know, until they know how much you care.” Our students need to know that we care about them. They need to know that we love them, and that we love our subjects.
To paraphrase the old councilors: “If we will be servants to our students, and serve them, and speak good words to them, then they will be our servants forever.”
But this isn’t just about getting servants—this is about loyalty. We are asking students to trust us, and to follow us. We’re asking them to come with us on a journey—and a difficult one at that. They will either come joyfully, because they know we love them and are serving them, or they will resist, dig in their heels, and reject what we’re offering.
To be a truly great teacher, we need to follow the path of Servant Teaching, which is really the path of Jesus. Let the greatest among us become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.
Gregory Soderberg is an academic tutor for the BibleMesh Institute. He also teaches online courses at Kepler Education. This post this first appeared on Consortium, the Kepler academic journal.