“The Servant Queen and the King She Serves”
“On his robe and on his thigh he [Jesus] has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”
On September 8th, Queen Elizabeth II passed away peacefully at the age of 96. Her death evoked many fond memories for me and, judging from the worldwide outpouring of interest and respect, tens of millions of others!
I well remember singing “God save our gracious Queen…” during my youth at the start of most school days. At the time of her death, she was head of state of the United Kingdom and 15 other sovereign nations including Canada. While there are many today in the British Commonwealth who favor a republic over a constitutional monarchy, I can’t recall anyone voicing negative opinions about the Queen herself. This one fact puts her in a class of one!
During the past week, I became aware of a biography of Queen Elizabeth titled “The Servant Queen and the King She Serves,” which was published in 2016 on the occasion of her 90th birthday. This title captures the two pillars underlying her extraordinary life. First, her life mission was to serve the people of the UK and those Commonwealth countries of which she was head of state. Second, though head of state, she recognized that she served the King of all kings. Put differently, she bowed her knee to no one but Jesus Christ! In my opinion, these two pillars explain the tremendous respect accorded her over her lengthy reign.
Queen Elizabeth’s conduct during her reign firmly established her as one of the greatest servant leaders of the modern era.
Queen Elizabeth’s conduct during her reign firmly established her as one of the greatest servant leaders of the modern era. Quoting from my book “More Than Your Business Card,” “It is thought that the phrase ‘servant leadership’ was first used by Robert Greenleaf in his 1970 essay ‘The Servant as Leader.’ Since then, many businesses and other organizations have adopted servant leadership as a key organizational concept. In reality, every leader serves someone. Sadly, many leaders act as though they themselves should be the primary beneficiaries of their service. According to Jesus, however, great leaders are not driven by self-interest. Rather, they are driven by the desire to serve others within the context of a noble cause greater than themselves.”
One could say that the life paradigm of Queen Elizabeth II was servanthood. Jesus described best the leader as servant: “…Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43–45).
Not only was Queen Elizabeth II a servant-leader, she was also a follower-leader. From her speeches over the years, her faith in God and reliance upon Him were the central tenets of her worldview. And though head of state, she bowed her heart humbly before her King. While we miss her, it is a joy knowing she is now in His presence. Her example of both servant- and follower-leader is a wonderful model for those of us in leadership who desire to follow Jesus in the marketplace!
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio
