{"id":42028,"date":"2025-09-11T10:25:37","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T17:25:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=42028"},"modified":"2025-09-11T14:54:41","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T21:54:41","slug":"the-cross-greatness-through-serving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-cross-greatness-through-serving\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cross: Greatness Through Serving"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWow! You have the nerve to propose a job in which you will work yourself out of a job?\u201d my friend jokingly asked me. I laughed and responded, \u201cThat’s exactly my goal!\u201d I had just finished giving my counterproposal to the medical director at the hospital. This coming Saturday, I will present this counterproposal to the entire hospital board of directors. Rather than becoming the chief of nursing or a supervisor, I want to come alongside nurses to encourage, coach, and inspire growth. I desire to see the results that Robert Greenleaf suggests in his work The Servant as Leader: <\/em>that those I serve will become \u201chealthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants.\u201d[1]<\/a> My hope is to empower others so that my role becomes unnecessary. This vision may seem counterintuitive, especially in my host culture, but it comes from a deep Western Christian influence. It resonates with the paradigm shift of power that is central to Tom Holland\u2019s book, Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World. <\/em><\/p>\n

Holland’s work asserts that Christianity continues to have a profound influence on the Western world. In an interview with John Anderson, Holland\u2019s thesis was described as \u201cprovocative,\u201d stating that, \u201cwe from the West are all Christians deep down because no other belief has shaken us so deeply.\u201d[2]<\/a> During the interview, Holland explains that the Cross, the symbol of Christianity, represented torture and dominance in Roman times.[3]<\/a> Yet Christians embraced the Cross as an emblem of humility and redemption.<\/p>\n

That reversal of power, where weakness can become strength, and suffering can lead to glory, has reshaped the world and is foundational to the Western mindset. Others, like Tim Keller, have highlighted how Holland\u2019s insights are reflected in Western culture, including forgiveness, the separation of church and state, justice, and peace.[4]<\/a> As the Cross has transformed Western society, the denial of the Cross also has a profound impact on societies.<\/p>\n

Islam denies Jesus\u2019 death on the Cross. According to the Qur\u2019an (4:157-158), he was not killed or crucified but instead saved from death by Allah. By denying the Cross, Islam removes the theological grounding that Christianity offers for weakness as redemptive or suffering as transformative. In a culture shaped by honor and shame, the idea of a prophet suffering public humiliation on a cross is unthinkable. In contrast, Christianity proclaims that in that very shame lies the path to glory.<\/p>\n

The implications of these contrasting foundations extend beyond theology and into global politics. According to Holland, the Muslim conquest was no small contender as it sought to expand its territory.[5]<\/a> According to Nations Online statistics, Islam is now the predominant religion of over fifty nations. More than thirty of those countries have a Muslim majority of over ninety percent of their population.[6]<\/a> This global spread highlights why the disparity in thinking between the West and Islam remains relevant today.<\/p>\n

The purpose of this blog is not to go deep into the Islamic beliefs that have profoundly influenced the non-Western world; however, the contrast is worth briefly noting. This clash of values surfaces not only in theology and s\"\"<\/a>ociety but in global politics. Dominion <\/em>highlights the contrast between Western Christian nations and Islamic nations, as seen in their membership in the United Nations. Muslim countries had to agree to positions that have historically stood in tension with classical Islamic teaching: \u201cequality between men and women; equality between Muslims and non-Muslims; a ban on slavery; a ban on offensive warfare.\u201d[7]<\/a> These issues, considered to have \u201cno place in Islam,\u201d continue to be contentious in my host country, an Islamic Republic. Slavery, while criminalized since 2007, is still active. Inequality between men and women, different ethnic groups, and people of different skin colors is a daily issue. Sharia law exists where religious freedom does not.<\/p>\n

And so, I find myself caught between these worlds, asking, how does one bridge such vast cultural and belief systems, particularly from the status of a white Western Christian female? Is it possible to lead those from a hierarchical Islamic context using servant leadership, a concept stemming from a Western Christian mindset? These are questions I continue to ask myself. The answers to these will directly affect my potential new job position, my doctoral project, and my influence as a Christian in a Muslim society.<\/p>\n

The answer goes back to what Western Culture stems from\u2014the Cross. Here is where the King of Kings took on the form of a Servant and chose to be tortured and crucified on that Cross. His sacrifice declared that truth and redemption could be found in the humility of the Servant King. His example influences how we think about leadership, growth, and the purpose of our work. As I pursue a position of leadership, serving those I lead, the goal is not to achieve tremendous success or effect change, although that would be a welcome result. It is for those that I encounter to know how deeply seen, loved, and valued they are by the One who chose the Cross to change their World.<\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> Robert K. Greenleaf, The Servant as Leader<\/em>, Kindle ed. (Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, 1973).<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> The Making Of The Western Mind: Tom Holland<\/em>, directed by John Anderson Media, 2022, 1:05:00, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NUUkY164jhc, at 1:35.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> The Making Of The Western Mind: Tom Holland, <\/em>at 20:00<\/em>.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Timothy Keller, \u201cTom Holland\u2019s Dominion: A Review,\u201d Gospel in Life<\/em>, Fall 2020, https:\/\/gospelinlife.com\/article\/tom-hollands-dominion-a-review\/.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Tom Holland, Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World<\/em>, Kindle ed (Basic Books, 2019), 197.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> \u201cIslamic World: Countries with a Cultural Islamic Population,\u201d Nations Online Project, 2025, https:\/\/www.nationsonline.org\/oneworld\/muslim-countries.htm.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Holland, Dominion, <\/em>510.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWow! You have the nerve to propose a job in which you will work yourself out of a job?\u201d my friend jokingly asked me. I laughed and responded, \u201cThat’s exactly my goal!\u201d I had just finished giving my counterproposal to the medical director at the hospital. This coming Saturday, I will present this counterproposal to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":206,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2967,2627],"class_list":["post-42028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp03","tag-holland","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/206"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42028"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42033,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42028\/revisions\/42033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}