Given the contemporary Canadian cultural landscape, the small book of Jude may be more directly applicable now than ever before. Jude’s letter is filled with warnings about apostasy, ungodliness, and rebellion. He teaches believers how to respond in such circumstances, remaining confident in the power of the Spirit as they oppose false teachers, show mercy to the wounded, work to save the lost and wavering, and keep themselves pure and unstained from sin.
In light of all the risks to their faith and spiritual lives, the context of the letter gives added power to the closing doxology:
Jude, the Servant of Jesus
We know next to nothing about Jude’s biography, but he introduces himself as “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James” (Jude 1). Although Jude’s brother James is not as well known in the church today as Peter, John, or Paul, in the New Testament he is a figure of towering significance.
When James wrote his own letter to the churches, he did not have to identify himself beyond the bare ascription of “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (Jas. 1:1). James was so well known to his original audience that he simply had to give his name, and they knew exactly who he was.
In Galatians 1:19 we are told that James was the brother of the Lord Jesus Christ. Since James was the brother of Jesus, and Jude was the brother of James, Jude was also the brother of Jesus. But notice that although Jude is happy to identify himself as a brother of James, when it comes to Jesus, Jude identifies himself as a servant. James, at the start of his own epistle, uses the same terminology of servanthood. This, as simple as it is, is a crucial test for Christian leadership.
The ministry landscape today is filled with name-dropping, jockeying for position, and using the ministry for personal self-aggrandizement and building one’s brand. True Christian leaders should want nothing to do with crass self-promotion.
James and Jude, the brothers of Jesus, did not appeal to their family connection with Christ. They were sinners saved by their brother’s shed blood and triumphant resurrection, and they were called to serve him as their Lord and Saviour. True Christian leaders know that they are servants of Jesus Christ, not masters of others.
Jude, the Servant of the Church
Having explicitly identified himself as a servant of the Lord Jesus, Jude implicitly reveals that he is a servant of the church. He writes, “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). Notice that Jude had wanted to write about one thing, but he knew it was necessary to write about something else.
The application for us is straightforward. Pastor, don’t preach the sermon series you find most interesting; preach the sermon series that the church most needs to hear. Teacher, don’t self-indulgently fill your lectures with your own academic hobbyhorses; but faithfully teach the subject matter that the students most genuinely need to learn. If your listeners are advanced, teach them accordingly; if they are beginners, don’t be condescending or give them material they are not ready to digest.
If a Christian leader is a servant of Jesus, they will be a servant of the church. In this, they are only imitating their Master, who not only washed the feet of his disciples, but who “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). When Peter wrote to a group of elders, he told them to be eager to serve, and also commanded them not to lord their authority over others (1 Pet. 5:1-4).
The pulpit is not the place for us to broadcast our opinions—whether political, economic, cultural, or whatever—it is for the proclamation of the revealed Word of the Lord. Christian leaders with their own agendas are not following the Christian model for leadership. Christian leaders serve the Lord by serving the Lord’s people.
Jude, a Shepherd Serving the Sheep
Because he was first and foremost a servant of Jesus Christ, Jude was also a shepherd of the sheep. As a result, he looked to the interests and needs of the flock of God rather than to his own. In this regard, he represents a strong contrast to the false teachers who were generating turmoil among Christ’s sheep. One of the ways that Jude identified the false teachers was that they were “shepherds feeding themselves” (Jude 12b). False teachers do not serve; they want to be served. As shepherds, their concern is not for the good of the flock—it is for what they can get from the flock.
Although the shepherding imagery is reasonably common, Jude may be drawing on imagery from Ezekiel 34, which is a terrifying chapter concerning the judgment that God will bring on the false shepherds who exploit and abuse his flock, ruling them harshly and selfishly. “Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?” (Ezek. 34:2). Shepherds who feed only themselves are failing to fulfil the basic calling of a shepherd, which is to feed Christ’s sheep.
Jude, a Man Saved and Kept by Grace
Jude introduces himself as a servant of Jesus, because Jesus was his Lord and Saviour. He was not saved because he was the half-brother of Jesus, or because they grew up in the same home. Jude was saved through the death and resurrection of Christ, the same way that every redeemed sinner is saved. As a Christian leader, Jude did not point people to himself, he pointed them to Christ. He urged his readers to walk and pray in the Holy Spirit, remaining in God’s love as they waited for Christ to bring them to the fullness of eternal life (Jude 20-21). His doxology at the close of his letter had nothing to do with himself, it had everything to do with directing his readers to the grace of God in Jesus Christ that could save them to the uttermost.
Jude is a model of Christian leadership because he was a humble, faithful Christian. That is, Jude was a follower and servant of Jesus, and because of this he pointed people away from himself to the risen Lord. There is a desperate need in our churches today for this kind of humble, Christ-following, Christ-imitating, and Christ-exalting servant leadership. We need to pray for more Christian leaders like Jude, who know that they are called to serve Jesus by serving his people according to their needs.
