“Our service to humankind must be given freely. We must be subject to everyone and serve our brothers as if we were paying off a debt. Moreover, those who are in charge should work harder than the others and conduct themselves with greater submission than those that are under them. Their lives should be a visible example of what service means, and they should remember that those who are committed to their trust are given to them by God.
Those who are in a position of authority must look after their brothers and sisters as dutiful teachers look after children given to them by their parents. If brothers and sisters and elders have this loving relationship, then brothers and sisters will be happy to obey whatever is commanded while elders will be delighted to lead their brothers and sisters to perfection. If you try to outdo one another in showing respect, your life on earth will be like that of the angels.
Gregory of Nyssa (335-394), as recounted by James Stuart Bell, Awakening Faith: Daily Devotions from the Early Church, “Service and Stewardship” 263.