QUARTERLY CONNECTION #2
“The true leader serves. Serves people. Serves their best interests, and in so doing will not always be popular, may not always impress. But because true leaders are motivated by loving concern rather than a desire for personal glory, they are willing to pay the price.”
—John White[1]
SERVANT LEADERSHIP
There is a need for leadership in the church today—we cry for more and better leaders—but it is a challenge to make it happen.
In 2002, 92 percent of Protestant ministers considered themselves leaders, but less than two-thirds of those pastors actually had leadership skills.[2]
Zechariah 10:2 (GNT)
“So the people wander about like lost sheep. They are in trouble because they have no leader.”
Proverbs 11:14 (TLB)
“Without wise leadership, a nation is in trouble...”
(This is true for every other area of life, too.)
SERVANT LEADERS MODEL TRUE LEADERSHIP
John 13:15 (TLB)
“I have given you an example to follow: do as I have done to you.”
(Jesus modeled it for us; we model servant leadership for other Christ followers.)
1 Timothy 4:12 (NIV)
“Set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”
(These are the five areas we should focus on as people of influence. We should also be examples for non-Christians.)
1 Peter 2:12 (NCV)
“People who do not believe are living all around you and might say that you are doing wrong. Live such good lives that they will see the good things you do and will give glory to God on the day when Christ comes again.”
(Set an example with our words and actions—walking the walk and talking the talk. True servant leaders intentionally show other people how they can be servant leaders.)
Jesus himself set an example for his disciples:
Matthew 4:19 (TLB)
“Come along with me and I will show you how to fish for the souls of men!”
(There is always a “show you how” side to servant leadership.)
SERVANT LEADERS COMMUNICATE THE TRUTH OF LEADERSHIP
Seventy-eight times, Jesus says, “I tell you the truth…”
Servant leaders have integrity and speak the truth. They have a willingness to speak the whole truth, and it comes from valuing truth over being liked as a person or as a leader.
Ephesians 4:15 (GNT)
“Instead, by speaking the truth in a spirit of love, we must grow up in every way to Christ, who is the head.”
(Not just speaking the truth, but speaking it in love.)
SERVANT LEADERS CHALLENGE PEOPLE TO GROW DEEPER IN FAITH
They help people to trust God more in daily life, family life, and work life, and help them see that God can work in and through us to do the impossible, the miraculous, and the unimaginable.
When we see faith lived out in Scripture, we too live in faith, and we teach and challenge our people to be people of a deep and growing faith.
You think of Jesus testing the disciples with the feeding of the 5,000—how can you put people in a place to trust God more?
SERVANT LEADERS SACRIFICE THEIR COMFORT TO ACCOMPLISH THE LEADERSHIP TASK
Why is Jesus Christ the most influential person who ever lived? Because he sacrificed the most.
Titus 2:14 (NCV)
“[Jesus] gave himself for us so he might pay the price to free us from all evil…”
(There is always a price—a cost—for leadership. You cannot lead without sacrificing. What kind of sacrifice is God looking for?)
Hebrews 13:16 (GNT)
“Do not forget to do good and to help one another, because these are the sacrifices that please God.”
(Doing good and helping others often means sacrificing our own agenda so we can live out God’s agenda instead.)
John White:
“The true leader serves. Serves people. Serves their best interests, and in so doing will not always be popular, may not always impress. But because true leaders are motivated by loving concern rather than a desire for personal glory, they are willing to pay the price.”[3]
In a newsletter article entitled “Maturity in Leadership,” pastor and church leadership expert Dan Reiland says being servant leaders means we are growing in our leadership—we are making choices for God and for others, rather than for our own benefit. He offers three choices that are incredibly difficult but that reflect a growing maturity as a leader:
1. Obscurity over notoriety
· All of us want to be recognized as having value, but as we grow and mature, we become to content to serve, whether we are well known or not.
· Each day we have to decide it is not about us but about the people we serve and the God who called us to lead.
2. Service over reward
· Do you care more about what you receiving for getting the job done, or would you rather seek ways that you can serve?
· Notice if you or a person on your staff want the perks of leadership without having a servant’s heart.
· You can see when a person is more interested in getting than giving.
· We have to be faithful, living out our calling and living it out well, knowing we will come out ahead in the long run.
· We are willing to go the extra mile because we are committed and passionate and filled with a servant’s spirit.
3. Submission over power
· Genesis 3 reminds us we are hard-wired for rebellion.
· It is why the way of Jesus is so drastically different:
Philippians 2:5-8 (NIV)
“…have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!”
Do we have the need to assert ourselves, or do we submit to God’s leading in our lives?
Are you willing to submit to those in authority or other key leaders? Do you submit to your spouse? To your key elders? How do you submit in your relationship with Jesus Christ? Every great leader must first be a good follower.
Our flesh prefers notoriety, reward, and power. God’s Spirit in us seeks obscurity, service, and submission.
Test yourself on a regular basis. Don’t drift in the wrong direction—seek the Spirit’s leading.
GROUP SHARING
Tell us about a time when you were at your personal best as a leader.
How have you implemented these three leadership practices?
· Inspire hope
· Incite change
· Increase impact
How are coaching connections going?
[1] John White, Excellence in Leadership: Reaching Goals with Prayer, Courage and Determination (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1986), 88.
[2] Eric Reed and Collin Hansen, “How Pastors Rate as Leaders,” Leadership Journal (Fall 2003), www.christianitytoday.com/le/2003/fall/2.30.html.
[3] White, Excellence in Leadership, 88.