If your gift is to
encourage others, be
encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the
responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
More than a decade ago I
traveled to a meeting that I had been invited to. I wasn’t sure why I was going, but I had met
some great people that were serving in Asia that invited me and others to join
them for what was something of a strange meeting at that time.
It was a conference taking
place somewhere else at the same time, but the conference was being broadcast
via satellite or internet to where we would be.
Again this meeting was about 12 years ago.
I walked in to a filled
room. In this room were several people I
had met before. One of the couples had
served in China for years and seen God do amazing things. Their influence and some of the people they
introduced me to began a conversation in my heart that is still gong on
today. That conversation was about
servant leadership. We talked about
leading like Jesus and serving others.
Below are a few quotes
from that meeting, and I specifically remember three of the speakers from that
conference: Ken Blanchard, Rick Warren and Dan Cathy.
“whenever we become the leader and try to make God the
servant, things don’t work out. Why? Because our EGO gets in the way, and we
Edge God Out! If you want your life to be significant, then you have to
recognize that it’s all about God, not about you. As the old Yiddish saying
goes, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.”
“Leadership is not about power. It’s not about control;
it’s about helping people live according to the vision.”
“Scripture is the holy Word from the holy God, delivered
by holy men, to teach holy truths and to make people holy.”
“For followers of Jesus, servant leadership isn't an
option; it's a mandate. Servant leadership is to be a living statement of who
we are in Christ, how we treat one another, and how we demonstrate the love of
Christ to the whole world.”
“Jesus led with a towel.
The place is the upper room. The conversation among the disciples is
about who would be the greatest in the kingdom. Jesus gets up, grabs a
towel and begins washing their feet. The point is startlingly. A
great leader is a servant. Leadership is not about a title...it's about
taking a towel and serving others.”
There were a lot more, but
what I remember is that it is my responsible to lead well. Leading well means people need Jesus. Before me is Jesus. Better than me is Jesus. It really is all about Jesus.
May we lead like
Jesus. May we be servant leaders!
Since we are living by the
Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading
in every part of our lives.
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