Servant Leadership

Jesus said…“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.” (John 15:13)  Jesus said…”I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” (John 10:11) No doubt about it; knowledge sure is essential in navigating life and living out one’s vocation. There’s nothing wrong with seeking a more excellent understanding of subjects of interest that will enhance our overall human experience through invention, design and science, as long as these intellectual leaps don’t rub God’s moral compass the wrong way. By all means, go ahead and get more education that will help you do your job better, with more zeal and expertise. Be careful though not to make knowledge an idol, usurping the Lord’s place as the giver of any fact which may be revealed to you. Before Jesus comes again to execute justice on the earth, we must come to the realization that Jesus is God, and only He can save us. (Matthew 12:36) As a Christian I’m assured that my life is hid with God in Christ, so there’s great comfort in not needing to “know it all.” One thing I have learned is that there is freedom in serving, faithfully serving our Lord and faithfully serving others. And what better place to practice serving than at work?

Throughout my years, I’ve had a few servant leaders who were fair and giving in their management style. I can’t help but reflect on that now. One used to say, “My job is to get you what you need so you can do your job.” That kind of wisdom can’t be taught or bought. It is more than practical – it is wisdom from above. “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.” (James 3:17) Jesus, the Son of God is the epitome of servant leadership. So many examples from the Gospels portray the Savior serving the Father by providing for others; first giving them God’s eternal truth, then providing physically, from feeding of the 5000 to healing the man born blind. With regard to Heavenly wisdom, Christ had it in abundance as the Incarnate Deity. With regards to working with men, He knows what to do perfectly.  After all, He knows all men. “You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.”  (Psalm 139)

From the human perspective, it isn’t that easy getting other people what they really need, putting them ahead of myself. There is a danger in falling back on past experiences, relying on our own ideas. Many people in Scripture learned the futility of trusting in wits and intellect to get them through life. Haman was alive during the time of (Queen Esther) and he was a schemer. He trusted his understanding of politics, his relationship with the King and would stop at nothing to ensure that all bowed down to him. One Jew refused to do so and he schemed to have all the Jews destroyed. Esther herself intervened to stop Haman’s plot by putting her life on the line in approaching the King to petition him to stop Haman’s plot to annihilate the Jews. (Esther 7) It’s not always easy to know what to do, but one thing is for sure, we always need to seek the Lord before we move forward.

I praise God, He allows every trial like cancer and every challenge like learning how to effectively lead to not only help others, but draw each of us closer to Himself. Servant leadership lays it all down for others. Pride can’t live in a temple totally given over to the Lord.  Whatever our position in this life, the Lord desires complete submission from all of us. Let’s allow Him to do this magnificent work in us and through us for His glory and our own good. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7)

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