#116 Servant Leadership?
Taking on the role of the servant can be incredibly rewarding and frustrating depending on the circumstances. This can come down to the who and why. If you are in ministry at a church where the elders are abusing their power the pastor will be suffering. In attempting to serve they might be belittled, underpaid, and even metaphorically stabbed in the back. That is something that is all too common in christian ministry. Because we serve a perfect God but we work with imperfect people. Yet being the servant in ministry is necessary and rewarding. By serving we showcase what everyone ought to be doing as followers of Christ. This can be extremely rewarding if you begin to see those you minister to take on service opportunities and grow.
You develop a sense of priorities as you practice them. When we are in ministry we seek to build relationships. These relationships must be ordered correctly. I would argue that priority should be given in this order, first to your relationship with God, relationship with spouse, then as a parent, then as a pastor or leader. By realizing that these are the relationships that are important and your priorities should match them. It ought to make it easier to make decisions that align with your values.
Kingdom leadership is exemplified in Jesus who washed the feet of his disciples as explained in Howell. Jesus is the one who flipped the script on what it meant to be a leader. While we have examples of godly leaders throughout the Bible. It is not until Jesus that the idea of servant leadership was solidified and codified into our beliefs as christians. When thinking of examples of Kingdom leaders one that comes to my mind is a man named Roy. Roy has for the past thirty years led a family friendly christian paintball camp that happens twice a year. Roy has run the camp in the background. He is not a speaker at the camps, he doesn’t lead the planning, skits, meal plan, recruiting, sign ups, or any of that. But without him the camps would not happen. He is the person who recruits everyone to do all of those roles. Furthermore, when the camps take place he is not above cleaning paintball guns all day in order to make the camp happen. When we as leaders take on the responsibility for the lowliest roles we highlight the importance of all the work that there is to be done and lead by example.
Don N. Howell Jr., Servants of the Servant: A Biblical Theology of Leadership (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2003) 203.
