Servant Leadership

"For whose benefit do you lead?"
That was the question posed to me in my class last week by one of my classmates. We were looking at a case study and with that question she challenged me about my thoughts. It was the question that all of us should have caught from the very beginning of the week but its importance seemed to have eluded me until she asked me pointedly. Think about it: for whose benefit do I lead?

Jesus said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave-- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve..." (Mt. 20:25-28)

It's interesting how I can lead for the benefit of the vision or the benefit of influence or the future or even the benefit of God and forget that I need to lead for the benefit of people. Are they being blessed? Are they being empowered? Are they being included? Are they being challenged? It's all too commonplace to see people ministering for God as they harm the people they are supposed to serve. Harm could mean rejection, removing opportunities, keeping people dependent and so on. It means not helping people become all that Jesus want them to be.

For whose benefit do you lead? I need to lead for the benefit of those God has entrusted to me. That’s what servanthood is really about. If each minister thought in those terms, what would happen? No one would be fighting over position, ministry, power or stage because I am doing what I am doing purely for the benefit of those Jesus died for. For whose benefit do I lead? Or preach? Or sing? Or dance? Or usher? Or witness? Or serve? Is it for me? Or is it for them? That’s the question at the heart of every servant leader.

Lord, give me the heart of a servant. Help me give my life to serve those you gave your life to save. Let it begin with my family and grow to those who have so graciously chosen to entrust me with influence in their lives. I take this stewardship seriously Lord and I lean on You, the true Servant Leader.