Servant Leadership

Last week at a conference, I shared a talk called "Servant Leadership."

I wanted to share the outline with you.

More than ever, we need leaders who will make a difference in their generation. 

Especially Gen Z (currently ages 13 to 28).

34% of Gen Z has no religious affiliation.

18% of Gen Z claims to be agnostic or atheist.

If we are going to reach the next generation, it will be through servant leaders. 

In Philippians 2, God tells us what makes a servant leader. 

"Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.  Rather, in humility value others about yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 

In your relationships with one another, 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! 

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." 

In this passage, we see 3 keys to being a servant leader.

AMBITION 

It is not wrong to have ambition. Notice that the verse says "selfish" ambition. In fact, we need people who will have a holy ambition to reach their generation. We need people who will have an ambition to reach the world for Christ.

It's not about getting rid of ambition. It's about having an ambition to bring glory to God's name and advance His kingdom. 

God called Gideon to make a difference.  He called him a "mighty man of valor" when, at the time, he was far from being a man of valor.  God instilled in Gideon an ambition to make a difference and be used by God.

What servant leaders need is Godfidence. An ambition that trusts God to do what they cannot do on their own.

Joseph had ambition. He told his brothers they would bow to him. They weren't happy about that for sure. But that was okay. It was a deceleration that came from God and transcended Joseph's own abilities.

Jeremiah is another example of ambition that was birthed by God. 

"But His Word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay."

This is clearly ambition from God and His Word. 

David had ambition. While others shook with fear in the shadow of Goliath, David declared "Is there not a cause?"  It took ambition to stand on the battlefield when the odds appeared to be stacked against him.

Eric Liddle is another example of ambition. Eric was a Scottish runner in the 1924 Olympics.  He had trained to run the 100 meter race. When they announced the 100 meter race would be held on Sunday, Eric took himself out of the race. He had made a promise that he would not run on a Sunday...a day he had preserved to worship God. 

Instead of running the 100 meter race on Sunday, he decided to compete in the 400 meter race. He had not trained for the 400 meter race and stood little to no chance to win. But he had ambition. He had vowed to run for God's glory.  He won the 400 meter race, winning the gold medal and setting a world record. After the Olympics, he spent the rest of his life doing missionary work in China. That, my friend, is ambition.

We need servant leaders who have an ambition to bring glory to God.

Secondly, servant leaders have the right ATTITUDE. 

Look back at the verses. It says...

"...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 the death on a cross."

Jesus' life was all about serving others.  Matthew 20:28 says this...

"Jesus came to SERVE and to GIVE..."

Serve and give...those two words sum up what Jesus' life was all about. 

Servant leaders care not about how many people are serving them...rather they care about how many people they are serving.

The way up in God's kingdom is down.  Jesus must increase while we decrease. 

When we get to heaven, God is not going to say "Well done, good and faithful leader." 

Rather He will say, "Well done, good and faithful SERVANT."

The third mark of a servant leader is ACTION. 

Look at Luke 22. 

"Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation. He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 'Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done'." 

Servant leaders follow Jesus' lead and take an action of surrender to God's will.

Servant leaders die to their dreams and plans and follow Jesus' plans.

George Muller, a great man of God, was once asked what he considered to be the power behind his ministry. He surprised his questioner by talking about his "secret death."

"There was a day," he said, "when I died; utterly died." As he spoke, he bent lower until he almost touched the floor. Then he continued, "I died to George Muller, his opinions, preferences, tastes and will; died to the world, its approval or censure; died to the approval or blame even of my brethren and friends; and since then I have studied myself approved of God."  

Servant leaders take an action of total surrender. They say, "Here am I Lord, send me."

In war, soldiers raise their hands when they are surrendering. When the police arrest someone, they person raises their hands in surrender.

Go with me to the upper room. Jesus and the disciples arrive at the upper room...but someone is missing. There should have been a servant there who would wash their feet. But there was no one present that was officially assigned that task.  This position was considered one of the lowest jobs in the area. The disciples looked at each other, but no one was willing to be that servant and wash the dirty (and probably smelly) feet of the disciples. 

That's when Jesus took action. He took the form of the lowest servant and washed the disciples' feet.  He modeled true servant leadership.  This was in stark contrast to what the disciples would describe as leadership. They were living in a time when the "leaders" were the Romans. Rome's style of leadership was to kill, defeat, conquer and reign over people. Jesus showed that true leadership is serving others as a humble servant.

Have you heard of Don Ritchie? He is a great example of a servant leader. Don lived across the road from a place called "The Gap" (no - not the store) in Australia. The Gap is a well-known cliff area. It is infamous for being a place where people go to commit suicide. Don could see the cliff from his house. After seeing several people jump to their death, Don decided he would step in and offer hope to the desperate people who came there to commit suicide. 

Don kept watch and when he saw someone getting close to the edge of the cliff, he would rush over and talk the person back away from the edge of the cliff. He would then bring them to his house and sit down for a meal with them. He would talk with them - offering them hope and encouragement. At his funeral, 150 people stood up and said Don had saved their life.  Reports say that the total number of people that Don rescued was over 600. 

More than ever, we need people who will answer God's call to lead with ambition, attitude and action. 

Will you be that person?

Will you respond to Jesus by surrendering your will for His? 

Will you say, "All to Jesus...I surrender...all to Him I freely give."