Servant Leadership

You know there is a barrel of words that can be used to describe what a "leader looks like," well, this word may have been on the bottom of the barrel, but it really jumped out for me, the word is RELENTLESS. In Paula Broadwell's  new book All In: The Education Of David Petraeus, Broadwell describes the Four-star general-turned-CIA director as RELENTLESS. Just the title of the book "All In," describes the General as one who was "sold out," some may be familiar with the term "All In" as a phrase used in poker meaning--- to wager one's entire stake. There are times as leaders when we have to put the "pedal to the metal" and just "take off", be on the "attack," and just be "All In." How about if we take this principle of being RELENTLESS and apply it to our pursuit of God; have you ever heard people testify that they “tried” Jesus but it didn’t work; something else eventually fills the ...

Leadership And Narcissism! Leadership Journal (fall 2010, JR Kerr.) featured an excellent article on "Pastoral Narcissism," here are a few highlights from that article. The main thrust of the article is that community provides the cure for personal ambition. When the "whole" is the concentration and not the "parts" then there is no room for personal ambition and self promotion. When leaders view the church as a platform to build their own personal brand of ministry they then have lost the Biblical vision of their calling to serve the community through the use of their gifts. Another form of narcissism that leaders in the Church face is the fear of making hard decisions so that no one ever gets offended.  Let me frame this in the context of the pastor not confronting open sin as the shepherd of the people of God. Leaders in the Church must place the purity of the "whole" above their own need for personal approval. I want to empha...

Most leadership models in our Churches look like this: Taken from Gordon Fee's " Listening To The Spirit In The Text" I believe that the Biblical model - without clergy at all, but with identifiable leadership, consists of leaders who are part of the whole people of God The New Testament presents leadership more in terms of shepherding and tending to the household of faith, than it does to ruling and  dictating. Christ is the head of the Church: "He is the head of the body , the church"—Col. 1:18. Leaders in the Church function under Christ:   "not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock" ---- 1 Peter 5:3.  Leaders are to function as servants: They kept in their heart what Jesus said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them . Yet it shall not be so among you ; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your ...

Leadership is leading, seems obvious, but believe it or not, many leaders don't do the hard work of leading. Many leaders hide behind the veil of compromise, so as not to risk making enemies. There are too many leaders who just want to be nice, who don't want to hurt any feelings. Leadership involves making the hard decisions that most people don't want to make, most don't have the chutzpa to make those real hard decisions, again, too many leaders just want to be liked. Think of this question; would you want to be led into war by General MacArthur or be led by a General who is more concerned with everybody liking him? I'll take MacArthur anytime. Now, I do understand that there needs to be balance, I'm all about balance. Yes, a leader can be authoritarian, and that has its own set of unique problems, but the point is that a leader must lead and make hard, tough, and unpopular decisions. Think of the father who needs to say NO to their teen; we know the te...

Thom Rainer, in his 2005 book Breakout Churches , lists PASSION in leadership as the one ingredient that kept showing up in all the churches that had a "breakout moment. So I ask, where does a leader get passion, you can't buy passion at your local Walmart store, you can't get it by working-out at the local gym, so where does a leader get his passion? Passion is that powerful and compelling emotion that drives a leader to reach his goals, or to fulfill his mission or vision. Without passion, no leader has ever lasted long enough to reach his goal. Without passion all leaders will fall into the slough of despond or the swamp of despair. So, what is the fuel that feeds passion? What is the fuel that keeps passion alive in the leaders core being? Certainly, for the follower of Christ it is a surrendered heart and will to the King, to the Lord of the universe. The Leader who becomes a servant of Christ is fueled by the power of his King's vision, he is fueled and emp...

Winston Churchill, the great Author and Prime Minister during World War II, noted that "we rate ability in men by what they finish , not by what they attempt." Great leadership will be evaluated by how well you finish, so to all the young leaders who have taken on the grave responsibility to lead, lead with an eye towards the finish line. Leadership presents many traps and pit falls, so young leader be aware of your own dark side and be willing to take out your own right eye or take off your own right arm if they will cause you to not lead well to the end. Robert Clinton, in his 1989 research on Biblical Leaders found four crucial implications of leadership from a Biblical study of leaders. The most noted finding in this research is that few leaders finished well. http://www.bobbyclinton.com/articles/downloads/3FinishWellArticles.pdf Leaders, let's follow one of the greatest leaders of all time, the great Apostle Paul, as he tells us that he fought the good fight, ...

One aspect of leadership that is absent from most books is the dimension of faith. Faith certainly takes leadership to a whole new level. Now, I can already hear the boos from the crowd, so let me silence the critics real quick. I'm not talking about the faith that says, "let me jump off this building and believe that God will protect me." But I'm talking about a faith that trusts and relies on God to do some big things in our lives and in the lives of those who we lead. I think of Moses and Joshua who led with faith and EXPECTED God to do great things. If you're leading others, lead with faith, believing that God can bust into any situation and turn things around for His Glory and Honor. Steve Furtick, in his book Sun Stand Still sums up this kind of faith filled leadership this way when he says: Dream God-worthy dreams. Pray faith-fueled prayers. Live a life that can be explained only by the existence of a God who is infinitely great.