Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Pastor is a great servant leader.
He is kind, funny, gentle, caring, meek, not in-your-face, and wise. None of these things, though, make him weak, because he has chosen to use those traits as tools to help others in his leadership.
He has chosen, despite personal inhibitions and excuses, to allow God to use him to lead. He could be fairly shy although you’d never see it. He could be more comfortable with just family around although he constantly has guests up to his house. He could be stuffed up in his office all day but he still does all the common projects around church. He’s a servant leader.
Servant leaders lead despite the glory. They don’t lead because they get the glory. True servant leaders don’t want it, and many great leaders are actually shy and embarrassed by the attention they receive. Read the book Good to Great and you’ll see that one huge factor to any institution’s success is its leader. Even in business, the servant leader model is the best.
Are you a servant leader? I’m not asking if you’re able to lead. Nor am I asking if you’re a leader. Remember camp last year… are you a good follower? If you are truly a good follower, you should then be transitioning to a position of servant leadership. When your goal is to help others instead of getting attention, you’re on the right path.
Servant leaders serve when no one else will. Any good leader will tell you that basically everything he does is scary. Leading means that you’re the one putting yourself out there first. You never know how you will be accepted. A good servant leader, though, cares more about doing what he knows has to be done than he does about his image. “It’s scary, but if no one is going to step up, I will.”
Servant leaders encourage others. The difference between servants and servant leaders is that pesky second word… leader. Anyone can serve. That’s the easy part. Who’s going to take initiative? Who’s going to step up and be the first one out there? Not so he can be noticed, but so he can encourage others in a servant’s spirit.
Everyone can sense a servant leader’s motive. If he’s serving just so he can get some attention, no one takes him seriously. If he’s truly motivated to be a servant leader, despite being afraid, others will be encouraged by it. If you’re burdened about servant leadership, which aspect are you missing? Do you serve but don’t encourage others to do the same? Or, do you try to lead but no one really cares because they know you’re not a servant and you’re just doing it to be noticed?
Be encouraging to others. Sometimes all it takes is your example. Sometimes it takes more. Servant leadership doesn’t necessarily have age limits, but everyone in our class, including the current 7th graders, will be older than someone when the new 7th graders promote up. Sure, the new 7th graders can be servant leaders, but we’re going to focus more on them just becoming servants first. Their leadership development will come later. For now, what about you?
-Bro. Ryan
PROMOTION SUNDAY – It’s coming up soon! We’ll have the new 7th graders (the current 6th graders) AND the new interns (Bro. Garrett and Bro. Tim) in our class on Sunday, June 2. Be sure to be kind and welcoming (Love God. Love others. Do right).
CAMPING TRIP – new plans… the KQ Ranch campsite is no longer available because it is Memorial Day weekend and they give preference to their members before outside guests.
We’re going to Pastor’s house! New price: $6 covers Fri. dinner, Sat. breakfast and lunch. Friday 3:30pm – Saturday 1:30pm. Volleyball, fire, games, and more. J
Guest Speakers – the men and ladies classes are going to be having guest speakers in over the next few weeks. You will not want to miss any of them!