The Monday Memo from John Stanko

508: Jesus Was a Servant-Leader

If you are going to be a servant-leader, you need models and examples of how to lead, for most of the models available pay lip service to servant-leadership or are just flat out autocrats.  Fortunately, we have someone who served as an example who can also empower and enable you to serve as you lead, and also lead as you serve.  His name is Jesus.

JESUS WAS A SERVANT-LEADER.

Almost fifteen years ago, I read Robert Greenleaf’s famous book, The Power of Servant Leadership.  When I started reading, I couldn’t put it down.  Quite frankly, that book took my breath away (and still does).  I have tried to read everything and anything on servant leadership since that time, and all of it has served to sharpen my leadership focus and teaching. I was surprised to find that most of the books on servant leadership were not written by church leaders, but rather business leaders.  This surprised me, since I knew that Jesus initiated the servant leadership message. Yet somehow the servant-leadership message has escaped or circumvented the church for the most part.  I determined at that point to introduce or reintroduce the message wherever and whenever possible.

To do this, I first reflected on what the Bible and Jesus had to say about servant leadership.  More importantly, I studied what Jesus did as a servant leader.  Here are some of my findings:

1. Jesus had no official title or position.  He was called rabbi, which means teacher, yet he had no synagogue that he used as a base.  He was an itinerate teacher in His three years of ministry work. Judas had to kiss Him in the Garden when he betrayed Jesus, otherwise the Romans would not have recognized who Jesus was, since he had no clothes or other signs of being the leader.
2. Jesus did not build an organization.  Jesus had followers, but He never tried to formalize His network.  He was content to teach, travel, heal and train leaders.
3. Jesus did not recruit followers to a paid position.  Jesus recruited people to fulfill their purpose.  He never promised a salary or benefits, and did not use money or perks as a means to maintain loyalty or demand compliance. Jesus never recruited anyone through guilt or manipulation, but through love.
4. Jesus was content to teach.  Jesus influenced people by what He taught and how He lived.  He did everything He could to deflect attention from Himself to God the Father, and never put pressure on anyone to follow Him.  In fact, He discouraged some who wanted to do so.  He sent them home to live their lives and share their testimony of He had helped them.
5. Jesus never clarified who He was.  When people asked Jesus who He was, He asked them, “Who do you think I am?”  He never took time to defend Himself from false accusations, but stayed focused on His purpose. He never said, "I am in charge here." He allowed people to figure that out for themselves.

Then I determined that I wanted to be a servant leader and lead like Jesus. I’ve seldom had a high position in any organization. As a pastor, I don't demand special privileges and don't require anyone to use a title when talking to me. I use my power to empower and serve others. I have an organization that allows me to teach through my books, personal appearances and website. No one is forced to follow my teaching; it is there for them to take or leave. The purpose message has influenced many because they have chosen to listen and apply the truth. I never imposed it on anyone and still don't.

I’M A SERVANT LEADER, TOO.

I’ve said all this to remind you of what my purpose statement is: To create order out of chaos without control.  My job is to influence as many people as I can with the message of purpose, productivity and servant-leadership.  I must do that without expecting anything in return, except the joy of seeing lives changed and organizations impacted.  Servant-leadership is the next great emphasis for leaders all over the world, especially those who call on the name of the Lord because Jesus is our model for leadership.   I urge you to join me as together we fulfill our purpose, trusting in the Lord that how Jesus led will still work today.  Let’s form a powerful network of men and women who are committed to fulfill our purpose the way Jesus fulfilled His. 

I have a great deal of material on my website that talks about servant leadership. I urge you in the weeks to come to study and then apply the servant-leadership principles in your family, life, work and ministry.  Have a great week filled with purposeful service and I will have more for you next week on this critical topic!

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CRISIS IN KENYA:  I have posted two urgent emails I received this past week from ministries with whom I work in Kenya.  Please take the time to read my post and then respond as the Lord leads!  Thank you! 

LATEST BOOK:  My latest book was released last week, entitled Faith Files, Increasing Your Faith for Daily Living; Volume Two.  This book focuses on every verse that refers to faith in one of Paul's epistles; Volume One focuses on the gospels.  You guessed it, Volume Three will focus on faith verses outside of the Pauline epistles.  You can order this helpful devotional through Paypal for $15, or you can mail a check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 8881, Pittsburgh, PA 15221-0881. Order today and be among the first to receive your autographed copy.  Until July 27, get both Volume One and Two for only $20!

507: God is Secure

Last week we started a series on servant-leadership, which will continue for the next few weeks. This week I was reading a book and came across a stunning revelation that is pertinent to our discussion and, of course, could not wait to share it with you.

JOHN PIPER SAYS . . .   

    

In John Piper's book, Let the Nations Be Glad, he writes about Isaiah 64:4: "Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him."  Piper went on to explain:

In other words, Isaiah is stunned that the greatness of God has the paradoxical effect that he does not need people to work for him but rather magnifies himself by working for them, if they will renounce self-reliance and "wait for him."

Isaiah anticipated the word of Paul in Acts 17:25, "God is not] served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything." The uniqueness at the heart of Christianity is the glory of God manifest in the freedom of grace. God is glorious because he does not need the nations to work for him. He is free to work for them. "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). Missions is not a recruitment project for God's labor force. It is a liberation project from the heavy burdens and hard yokes of other gods (see Matthew 11:28-30).

Isaiah says that such a God has not been seen or heard of anywhere in the world. What Isaiah sees everywhere he looks are gods who have to be served rather than serve. For example, the Babylonian gods Bel and Nebo: "Bel bows down; Nebo stoops, their idols are on beasts and livestock; these things you carry are borne as burdens on weary beasts. They stoop; they bow down together; they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity.  Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from he womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you.  I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save" (Isaiah 46:1-4, cf. Jeremiah 10:5).

The difference between the true God and the gods of the nations is that the true God carries and the other gods must be carried. God serves; they must be served. God glorifies his might by showing mercy. They glorify theirs by gathering slaves. So the vision of God as one whose passion for his glory moves him to mercy impels missions because he is utterly unique among all the gods" (pages 55-56).

GOD IS SECURE    

 In other words, God is secure in who He is, so He is free to serve others.  That is how He wants you and me to be.  He does not want us to exercise our leadership by "gathering slaves" to our vision and way of thinking, but by serving the needs of others, empowering them to succeed as they carry out God's purpose for their lives.  In other words, you must be a servant leader because that is the model our God provides, for He is a servant-leader extraordinaire. 

Next week, we will look at servant-leadership as it was expressed in Jesus' life and ministry. In the meantime, you can read more of what I have written about servant-leadership on my website. This study is not just for you to learn new concepts, but to apply them to your life and leadership. Are you a servant-leader?  Do you want to be? If so, it will require that you are secure in Him and in who He made you to be.  You will have to learn that your leadership is not for your benefit but the benefit of others. That, my friend, is not just a journey, it is a death process as you learn to pick up your cross, deny youself daily and follow Him.  Have a great week!

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LATEST BOOK:  My latest book was released last week, entitled Faith Files, Increasing Your Faith for Daily Living; Volume Two.  This book focuses on every verse that refers to faith in one of Paul's epistles; Volume One focuses on the gospels.  You guessed it, Volume Three will focus on faith verses outside of the Pauline epistles.  You can order this helpful devotional through Paypal for $15, or you can mail a check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 8881, Pittsburgh, PA 15221-0881. Order today and be among the first to receive your autographed copy.  Until July 4, get both Volume One and Two for only $20!

506: The Drum Major Instinct

It's been more than three years since I wrote anything about leadership and longer than that since I wrote about servant-leadership. That's way too long, so the next four weeks will be devoted to that topic.

I am going to Atlanta in a few weeks and I want to visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Center while I am there. I was looking at the Center's site the other day and the introduction included a portion of Dr. King's sermon entitled The Drum Major's Instinct from 1968. I quoted Dr. King last week and I was not intentionally doing research to include him again this week, but it happened. You can read the sermon here or read on and see only the portion that grabbed my attention.

THE QUOTE

The sermon was about our need to be out front, noticed and great. In his sermon, Dr. King said this concerning Mark 10:39-45:

But that isn't what Jesus did; he did something altogether different. He said in substance, "Oh, I see, you want to be first. You want to be great. You want to be important. You want to be significant. Well, you ought to be. If you're going to be my disciple, you must be." But he reordered priorities. And he said, "Yes, don't give up this instinct. It's a good instinct if you use it right. It's a good instinct if you don't distort it and pervert it. Don't give it up. Keep feeling the need for being important. Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be first in love. I want you to be first in moral excellence. I want you to be first in generosity. That is what I want you to do."

And he transformed the situation by giving a new definition of greatness. And you know how he said it? He said, "Now brethren, I can't give you greatness. And really, I can't make you first." This is what Jesus said to James and John. "You must earn it. True greatness comes not by favoritism, but by fitness. And the right hand and the left are not mine to give, they belong to those who are prepared."

And so Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness. If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  That's a new definition of greatness.

And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.

THE CURE

Dr. King did not say this instinct to be out front was evil in and of itself.  The problem is our tendency to believe that we somehow deserve to be out front or that we are better than others. The only antidote I know for the drum major instinct is the concept of servant-leadership.  You and I are as susceptible as anyone to the arrogance and pride that comes from the human condition and especially from leadership power.

Join me in these next few weeks as we focus on how to be effective servant-leaders so that we do not use the power of purpose and goals for self-serving ends, but rather to serve others as Jesus would have us do.  Until next week, meditate on this dilemma and commit yourself to be the kind of leader that reverses the ugly trend in self-serving leadership that has been with us since the Garden of Eden. Then be ready to learn and grow into a drum major that leads people with integrity on paths of righteousness. Have a great week!

505: Too Late

I ran across a quote by Martin Luther King Jr. this week that impacted me deeply. Before I share that quote, however, I want to share a passage from Isaiah that people recite and even sing to me regularly (it was put to music years ago).  It is their life philosophy and approach to missions, creativity and action, and it reads like this in the NAS Version:

"He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary" (Isaiah 40:30-31 emphasis added).

A CLOSER LOOK

The key phrase in that passage for many is "those who wait on the Lord."  The implication is that if you are going to serve the Lord, you need to wait.  There is only one problem with that philosophy.  Everything else in that passage speaks to action, not waiting. It speaks of strength, flying, runing and walking.  Those who are waiting aren't do any of those things, but the entire context of the passage is God giving strength to those who "wait." I would propose that those who wait don't need the strength.

The NIV for once is more accurate in its translation of the word "wait," for the NIV states, "but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength."  Insert that phrase back into the longer quote above, and you will see there is a big difference between hoping and waiting. Most already have the waiting down pat. I want to be one who hopes as I run, fly and walk, and I hope that we can run together toward our purpose and creativity. 

THE QUOTE

And now for the quote from Martin Luther King's speech "Beyond Vietnam," delivered on April 4, 1967 in New York City. I will offer no commentary on his closing comments. I trust you to draw your own conclusions and make the necessary adjustments in your life and work to make room for what he said:

We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity. The tide in the affairs of men does not remain at flood - it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words, "Too late." There is an invisible book of life that faithfully records our vigilance or our neglect. Omar Khayyam is right: "The moving finger writes, and having writ moves on."

Have a great week!