I am currently on an eight-day pilgrimage visiting Civil Rights historical sites throughout the South. This morning since we were on the road and unable to attend church, we listened to Dr. Martin Luther King's sermon entitled The Drum Major Instinct. I have written about this sermon, so I am going to interrupt our series on rest to republish my Monday Memo by the same same as Dr. King's sermon.
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Dr. King's sermon The Drum Major Instinct focused on our need to be out front and noticed. Yet he did not condemn this attitude altogether, for he described one way this tendency could be harnessed and directed for positive results. In his sermon, Dr. King had this to say 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 onto paths of righteousness. Have a great week!
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