Consider Leading by Serving

Are you in a leadership role, but you’re finding it’s harder than you thought?   Maybe you’re leading at home as a parent or spouse. Or you’re leading others at work or in the community.

In the weeks ahead, I want to talk with you more about what it means to be a “servant leader.” 

Now a servant leader, quite simply, is a person who leads by serving others.   The term comes from something Jesus did one day 2,000 years ago. 

He and his friends all came in for dinner, but that evening there was no servant there to do what was customary—to wash people’s feet when they came in from the hot, dusty roads. 

So Jesus, their teacher and their leader, knelt down, wrapped towel around his waist, poured water into a large bowl, and began to wash his followers’ feet. 

Then he basically said, “Even though I’m your teacher and master, I did the dirty job none of you wanted to do.  So let this be an example to you: Take the lead, and be the first one to do whatever dirty job no one else wants to do.  And God will bless you for it.” 

So today, go do one thing at work or home that no one else wants to do.  Let me know what that’s like.  And know that you’ve taken one step towards becoming a great servant leader.