Life In Three Parts

Life Lesson # 11 Servant Leadership

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Life Lesson # 10 Taking Action
Life Lesson # 11 Servant Leadership
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Key Verse: Mark 10:45

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

 

How is your heart?  I don’t mean in the physical sense or condition of your heart I mean in a spiritual sense.  Is your heart set up for service or are you still stuck on the idea that you must be served.  I hope you don’t think like that because it is not Biblical.  In fact in the key verse Jesus said that we must serve and not be served. 

 

In fact we are in service to Jesus each and everyday.  I like to think of it the military terms when you join a branch of the armed services you take pledge to protect and defend the United States as well as to serve this country even to the point that you may have to give your life in that service. 

 

It is the same way when we commit our lives to Christ we are to serve Him in all things and at all times.  Part of that service is the knowledge that out there is a lot of people who need us.  The need can be anything from lending an ear to proclaiming God’s word to building a house.  The idea is that as a Christian we are committed to service. 

 

Ask God To Give You a Servant’s Heart 

 

“I serve by going to church and giving my tithes and offerings”

 

Does this sound familiar?  If so let’s talk.

 

You see service is a lot more than just giving money and sitting in a pew it is going out and going something about your faith.

 

Read Matthew 28:19 and then come back to this Bible study.  Go ahead I will wait.

 

You probably recognized this passage as the great commission.   In the passage Christ says that we are to “Go into all the world” and make disciples.   Well up until quite recently I thought this passage was a call to foreign missions because I had always used it in that context. 

 

But the verb usage with the word  “Go” literally means as you are going on your daily travels make disciples of everyone you meet.  By now you are probably wondering what this has to do with a having servants heart and asking God to give you a servants heart.

 

Well the fact is that unless we have a servant’s heart our service to the Lord will be diminished.  Having a servant’s heart means do for others no matter the cost or the outcome it means to get out into the trenches and getting your hands dirty in service to God.   Jesus did not sit around in a pew He went and showered God’s love on others by taking His message to the people that no one else wanted to deal with. 

 

Don’t get me wrong tithing is important to the welfare of the physical needs of less fortunate believers and to keep the church running but going extremely important to the growth of the church.  The church is not like a retail store where the people will come in just because you put a name on the front of your building and open up the doors for business.

 

Evangelism must occur so that each person is given t opportunity to hear the message!

 

 

Read the fallowing verses and in your own words describe the action that is taking place.

 

Mark 13:10

Luke 10:2

Acts 1:8; 2:5-12 13:47

Romans 16:26

 

You probably noticed a common theme running through all these verse.  The idea that if we claim Christ as our Savior then we must also do what He says, GO!(Emphasis God’s)

 

When someone first told me as a Christian that I was to go and proclaim the word to non-believers, I immediately got this mental picture of carrying a Bible door to door preaching the Gospel to anyone who wanted to hear.

 

This struck fear in my heart because I am not a very boisterous person and I was afraid that if I tried to proclaim to others the Word of God I would great disservice to God. 

 

What I mean is that as I stood there and tripped over my words trying to explain the Gospel to the other person the truth of God’s plan for us would get lost in all the mumbo jumbo pouring out of my mouth.  In the end this would lead to confusion and lost opportunities to bring people to a saving knowledge of Christ.   I knew what it meant to be saved but did not feel myself to be a Bible scholar.

 

This I feel is the main sticking point as to why so many people do not take God’s word and go.  People are naturally afraid of failure and with a person’s eternal life riding on what we say and do the stakes seem even higher for failure on our part

 

The problem is that we do not see the forest for the trees.    The plan is not our plan, the words are not our words, and the power is not our power it all belongs to God.    The key to everything is to have a servant’s heart.  This means that to lead others to Christ we must first think and pray about how we can serve their needs this will open up avenues through which we may spread the Gospel.

Read these verse from Isaiah which describe how we serve God by serving others

Isaiah 42:1–4; 49:1–6; 50:4–9; 52:13 through 53:12

 

Now step back view your Christian walk as if someone else were critiquing or evaluating you.   Then make a list of how you can better become a servant leader in order to more effectively evangelize.

 

 

Follow the example of Jesus

 

I hope by this time you are not sitting there thinking I can’t be a servant leader because you feel there is no way you can lower your defenses and appear vulnerable, because you can.  Jesus practiced servant leadership.  If you don’t believe me read the following verse:

 

Philippians 2:6-7

 

Luke 22:27

 

After reading these two verses you get just a glimpse into the servitude of Jesus.  Think about it God’s Son came to us to be our servant leader.  He gave up a throne in heaven to come to earth and serve us by dying for our sins.  All I can say to that is WOW.  We should have been worshipping Him and he died for us.

 

No matter how long I have live I will never comprehend Jesus’ service to us and what that means to me.  If I love Jesus internally and truly develop a humble spirit then I will want to do as Jesus did and serve others by sharing the love of Christ in humbleness.

 

Jesus opened Himself up to all, so we can but see a glimpse of God and how much He has truly served His creation.   If you think about God does not have to do squat for us because we don’t deserve, we didn’t earn it and most of all we have scorned God and all he ahs offered us.   The human race as a whole has declined a divine invitation to a grand banquet and decided instead to attend the so-called coming out party at the local pub. 

 

Oh what a great height we have fallen from and into what a great depth we have descended.   We have gone from humble servants of God to creatures that want to be served according to the desires of our hearts. 

 

Read Isaiah 53:6

Now write down how this passage pertains to your heart and the need to serve others not yourself. 

 

We need to turn the course back and take up our crosses daily in order to show the world the type of leadership that in centered on them not self-centered and self serving.

 

Think about it for a moment if Jesus had come to this earth to be a self-serving leader where would you be?

 

It is time for us as Christians to rise up and show the leadership that Jesus showed a leadership by serving and doing not by sitting and waiting.

 

 

Recognize the authority that comes with servant leadership

 

Most people don’t recognize the role they play as leaders until it is too late.  A perfect example of this is our pro sports athletes.  Most of them do not understand the reverence that their fans have for them and the power that reverence brings with it. 

 

They are not servant leaders by any extreme. A good percentage of pro athletes are more likely inclined to feel that they are to be served leaders and not likely to give away something for nothing. 

 

As a servant leader you need to understand that people will always be looking to you as an example of what to do and how to do it.  In the same way a pro athlete or Hollywood icon can bring about change in the people around them simply because of who they are a true servant leader can bring about change in a positive way to those they come in contact with.

 

Also a true servant leader is secure enough to know that their authority will no be undermined by serving others but will be enhanced by the experience gained and the life changed.    I have founds throughout my work experiences that most people do not like a leader who sits back and dictates to others what to do.   

 

People under this type of leadership will not usually put forth more effort then is required to perform the task at hand.  Whereas a leader who is willing to carry the load and get down and help will gain the trust and respect of those around them abnd have workers who will go the extra mile without being asked.

 

Jesus knew the power of servant leadership that is one of the reasons He came to show mankind that God was willing to give up His throne in Heaven to see and feel what it was like to be His creation.   Jesus came as a servant we must go with a servant like attitude.

 

This means seeing the world as needy and needing Christ not as needing you telling them what they have to do. 

 

Read Luke 22:7-18, 24; John 13:1-17 and in make a list of how you can take the true essence of this verse to heart.

 

Here are some examples to choose from:

Start a neighborhood prayer group

Give your time to teach another about Christ

Start a Bible study

Become a Sunday school leader in your church

And the list goes on

 

 

Being a servant leader is one of the outward signs of an inward love of Christ and a desire to do Christ’s work not your own agenda.  Once you have developed inwardly and outwardly as a Christian you will need to develop and onward perspective to what is coming.  In short be prepared for this thing called life.

 

 

 

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