Friday, February 1, 2019

Servant Leadership


I recently finished reading a book called “Servant Leadership in Action” (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2018) written by over three dozen contributors including leaders in business, education, ministry, military and other walks of life. The one common thread throughout the book was that servant leadership is not about the “boss” controlling everything or telling everyone else what to do. Servant leaders empower others to take ownership of their area of responsibility and to “run with it.” Of course leadership always involves vision, guidance, and some boundaries, but in a servant leadership model, people are not just cogs in a machine.

The idea of servant leadership comes from the Bible. For example, in John 13 where Jesus takes on a servant’s roll and washes the feet of his disciples. Or in Philippians 2:7 where Paul speaks of Jesus “taking on the very nature of a servant….” In First Corinthians 12:12-31 Paul also gives a great model of servant leadership when he discusses the church as the body of Christ in which each person has different gifts, talents and abilities, but all work together and everyone is important.

As a pastor, I have never seen my role analogous to that of a CEO. I see myself more like the conductor of an orchestra (Ironic, since the only instrument I play is a radio). We have many talented and godly people at our church and it is exciting to watch God work through them!