Servanthood

I've never owned a computer or worked on a computer that would accept the word "servanthood" without underlining, highlighting it in order to let me know that the word was not recognized by the dictionary in the computer. Perhaps I've only had "unsaved" computers, which would explain a lot of things, or perhaps those who claim that all computers are evil are on to something.

I've added the word to the dictionary of every computer I've worked on. It seems that computers, just like me and probably you, have to be taught what servanthood is. It doesn't come naturally. But servanthood is the key to leading; it's the key to winning the lost; it's the key to making disciples; and I really believe it's the key to God's heart.

No one can get away from Christ's example of servanthood in John 13 or his statement recorded in two Gospels, Matthew 20 and Mark 10, "the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

I've come to the conclusion, from experience and observation, that of all the attributes studied and needed by leaders servanthood is overlooked.

I was directed by Ed Stetzer's facebook status to read Thom Rainer's blog on March 27, 2010. Rainer is the President & CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources. He is a prolific author and has had a great influence on my thinking, as has Stetzer.

Rainer was commenting on a book he had read about the automakers of Detroit and the mistakes they made. He made four observations about the heads of these companies. All four were noteworthy but the fourth one caught my attention. He said, "Leaders with hubris expected to be served. The CEO's of the big Three didn't get it."

To be honest, I had to look up the word "hubris." It means pride or presumption. Another definition offered referred to the word as a ancient Greek term used in modern English to indicate overweening pride, haughtiness or arrogance....."

Again, I will admit that I had to look up the word "overweening." Never used it before. Don't think I ever remember seeing it in print before either. But when I "googled" the word, I got the following: presumptuously arrogant or excessive." One entry for the word said, "getting a little uppity and needed to be slapped down." I wondered if the word "overweening" helped us coin the nickname "weenie" for some folks. Just wondering..........stay calm.

The picture of these leaders written about by Thom Rainer couldn't be further from the picture of true leadership painted for us by that great artist, Jesus Christ.

Later the same day I was blessed to spend time with two of my former students from our days of Master's Commission in Cedar Rapids. It was a lot of fun. They had just moved to a new place of ministry and were excitedly telling me about their new adventures.

I asked them what was different between the two places of ministry. Immediately both of them responded with the word "servanthood." The entire staff at the new place were servants. They all came up through the ranks of Master's Commissions or similar ministries as their place of training. Serving was a high priority for them.

When I asked them about the previous place of ministry, their comment was that the entire staff couldn't wait to "climb" high enough so they could be served. What they described about those folks was very similar to what Thom Rainer said in his four statement about the leaders of the Big Three Auto Makers.

Perhaps we need to our model. Instead of the corporate CEO's, perhaps be we need to model the CEO of the Universe.

And then after spending more time thinking about my conversation with former students and reading through Thom Rainer's blog, I wondered if the moral couldn't be summed as, "Don't be a weenie!"

Always in Pursuit!