Welcome to The Online School of Leadership session on servant-leadership. Two days ago the first lesson defined leadership from a biblical perspective. Jesus’ servant leader model continues to work thousands of years later while producing billions of Christians worldwide. If you did not get a chance to read it, you can CLICK HERE.
Let’s begin today’s session with this question:
How can a Leader be a Servant at the same time?
Consider this statement:
It doesn’t have to be perfect for God to bless it.
As I read Scripture, I can’t find any instance where conditions were perfect before God blessed it. Abraham didn’t have all the answers when asked to sacrifice his son Isaac…he proceeded anyway. Moses had a speech problem and was insecure about his leadership abilities…he proceeded anyway. Nehemiah certainly didn’t know how the building project would turn out, but he proceeded anyway. Are you noticing a pattern here?
Why The Big Push For Excellence?
Every generation is quick to point out the hypocrisy of the one that preceded it. The generation born just after WWII began rejecting the values of their parents during the ’60s. Now it’s their kids’ turn. Today’s young adults see a generation of baby-boomer Christians that has striven for “excellence” in every part of church life. Boomers proclaimed in the 1980s that image is everything, and their churches have reflected that cultural trend.
In his book The Winner Within, former NBA coach Pat Riley offers some insights on the danger of compromising excellence.
He writes:
Being a game player is a fiction some people use to excuse themselves from working as hard as they should. People who think they are game players are what coaches call “floaters.” They float along on a cushion of talent or sheer physical size and strength. They don’t see what all the fuss over concentration and work ethic is about until players of lesser talent start scoring in their face, quarter ofter quarter, simply because they are more in tune with their game…Eventually every team has to learn that excellence isn’t a destination. It’s a process that must be continually improved (pp. 150-151).
Of course, NBA players and coaches are committed to excellence because they want to win a championship. These can be good motives, but as followers of Christ, the motive that drives us to excellence should be a desire to please God. The one who will give us our final reward. Everything we do should be done with a conscious awareness of His presence, a realization that he is watching.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, Colossians 3:23
The Apostle Paul reflected that such awareness should prompt us, regardless of our field of endeavor, to “work at it with all [our] heart.” Men and women who follow Christ aren’t “floaters.” They give their best effort all of the time, knowing that there is never a circumstance during which the one they follow is not with them, urging them on to their finest.
Are there situations in which you “float?” If so, Why?
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