Today is: Friday July 04, 2008

Photo: Guest Preacher Jim Oswald with wife Lynda

The title "Servant Leader" is often used here at Mayflower and given to those who are leading an area of ministry within. We, as servant leaders are expected to practice certain disciplines to please the Lord. They are the key elements of "abiding in Christ," which are progressive in nature:

Humility - "apart from Him I can do nothing" - leads me to:

Seek Him - and as He reveals Himself, and what He is doing - I can:

Love Him - by obeying and working with Him - this will lead me to:

Serve Him - as I lovingly serve others - this creates opportunities to:

Exalt Him - by giving Him the glory - and stretches my faithfulness:

Accountability Ð is asking others to hold me to these disciplines.

Humility

The focus of servant leadership is "humility". Why? Because, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). What is pride? In the context of a Christ-led church, pride is simply the belief that I (we) can build this church for God -- without His involvement. On the other hand, humility is the belief that "apart from Him, I can do nothing" (John 15:5). In a nutshell, it's the heartfelt belief that I (we) cannot build a Christ-led church that reflects His works and His love and brings Him great glory -- only God can do that (through us).

Seeking Him

Our "abiding in Him" is dependent upon the depth of our understanding of who the vine is and who we are as branches. The more we understand "who He is" and "who we are in Him", the more we can "abide in Him." To that degree we are dependent upon the depth of our understanding of His love, power, grace, faithfulness, mercy, compassion, patience, peace, and joy. Which also helps us understand who we are in Christ -- as a new creation, child, friend, brother, bride, beloved, saint, and heir of God.

Loving Him

The Scriptures make it clear that our love for God is demonstrated by our obedience. As Henry Blackaby aptly stated, an obedience problem with God is really a love problem with God. If we are to be Christ-led, we must be willing to obey regardless of the cost.

Obedience is shown in three ways: Act or speak when the Lord indicates, not before and not after; fully submitting. Partial obedience is disobedience; and acting joyfully, not begrudgingly.

Serving Him in All You Do

Jesus established this biblical principle with His twelve apostles in response to their concern about who would be the greatest -- He explained that the greatest is "servant of all" (Matthew 23:11). As we serve we are not merely serving men and women, we are serving Jesus Himself.

Exalting Him above All Else

Servant leaders lead for His glory and not their own. Paul exhorted us, "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). Jesus instructed us to let His light in us "shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify the Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). God wants His name to be glorified (not the name of the Christian person) in all the earth through His works of love and power accomplished through His children!

Accountability

Like it or not, servant leadership requires accountability. In Ephesians 4:15, Paul explains how the Body of Christ matures when its members "speak the truth in love" to one another. Then, in the next chapter, Paul exhorts us to be imitators of God by walking in love, putting aside immorality, learning what is pleasing to the Lord, being careful how we walk, understanding the Lord, and giving thanks for all things. In the final chapter, he closes the teaching with a key for doing this -- "be subject to one another in the fear of Christ." John adds, "if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

As members of the Body of Christ we have the responsibility to: "walk in the light" (be vulnerable and keep nothing hidden in the darkness); be held accountable for our walk with Christ; and hold others accountable to their walk with Christ.

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