Reply To: Servanthood Discussion 1

[Benny4real]

Service is never outgrown. The topmost leaders should be the greatest servants of all. As a leader who has grown in rank in a church or organisation he or she must have shown successful servanthood. The way to continue to serve is to maintain servanthood.
Luke 16:10a says He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much, verse 12 says And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?
This means that a great leader is a successful servant. One who was given the opportunity to serve and was found faithful in what was least, according to the scripture, he or she is promoted to the next rung of the ladder and keeps progressing. Therefore every great leader knows that faithfulness in service runs through all stages and phases, i.e service is a continuous process infact the higher you go the more you serve. There is a popular saying “With great power comes great responsibility”. A great leader is first a servant, once a leader has this as an inner disposition then their actions will naturally align. Using Paul as a case study in Titus 1:1 Paul was one of the greatest apostles to walk the face of the earth, as a matter of fact he wrote most of the books in the New Testament, yet he called himself a bondservant of God. Therefore his apostleship was only as credible as his servanthood, he didn’t attribute his success to his achievements rather he attributed it to his servanthood.
Using Jesus as a case study, when he washed the feet of his disciples in John 13:4-16. When Jesus was about washing the feet of his disciples Peter said to him in verse 8, “You shall never wash my feet” this was Peter playing the part of a servant and seeing Jesus as his master refused to allow him wash his feet because the feet is considered as filthy and only servants should wash the feet of others, yet Jesus who was God himself washed the feet of his disciples to show them that true leadership is in servanthood.
In verse 14 He said, if I then your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.
This is to say that a true leader, leads by example. You want the people you lead to follow, then you must set the pace, you must show them your willingness to serve this is the idea of Servant-leadership.
In verse 16a He said, most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.
This is to say that as a leader you are still a servant to whoever sent you and you should maintain your servanthood. Everyone is a servant to another and therefore no one should be seen as less than the other. Before one becomes a “Servant-leader”, he must have shown trustworthy personal service to someone, this is the idea of “Servant-follower”.
Servanthood is the time-tested entrance prerequisite for trustworthy leadership. God’s word reveals this service as the basis for advancement in leadership and examples abound in the bible from Moses serving Jethro, to Joshua serving Moses and much more.
If a leader has grown in ranks and wants to continue service rightly he or she should look out for people who served successfully and learn the principles they lived by. For example in a Bible believing church, a leader can look up to those of higher ranks and even look into the bible for examples of successful service and those in an organisation can look up to their superiors for advice and read books on leadership.
In conclusion, It takes greatness to become a servant and it takes servanthood to remain a great man. So to continue growing in rank, you must maintain an attitude of servanthood.