March 25, 2002
TOGETHER:
Servant leaders follow Christ's path
___A beloved pastor was up early in the morning greeting his parishioners as they made their way to work through the crowded London streets. He ministered to his people every day. He led them to care for the needy who lived all around the church. He had a great heart for the lost and the least and the left out. People of means felt his care, and they were motivated to give money and time to care for others as he cared for them.
___When he died, an observer said in awe: "No one talked of how much they loved him, though their tears gave evidence of that. All you could hear in the streets was their deep gratitude for how much he loved them." His name was Dick Shepherd, and he made a difference.
CHARLES WADE
Executive Director
BGCT Executive Board
___I have met ministers like that all across Texas. Some are pastors, some are ministers of missions, some are youth ministers, and some are lay ministers who take their calling as seriously as any ordained minister.
___These ministers are "servant leaders." They see their lives as offerings, which they make to God by their service to people. They get their inspiration from the life and words of Jesus.
___As we approach Easter, we walk again with our Lord on the way of sorrows. We take into our hearts the suffering and the rejection he experienced. We watch him as he cared for others even as his life on Earth was drawing to a close. And it is here that we learn what it means to be a servant leader.
___Servant leaders are those who are willing to lay down their lives for others. Other kinds of leaders believe they are successful if they can inspire others to lay down their lives for them and their cause.
___Those who have been brought to new life by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ often have been willing to die for their Lord. It is reported that more Christians have suffered persecution and martyr's death in this past century than in any other century since Christ.
___But first he died for us.
___The leadership issue is this: When you are with a leader, do you sense they would lay down their life for you or that they would much prefer you to lay down your life for them? As a leader you might ask, "Is my agenda designed to help people grow to be like Christ, or is it to build a legacy of power?" Sometimes, leaders fool themselves by saying they want to help people be all they can be--but they pay scarcely any attention to the model of Christ who gave himself away, trusting only God to honor his sacrifice.
___This is a good time of the year for Christians to look into their hearts and find the motives that drive them. None of us is perfect, and no one always has 100 percent pure motives. As we serve Christ and his church and the world for which he died, we can keep these words of our Savior in mind:
___"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave--just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:25-28).
___We are loved.
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