The Path to Greatness: Learning to Serve in Leadership
Matt. 20:27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
In God’s kingdom, the way up is down! This is perhaps one of the most important principles a Christian can learn in his walk with Christ. Many today want a title without any toil. What God is teaching us is this; in order to become great, one must work for it! In other words, you will be recognized as great only when you behave as such. We must then learn that there is nothing greater than to serve our fellow man. If we think that being at the top means we won’t have to do the “menial” tasks, we are dead wrong! To the contrary, the only way to get to the top is to serve! A true leader will always have a servant’s heart because that’s what put him in a position of leadership to start with. The moment we think we’re too important to do the small stuff is the moment we forfeit our right to lead. This does not mean that a leader won’t delegate responsibilities in order to focus on what he or she may be more effective at doing, but at the same time, a true leader is always willing to do what it takes, even when there is no one else to delegate responsibilities to. To lead by example is not the best way to lead; it’s the only way to lead. Anything else is just a title without credentials. One who has a title without any credentials may say, “Let me tell you how to do it!” while one who has the credentials will say, “Let me SHOW you how to do it!” I’ve seen many people who have titles that couldn’t lead, and I’ve seen many leaders who didn’t have, need, or even want a title. They simply served, and grew in wisdom and favor with God and man as a result! Servanthood leadership has the least appeal to the natural man, but the most reward to offer! We must be willing to “do the dirty work” if we are to “dine with kings”! We cannot bypass the rough and rocky road to successful leadership and positions of influence. If we are to lead and influence, it should be because we have been diligent, not in talking about, but in doing, God’s work. In essence, God is saying to us, “If you really want to be a leader, then you must first pay your dues!” What about you? Do you hesitate to pay the price for greatness? Had you rather get there some other way? If so, you may get the title, but you’ll never have the character to keep you there very long. Let’s go serve!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
In God’s kingdom, the way up is down! This is perhaps one of the most important principles a Christian can learn in his walk with Christ. Many today want a title without any toil. What God is teaching us is this; in order to become great, one must work for it! In other words, you will be recognized as great only when you behave as such. We must then learn that there is nothing greater than to serve our fellow man. If we think that being at the top means we won’t have to do the “menial” tasks, we are dead wrong! To the contrary, the only way to get to the top is to serve! A true leader will always have a servant’s heart because that’s what put him in a position of leadership to start with. The moment we think we’re too important to do the small stuff is the moment we forfeit our right to lead. This does not mean that a leader won’t delegate responsibilities in order to focus on what he or she may be more effective at doing, but at the same time, a true leader is always willing to do what it takes, even when there is no one else to delegate responsibilities to. To lead by example is not the best way to lead; it’s the only way to lead. Anything else is just a title without credentials. One who has a title without any credentials may say, “Let me tell you how to do it!” while one who has the credentials will say, “Let me SHOW you how to do it!” I’ve seen many people who have titles that couldn’t lead, and I’ve seen many leaders who didn’t have, need, or even want a title. They simply served, and grew in wisdom and favor with God and man as a result! Servanthood leadership has the least appeal to the natural man, but the most reward to offer! We must be willing to “do the dirty work” if we are to “dine with kings”! We cannot bypass the rough and rocky road to successful leadership and positions of influence. If we are to lead and influence, it should be because we have been diligent, not in talking about, but in doing, God’s work. In essence, God is saying to us, “If you really want to be a leader, then you must first pay your dues!” What about you? Do you hesitate to pay the price for greatness? Had you rather get there some other way? If so, you may get the title, but you’ll never have the character to keep you there very long. Let’s go serve!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill