Servant Leadership
By Lisa U Maki
There is something about leadership that make people crave for it. It connotes authority, power, and prestige - three things that will set a person above the rest. Though it entails a very big responsibility, it also offers a lot of perks that will make you feel like a king or queen. Leadership can be intoxicating and addicting for someone who is so hungry for power. It can make a person want more and more and more.
Lucifer had a powerful leadership role in heaven before he decided to overthrow God. He was archangel and anointed cherub (Ezekiel 28:14). There were only three archangels: Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer. Their role was to administer the government of God throughout the Angelic Realm. Being an anointed cherub, Lucifer was the most high priest in the mountain of God. He was established by God to be the angel of worship, one whose ministry surrounded the heart of heaven. He was created to dwell in the very presence of God.
What a leadership role! And yet, he started wanting more. He wanted to be God Himself.
I believe this is the reason why Jesus did a total overhaul of the concept of leadership. "We are of our father the devil" (John 8:44). Our flesh, our human nature, has the nature of the devil. Pride reigns in our human heart and will always lead us to want more than what we have. It will always crave for power, and more of it.
Jesus' teachings on leadership is totally the opposite of what the world has taught me, and what it continues to teach. In the world, leadership is authority and power; in Jesus it is servanthood (Matthew 20:26). In the world, leadership means control; in Jesus it means surrender.
Servant Leadership, however, is not letting people step on you or sideswipe you. It doesn't mean being passive and just allowing people to treat you as their slave. It means putting the interest of others above yours. It means leading with humility. Pride is a reflection of insecurity while humility comes from a strong sense of security... a sheer confidence in who we are in Jesus Christ.
Servant leadership will never be appealing to our flesh, but it is beckoning to our spirits. It is not something we will intentionally seek for but something that the Spirit of God will lead us to.
Servant leadership is what Jesus wants from His leaders. Servant leadership is what will separate God's leaders from the leaders of the world. Servant leadership is what will lead others to Jesus. Servant leadership is what separates the sheep from the goats.
The only way a leader can earn his title as "Servant Leader" is through humility and total surrender to Jesus Christ. And humility and total surrender come as a result of having more of Jesus and less of ourselves. As John the Baptist said in John 3:30: He must increase, but I must decrease.
Lisa Maki is the founder of God'z Gurlz, a Bible-based online magazine for women whose mission is to is to provide a place where women can learn to manage their emotions, experience healing, receive love and acceptance, be free to be who God made them to be, and be the best they can be in their homes, schools, professions, relationships, and calling, through sharing of insights and experiences, counseling, prayer, and devotionals, thereby learning from and supporting each other. For more of Lisa's articles, visit http://godzgurlz.com/ Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_U_Maki Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6767654