Serve

 We live in times where greatness is equated with position, power, and possessions. Great people are often entitled people. They expect to be served. They hire flunkies to do their unwanted work. They have maids, lawn boys, pool people, and chauffeurs. Great people demand deferential treatment. 

Kings have loyal servants. They do everything from laundry, to making the bed, cooking, serving the food, and being available to the king's beckon call. The same things goes for queens. CEOs have administrative assistants to do all the behind the scenes work to make deals happen, keep the financial records in order, and manage employees and their progress. Celebrities have people to wait on them and pull favors. Politicians take advantage of their privileged status to get to the head of the line. They make deals that benefit themselves more than their constituents. 

Contrast all of that with what Jesus taught in [Matt 20:26-28]. He said that those who wished to be great should become servants. Servant leadership inspires followers. If anyone ever had the right to assert their privileged status it was the Lord Jesus Christ. He even said that He did not come to be served but to serve. Let that sink in for a moment. Does that define the leaders you have come across? Do you see a servant mentality in leaders of organizations? 

I heard a lady who served on the cleaning staff of a large organization tell me one day, "I am invisible. Nobody notices me." I noticed her. I thanked her for her work constantly. I was not a leader in that organization. I was just a part of the staff. I knew exactly how she felt about being invisible. Overlooked and looked down on by high browed others. 

At one point in our ministry, I had to start a mowing business to help make financial ends meet. I cut the grass for a family I had once served as their pastor. Trust me when I say I was treated like a lawn boy and not like an endeared pastor. They were very demanding. Hard to please. They treated me like hireling. People who have to serve others to make a living deserve to be treated with respect. Like wait staff at restaurants. Like cleaning staff. Like cashiers, bank tellers, salespeople in department stores, garbage men, mechanics, truck drivers, and a host of other professions.  

I think a mandatory class on servanthood should be taught to all leaders. Part of that class should be internships in jobs where you have to serve others. The greatest leaders are servant leaders. They get their hands dirty. They inspire others by doing themselves. They make other people feel important who are underneath them. They make subordinates feel like valuable and vital parts of the organization. 

Jesus measures greatness by service. How great are you? Instead of pushing and striving to get to the top, take the time to help others along the way. Serve them. Make serving others a lifelong habit. Make humility a large part of your leadership skill. If Jesus came to serve and not be served, what does that say for you and me. May we learn from His example.