Leadership = Servanthood

These are two words that we don't often think of together. We picture leaders as strong, take charge individuals who often have a team of people at their beck and call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It's not often that we think of a leader as a servant. However, that's exactly the example that we are given by Jesus.

John 13 tells the story of Jesus beginning His final Passover celebration by doing something that was unheard of. He got down with a basin of water and washed his disciples feet. The teacher made Himself subservient to His students and washed their feet. Think about it. This is not even the sanitized version that we sometimes see in church services. This was Jesus, the Son of God, on His knees washing a days worth of dirt and anything else that could collect on your feet from walking around the city of Jerusalem with basic leather sandals on your feet. These feet were dirty.

In doing this, He is teaching us something that we as Christians and certainly those who are leaders often forget. To lead, you must be willing to serve. I have heard of some churches that, upon hiring new staff, immediately ask that new staff member to clean the bathrooms. If the newbie questions or has an attitude about it, his job may be over right then and there.

Why would some churches do this? It's simple. They want to know that their staff members are willing to serve first. I have never been exposed to the bathroom test, but I was asked to do something incredibly menial and in reality pointless early on at a job. It wasn't until many years later when someone finally told me that I was being tested to see if I would actually do the task and do it right without complaint.

Serving others is not always convenient, easy, or fun. It's not supposed to be. If it were it would be hard to call it serving. Service to others can take on many shapes. It can be as simple as picking up the phone in the middle of the night and talking to someone who is really hurting. It can be as tough as sitting in a hospital room with them as they watch a loved one pass away. There are countless ways that we serve others and in turn, serve God. In doing so, we allow ourselves to experience a joy that really can't be explained and we become the hands and feet of Jesus reaching out to those in need.

It seems like today in churches, we all want to be served but are hesitant to serve. We make excuses left and right. Why? Maybe it's because we value our time so much that we don't allow others to have any part of it unless it benefits us.

The next time you get ready to serve up one of those excuses to not serve, picture the Son of God on His knees washing the filth off of the feet of His disciples. Jesus served. So should we.