Servant Leadership.

What an incredible week this week! God's been rocking the boat the last month and shaking things up for His Glory and I love it! Rescue Youth out of Life Church @ Auburndale came up to Dahlonega AG on their RoadRules 2010 Tour. They were incredible! Brad Chandler, their amazing youth pastor, and I ran into each other (randomly in Lakeland, FL) in Starbucks the first week of March as he was looking for a place to fill as the final destination of the trip. God totally worked it out for them to help us prepare for the GREATEST Easter Egg Hunt EVER given as a FREE GIFT to the community. We desperately needed their help! Brad asked me to speak to his students on the important of servant leadership, since this was one of their main focus' for the week the kids were travelling.

Let's be honest. My brain was absolutely scattered between Easter Eggs, Family Connections Agency, organizing the basement, cleaning the church, and the other small hundred little things they helped us with. So when I got the opportunity to stand in front of the kids, I didn't get to share clearly everything that God had laid on my heart over this last week.

and then it hit me. This is servant leadership. Getting lost in the ministry and forgetting your own life. Two words come to mind when  I think about servant leadership: Sacrifice and Surrender. #1. Servant Leadership is the call to sacrifice, it's the call to come and die. Preach that on a Sunday morning. You want to be a leader, kill yourself. The message doesn't quite come across as invitational and exciting. But you will sacrifice if you decide you want to walk in the example of Christ. It won't necessarily be the things you generally think about when it comes to sacrificing. It's everything, finances to sanity of mind, to emotions, and even at times, human contact. You may come to the place where no one understands your call and your heart, but God himself. No one else carries the burden for you, which is why you must cling to the Savior. For He knows the burning flame upon your heart.

#2. Servant Leadership is surrender. Congratulations, you no longer have control to dictate your own life. You cannot decide where to live, who you want to minister to, who you want to love, what you want to do. It's now about where He wants you to be, what He wants you to do, how He wants you to do it, when He wants you to do it, and who He wants you to minister to. You don't get to choose the people that you're called to. The most important thing I have learned in ministry: You are not called to change people. God Changes People. You are called to surrender to the Lord and love them no matter what they look like, smell like, talk like, think like, act like....Servant Leadership...the call to surrender all that you have and all that you are, and all that you dream can be, place it in the Master's Hands and listen.

The two most important things needed for servant leadership:

A. A Servant Leader is neither a servant nor a leader without the Holy Spirit. You can serve in your own strength for so long and you can even be good at it. However, nature to the human condition is a sin called pride and "servant hood" has a way of boosting our egos to dangerous levels. I have met many leaders who are amazing at what they do, but today are stuck because of their own egos. I recently met a pastor of church of 80,000 people. I introduced myself as a young pastor excited about the things that God was doing in North Georgia. I waited and waited for him to speak something of a blessing or word of encouragement..."Run after God with all you have..." Something that speaks of a previous generation empowering the next...and I was met with silence. Instead, my response to this pastor was, "May God bless the work of your hands as you continue to labor in the Kingdom." and I walked away. This man may be a leader and great at it, but there was a disconnect. Perhaps he was distracted by the events surrounding him. Perhaps I caught him off guard. He could have taken the time to speak something that would have resounded in my heart for years to come, but he said nothing. He missed an opportunity to speak life. Perhaps he's so used to speaking to the 80,000 that He's forgotten how to speak to one. That's what I love about the Lord. He left the 99 to go after the 1. He rejoices for one. But how easy is it to forget that message when your own ego is boosted by success, fame, power,...? You fill in the blank. This is why the Spirit's constant guiding in your life is necessary for the call to servant leadership. John 14:26 "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." The Spirit points us towards Christ, that our eyes are steadfast fixed upon Him. If Peter had kept His eyes on Jesus, he wouldn't have sank. Christ. Let's us fix our eyes upon Jesus...the author and finisher of our faith...


B. A Servant Leader must develop a healthy prayer life. Ask any marriage therapist and the number #1 problem in every marriage is communication. Misunderstandings. Misread intentions. Misguided actions. Communication breakdown. If you've chosen to walk the path of a servant leader, you've stepped into a Covenant Relationship with Christ. You've taken up your cross and decided to follow. How now shall we live? Many would tell you to begin reading a devotional on spiritual disciples and YES - spiritual disciplines are vital to the health of your soul, but the goal is all the same - better communication with Christ. Lessening of one's self so that Christ can be more clearly heard. Develop a lifestyle of prayer. Paul said to pray without stopping. Continuous conversation with the Father. Here's my thing. I work 65+ hours a week. I get up, I go to work, I go home, I go to bed....when should I pray? I pray all the time. In the car, at work, on the way home, on break, I'm in constant communication with the Lord, asking Him things, telling Him things, probably trying to get Him to do things, but ultimately, I'm learning to ask His opinion in everything that I say, think, and do. However, there are times when I must put myself in a position of surrender and pray. I mean face on the ground, God you have to move now, shake things up, manifest your Glory, take it all, shake it all, move the mountain, Bless the Lord, prayer times, okay? Prayer has to be continual, but it also must be intentional. I learned so much about prayer during one season in my life where I was up by 5:30am everyday to pray with a group of amazing young people. That season, I felt like God was walking hip to hip with me everyday. Be ready, when you set aside that time with the Lord, His Spirit does things in you and for you that you cannot imagine.

So get ready, sacrifice all that you have, surrender all that you are, ask God to fill you with His Spirit, and constantly communicate with your heavenly Father and I know that God will take you from where you are and move you to the place He wants you to be...It all starts with surrender....Be blessed.