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Servant Leadership – I’m nobody’s slave!

I think there is a stigma to serving in our culture and even the church. Stigmas come with labels and most people don’t like them and certainly are not lining up to wear the one that says server. But, the kind of servant leadership that God has in store for your life may not be quite what your imagining. Let me explain, and to do that I want to revisit the story of the prodigal son. Let’s pick up to the scene just before the sons return. And so the son returns. He reeks of cigarettes, pigsty, and cheap hooker perfume. I’m sure it was the longest walk of shame in the history of humanity. The story says that while the son was a long way off, the father saw him and… Turned away in disgusted pain? Fired off a volley of judgment missiles? Sent some handlers to clean him up and bring him in the back way? No.

The father ran to the son. He ran! You have to understand that men in that day did not run. Absolutely not! It was considered shameful because to do so they had to hoist up their robes and show their ankles. It would be like you or me running naked down the street. Or at the very least jogging in our underwear. Society has rules. No running naked. No showing your ankles. But, hey, the father was as good as dead to everyone. And when you’re dead to your friends, community, and family, you just don’t care about certain things anymore. Every sense of social demeanor, self-respect, or proper custom was now abolished. Dad had nothing to lose. Dead man was running. He ran. And ran. And ran. As fast as he could. A lovesick, dignity-shunning stampede of grace. An out-of-control freight train of radical acceptance. He ran. He streaked. He wrapped his dead son up in his arms. He kissed his sin-caked cheeks. He wept and howled and nearly choked on his happiness. The son was floored. He started to blurt out his eulogy, the one he’d been practicing over and over on the long journey home. “I’ve sinned. I’m unworthy. I’m dead as a son.” But the son never finished his speech because his father had other plans and was in no mood for silly speeches. There was no time for penance or purgatory, only prodigal parties. I love the way Mike Foster tells the prodigal son story in his book People Of The Second Chance. It fits perfectly here.

Why did the father do this in the story? It is because the father didn’t want a slave or servant. He wanted a child. He wasn’t accepting applications for servants. He was only filling out adoption papers for wayward kids who did everything wrong. And God does the same today. He’s adopting sons and daughters whose names were once in the obituary section of the newspaper. Kids like you and me. You are not a scoundrel. You are not a slave. You are a son. You are a daughter. You don’t have anything more to prove. No debts left to pay. God has thrown his arms around you. His ring is proudly on your finger. The party is underway, and only those who truly know they are dead can come in.

You see in God’s kingdom He is asking you to team up and accomplish wonderful things alongside Him. He wants you to serve with him. You are coheirs with Christ. Let’s face it, God doesn’t need you to accomplish anything, but because he loves you so much and wants you to experience how full life can be when your growing God’s kingdom.

All the great leaders first serve. America’s first leader, George Washington, was a great servant leader. Countless diary entries show of his many acts of serving.

There are two key skills in all great servant leaders: They are great at gratitude, and they know how to get in the zone – the judgment free zone.

Practicing gratitude helps you stay connected to the grace you’ve been given. C.S. Lewis says, “A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”. Pride is a grace killer.

Judgment is bacon for the brain. Everyone knows that anything wrapped in bacon is delicious, but they also know that it will clog your arteries and stop your heart. When you judge others, you clog the love that should be flowing out of your life and eventually it will stop your heart. If servant leadership was a brick and mortar restaurant, forgiveness would be the greeter and grace would be the head waiter.

So how do you get good at grace and stay away from judging others?

My Grandmother was a very simple woman who raised her children in the great depression. By the time she moved to my town she was retired and lived a very simple life, but every holiday she met the garbage men at the curb with a gift of appreciation. She did the same for the mailman, the cashier at Publix and the drugstore. If you served my grandmother she was not going to let it go unnoticed. You have to give it to get it. Grace usually shows up in the small things in life. So be on the lookout for opportunities to show grace. Also, remember grace is getting what you don’t deserve. Leave 20% for the waiter that didn’t get it perfect. Behind every set of eyes is a story you don’t know.

I’ll be the first to admit that cutting things that aren’t good for you out of your diet is hard. Donuts for breakfast, burgers for lunch and a slice of cake after dinner can become staples of your diet if you’re not careful. Judging others can have the same effect. It takes a concerted effort to look for the best in people and to see the possibilities God has for them.

Sometimes we use judgment to help us cope with our insecurities. It seems to help a little when we look for someone else that is worse off that we are and highlight their shortcomings.

I think the companies of American Capitalism figured this out a long time ago. The identify a need and then create products and services that “serve” that group. They are then given certificates of appreciation with pictures of dead presidents on them. While they are serving for dead presidents we should be serving for a risen savior.

If you have followers that you are a leader. Serving that tribe of followers will give you the greatest platform to share the love of Christ.