Education in Faith
Servant Leadership is the message in the gospel this week. What does it really mean to practise servant leadership? It means placing the needs of others before your own desires for prestige or authority. We’ve all known people who have been given a position of leadership and they really only wanted the job as recognition of their popularity; a thank you for previous work done; an opportunity to demonstrate their strength of will or cleverness with words. Servant leadership is about collaborating; it’s about empowering people to do their best; it’s about trusting others and about rolling up your sleeves and getting on with the job.
Leadership in the Jesus model is about being of service to others; it is not about prestige and acclamation. Many of the best leaders are those who do not have any title of leadership or authority. Their leadership and authority come from what they do and how they do it. They inspire others to follow their example. They don’t demand it; they don’t bully; they don’t play power games. People simply want to follow their example.
Thinking about our lives now ….. Who do you really admire? Who would you really like to be like? Aside from sports stars, models and actors whose particular skills you might admire or even envy; who is a person who lives their life in a way that you would like to emulate? Perhaps it’s not that you want to do exactly what they have done but rather it’s the way they’ve gone about living their life. I would bet that there is a close match between what they hold to be true and the way they live their life – integrity!
