Leaders Who Serve Others

This blog is designed to give people an inner look at a devotional life. Taking time each day to spend time with the Lord. The hope is if you travel on this journey with Rev. Jacob Shaw, you may be more inclined to spend time with the Lord as well. I encourage the use of a devotional, a scripture reading and prayer, then finally a song, hymn or selection of poetry to tie it all together. 

Today's devotional is taken from: Vujicic, Nick. Limitless Devotions for a Ridiculously Good Life. Colorado Springs, CO: Waterbrook Press, 2013. pp 134-136.

Opening Thought: The focus of todays reading is about “servant leaders”, people who use their particular gifts to help, as the title depicts, serve and lead. Any form of ministry can be summarized as such, maybe with variance to the emphasis on either leader or service, but when you are dedicated to God, you can always find a good balance that suits your personality. When I was younger, both words would have given me a level of anxiety. To lead seemed overwhelming and needing of wisdom, and servanthood was even more foreign, thoughts of submissiveness and labor clouded my image of what servanthood was. God does have an interesting way of moving us to understanding.

The devotional begins with: Romans 12:3-5

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Second Thought:

The key to finding your place within your call to servant leadership is humility. If we are humble in spirit, we will be willing to go where we are called and needed. As I said before, if we are truly dedicated to God, we will find out way to a servant leadership, whatever that may look like for you. To serve God we must begin by denying the self, not in a sense of starving the self, rather by being aware that our desires, insecurities, and fear will drive us to preserve ourselves at any cost. When we realize that we have nature that can cause darkness because of our desires, insecurities, and fears, we can begin to resist these impulses.

Now the first time I remember being aware enough of the shift from self to service was in grade nine. I had the task like many high-schoolers of completing my community service hours, and my high-school was trying to raise money for cancer research. I remember one of the teachers being really enthusiastic about the program, I don’t know why but she seemed to be personally invested. Apart of  the fundraiser was to collect money from the staff on their way in and out of the parking lot, which meant they needed a volunteer to get up extra early to come to school and standout side to collect fund. Since my peers and I were only in grade nine and we had four years to complete our required volunteer hours, no one volunteered as the early morning did not jive with our teenage dispositions. I remember the teacher who told us about this seeming a little disappointed that no one volunteered so I decided that I might as well get my hours out of the way.

The next day I was up bright and early and out collecting funds. The teachers did an excellent job donating, when my teacher arrived that day, she asked me how much we had raised. I don’t remember how much exactly but I know it was more than she expected because when I told her the total, she had the sincerest smile I had seen to that date. I realized that truth, she had some personal experience with the trial of cancer and this was a way for her to cope and give back. From the moment I was determined to volunteer everyday until we reached our goals for the fundraiser. Originally it was a way to accomplish something for myself, but after that moment, it was about helping my teacher who was suffering and doing something for the wider world.  

I think it was that day apart of me felt the tiniest call to ministry, though I didn’t know it at the time.       

Continual Work: Find a way that speaks to your gifts and become the servant leader; live to heal, build up, repair, and give back. Don’t wait! Do it today!

What Rev. Jacob is Working On: In ministry  there are many ways and opportunities to give back. I have always felt called to do a mission trip and lately I feel God is pointing that out more and more. With my wife and I recently having our first child, I am a bit more home bound for a while, but I think I will begin to do research into mission option for future endeavors. I know there are even some family oriented ones which could be an option in a years to come.

Scripture time: Matthew 20:26 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant.

Sometimes stepping up to be a leader can be a challenge, but there is a misconception about leadership. Often people think leadership is standing tall and loud, being the general, manager or top of the hierarchy. If God calls you there, great, but there are many ways to lead, and sometimes leading is being the first to follow. Now never follow for the sake of following or because it is easier to follow sometimes, but if you see a cause worth fighting for and no one steps up to follow, then maybe that is what you are called to do. Or, if  there is a lot of work to be done and not enough hands, maybe pitch in, add to the pot of hard workers and many hands will make lite work. True leadership is about doing what needs to be done, not taking the spotlight, or being the boss. Leadership is about stepping up to the challenges God gifts to you and meeting them with all that you are.  

Closing Words: I hope you enjoyed and were lifted by this devotional time; it is truly important to take time for God each day. By doing so, you welcome God into your life, and in turn you will be able to better see the world through the eyes of God, rather than God through the world's eyes.

Artistic Close: King Arthur and the Knight of the Round Table