Lead with a Servant Heart - BoardServe.org

1 BOOK DRAFT as of June 1, 2007. All revisions accepted. Document is not to be duplicated in any form. Lead with a Servant Heart E. LeBron Fairbanks, President Emeritus Mount Vernon Nazarene University "The Servant leader is a Servant It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the Servant --first to make sure that other people's highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants ?". -Robert Greenleaf Servant leadership Copyright pending Leading the People of God - Introduction 2.

2 Leading the People of God Introduction 3. Introduction Leading the People of God Introduction 4. Introduction So you are asked to assume a leadership role within a Christian faith community. A. Sunday school teacher small group Bible study leader is needed and you accepted the request to lead the group. A congregation has called you to pastor their local church while working full-time in other employment. You were elected to a position of leadership on the church board, in the choir, on a committee, or to be the head usher. A cross-cultural assignment may have taken you out of your comfort zone and the familiar, and you are experiencing behavior within the group that challenges you. And you don't feel qualified for the leadership assignment. In fact, you perhaps recommended others for the very position you have been asked to assume.

3 Yet, when asked, and following prayer about the request, you felt an inward nudge to accept. This book is for you and the people you are called to lead within a faith community. Techniques for leading will not be offered, nor will easy steps be outlined. Rather, a perspective is given a vision of leadership for leading a faith community providing for you principles to guide you, values to drive you as you work with others, and convictions you must internalize to be an effective Christian Servant leader. Three compelling convictions prod us as we explore this theme together. Convictions about: 1. who we are as the People of God;. 2. what we are called to do in the work of God; and 3. how we live together as the family of God. These convictions are at the Heart of Servant leadership .

4 They comprise the essence of the Servant 's Song. These three cornerstones of Christian leadership - a vision about our identity, a passion about our vocation and an obsession about the faith community - are common threads that re-emerge throughout the course of this work. As I was thinking about his book, I realized that to become an effective Christian Servant leader, to become Christ-like, we need to expand upon the three cornerstones into motifs that guide our behavior as leaders. For many of us, adopting these motifs will constitute change in how we approach the task of leadership . Thus, I expanded my three cornerstones (vision, passion, and obsession) in the six motifs shown below. I am coming to understand that if leaders are to assist the led to think and act Christianly, we must wholeheartedly embrace these Servant leadership motifs around which this book is written: 1.

5 The MOTIVATION for Servant leadership is grounded in a theology of ministry. 2. The LIFESTYLE of Servant leadership is characterized by a passion for Christ- likeness. Leading the People of God Introduction 5. 3. The PURPOSE of Servant leadership is biased toward effectively preparing the Body of Christ the People of God for mission and ministry. 4. The METHOD of Servant rooted in spiritual formation, shared vision, modeling and collaboration. 5. The PAIN of Servant leadership is experienced in the tension between good and godly people over vision and values. 6. The EVIDENCE of Servant leadership is reflected in the qualitative growth of the led individually and collectively. There must be a vision within the Christian community we serve regarding ministry that is shared by both the leader and the led.

6 Without this shared vision of ministry, the community of faith will experience disintegration and despair. Conversely, mobilizing a Christian community for ministry hinges on a radical commitment to our identity as: brothers and sisters in Christ, fellow travelers on a spiritual journey, members together of Christ's body, a fellowship of God's people, a microcosm of the kingdom of God on earth, a community of faith, and a sacramental community in and through which the grace of God flows. The vision for this book focuses on the individuals who read these pages convictionally embracing the biblical model of Servant as the driving force and organizing principle within individuals as they seek to lead a Christian community of faith. In the context of biblical and theological foundations, and from the perspective of spiritual, strategic, and skills formation, readers are invited to a lifelong pursuit of and commitment to personal and corporate understanding of Christian leadership and the unique relationship of Christian spirituality and the leadership responsibilities within a community of faith.

7 Fundamentally, I believe, effective leadership is grounded in biblical perspective and not in organizational skills. Skills, of course, are needed. However, sharp skills without Christian motives easily lead to manipulation. The primary orientation and motivation of our actions as Christian leaders must be deeply theological. Join with me as we further explore the concepts that are inherent in the Christian Servant leader. They will characterize us at our best and convict us at our worst. Brother, sister, let me be your Servant . Leading the People of God - Theme One - PASSION 6. Theme One THE MOTIVATION. FOR Servant leadership IS. GROUNDED IN A THEOLOGY. OF MINISTRY. Leading the People of God Theme One - PASSION 7. Theme One THEME ONE: THE MOTIVATION OF Servant leadership IS GROUNDED.

8 IN A THEOLOGY OF MINISTRY. Christian ministry is the extension of the service of Jesus in our world, incarnating the healing, guiding, sustaining, reconciling work of Jesus in the lives of those with whom we work and live. E. LeBron Fairbanks OVERVIEW OF THEME STRUCTURE. Introduction: leadership and the Spiritual Life Servant leadership for a Servant Community Defining Christian leadership The Leaders Credo Conclusion Since this course focuses on spiritual leadership , each theme and session is implicitly punctuated with a jarring question, If in Christ all things are made new, then how does our relationship with Christ convert or transform our the way we lead? The first theme to be discussed probes the foundations of spiritual leadership with particular attention given to a biblical understanding of ministry within a Christian community.

9 How is Servant leadership expressed in a community of faith? Definitions will be discussed. Relevant scriptural passages will be pursued. A ministry model will be explored and key thoughts will provide a biblical perspective on the Servant leader and his/her ministry to others. Spiritual leaders are those persons who increasingly open themselves to the actions of the Spirit and increasingly allow these actions to transform their thoughts, words, and deeds. Introduction: leadership and the Spiritual Life During one year of my presidency of Mount Vernon Nazarene University, my wife and I were able to enjoy a three-month sabbatical from our work, to provide a break or change from our normal routine. The sabbatical year in the Bible refers to a year of rest for the land observed every seven years in ancient Judea.

10 Today, a sabbatical leave is given for rest, travel, or research. My sabbatical became a time for me to look at my leadership ministry for the next ten years. I was intent on gaining the maximum use of my sabbatical. During the first few weeks of my sabbatical I wrote the following words about the fundamental question I thought I needed to be asking myself. How and where can I, in the next ten years, make the greatest impact for the Kingdom? Soon, the right question came into focus: How and where do I need to change, inwardly and in relationship to others, so that in the next ten years I become a more faithful witness for Christ, wherever God chooses to use me? Through answering this question, I discovered living the spiritual life means: Leading the People of God Theme One - PASSION 8.