Leadership to me

Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,  and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—  just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matt. 20:26-28

The above verse tells us quite simply, if you want to be leader of all, we need to know, we must be the servant for all. Now, who wants to be a leader? I am not saying you have let others use you, taken advantage of you, or be disrespected. I am saying leadership is not about you being grandiose or ostentatious. It’s about knowing,  you are to be available to help, assist, or provide to others. You set the tone on behavior, and when no one is abiding, at minimal, you stand firm serving, in spite of whatever else is happening. In the words of Rudyard Kipling in the first stanza of his poem ‘If’ – if you can keep your head when all about you/Are losing theirs and blaming it on you/If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you/But make allowance for their doubting too/If you can wait and not be tired by waiting/Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies/Or being hated, don’t give way to hating/And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise…I do not know many leaders, in or out of the sanctified consecrated halls of God physical dwelling place really epitomize  this. Leadership the illusive stranger, many desires to have but are unwilling to do the work it requires to embody; either they don’t know or don’t want to do…

See, it is not always about a position but the person. As we see in the verses above, the emphasis is not on the position but describes a state of being or consciousness.  There is strength in being humble. For the weak in spirit, mind or the faint heart finds true leadership difficult. Serving others is not just about a task, but the availability of your ‘presence’ which seamlessly, unconsciously grants others peace. Leaders breathe life and liberty to all who come in contact with them; for serving includes a particular effect or impact. Christ knew this, and drew light from darkness, brought beauty from ashes, and gave us a garment of praise for our mourning in this life. He taught love, rather than divisive enmity to use in this world. He crafted it into an art form disagreement without being disagreeable, and addressing the issue, rather attacking the person in conflict.  Leadership, standing tall accepting the attacks, whereby others can have the opportunity to live free, in their truth, and changed through love.  See, any memorable leader, at some point, has counted the cost, and decided whatever the cost, it is worth it. Leadership is what, it is, the ability to walk, talk, and move among the mavens, the pundits, the experts of the day but never lose the common touch of virtue, forgiveness and service….smiling