Lesson 7

Servant-Leadership Loving God through serving others

PRAYER

As we pursue Jesus, we should be led by the Spirit to make a difference in our world. And as we are led to make a difference in our world, we have a model to follow. This week, pray that your heart and efforts would align with the model of leadership that Jesus left for us. 

STUDY

Philippians 2:1-8 NIV

1 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross!

SERVANT LEADERSHIP

If we are too big to serve, we are too small to lead. We value servant-leadership because this is the model for action and change that Jesus set for us himself. The God of the universe stepped down to serve the least, lost, and left out. Jesus’ motivation wasn’t to get ahead or compete but to selflessly love others for their highest good. Jesus didn’t hesitate to roll up his sleeves and dive in to serve others, even when it was difficult, even when he was misunderstood, or even when it cost him greatly. Let’s take a minute to look at how Jesus models servant-leadership for us.

Humility

Jesus was absolutely humble. C.S. Lewis said, “Humility is not thinking less of ourselves but thinking of ourselves less.” Jesus knew how great He was, yet in humility choose to leverage that for others. Scripture calls us to lead as humble servants, not because we don’t have much to offer but because what we have to offer is too good to keep to ourselves. Arrogance is the opposite of humility. Arrogance says I am superior, and uses others to get what we want. Humility credits God with the good in us and seeks to serve others for their empowerment. 

Incarnation

Incarnation means to enter into, most evident in the way God becomes the God-Man in Jesus.  Jesus enters into the raw experience of human life. Jesus was willing to “roll up His sleeves and get His hands dirty.” As we seek to make a difference, we must allow the Holy Spirit to develop in us a Christlike ability to empathize with those who are in need.  

Sacrifice

Servant-leadership is not easy. There is pain and discomfort along the way. Disappointments and frustrations will come. We will have the opportunity to be offended, misunderstood, and mistreated as we step out to serve. However, just as Jesus obeyed the Father in the face of trial, and even outright nastiness from others, so too are we called. Forgiveness will be required. There is always a cost to serving. 

One important thing to remember as we serve is this, after all, as we serve we are LOVING GOD THROUGH SERVING OTHERS. Ultimately, our focus and sacrifice it to God. 

Joy

There is a joy that comes with serving! Even when it seems difficult, there is meaning and peace in knowing that we are living out our purpose and calling. There is a connectedness to God and others that is found as we serve one another. Seeing God change someone’s life, and getting to be a part of that transformation is irreplaceable. 

Jesus Serves the Servant (John 13:1-17) 

Jesus is the One who washes the disciple’s feet and tells them to do the same for others. In the midst of serving, we must remember that Jesus serves us continuously. Just as He washed his disciples feet so He also now ministers to us in all things. The power and presence of the Holy Spirit is given to all believers to lean upon daily for healing, encouragement, and strength. 

REFLECT

(Based on your study and reflection, journal about the following concepts in your own words, these questions will form the basis for your upcoming Community Group discussion, be prepared to share some of your journal entries to these questions.)

How does Jesus’ example of servant-leadership encourage you?

Give an example of someone serving you in the past and how that impacted you? 

What motivates you to serve? What joy have you found in serving?

What makes you hesitant to serve? 

How might you develop humility and empathy in serving others?

Where in your life do you need to focus more on serving? Family, friends, work, church, community? 

How could the church help you develop as a servant-leader? 

Serve CHALLENGE: Find your intersection

Who qualifies as a servant-leader? Well, you do! You are one uniquely gifted, perfectly qualified, purposely packaged child of God who has been given a calling and destiny to make an eternal difference in this world. Whether you think so or not, you are called to servant-leadership! One of our joys as a church is to help you discover and develop that call to servant-leadership in your life. 

There are many ways to help us do that, here is one way to dig in.

FIND YOUR INTERSECTION 

We want to discover some of the intersections of our passions, talents, opportunities, and present needs.

Passions 

(Interests, hobbies, causes, what am I angry or concerned about, what problems do I want to help fix, who or what groups do I want to empower, etc?)

Talents 

(What do I and others feel I am best at, my strengths, how do I think, work, relate to others, etc?)

Opportunities

(What open doors seem to be in front of me, is there something, a pattern, that keeps coming my way, what are people I trust urging me to do?)

Needs 

(What needs are present in order to build up the body of Christ, to impact my home or my community, how can I contribute and help even in areas where I am not as passionate or directly gifted, etc.?)

  • Make four columns, one for each of the above.

  • Try to list at least 5 examples for each, this may be a challenge but do your best to think of as many as you can. 

  • Look at and pray about those four lists and start to make connections and find themes. 

  • Draw lines to connect the commonalities and themes. What examples could be grouped together? Look for examples that connect in themes across different columns. 

  • Develop a plan of next steps to start providing servant-leadership. 

  • Write down your plan.  

  • Share some of your plan with your group. 

  • Plan to connect with pastors or leaders at the church, as well. 

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