Devo Week 32

Servant Leadership -- Top-Down or Bottom-Up

Leadership in the Kingdom of God is counterintuitive and may be offensive to our strategies. Laying down our rights, goals and strategies gives room for the Holy Spirit to move. Otherwise, we may end up leading others along our own pathway. Servanthood may cost you everything you've gained up to this point in your life, but it will place you squarely upon the foundation of faith.

Key Concept: Leading vs. Serving

After about two years of following Jesus among the Akha, a missionary leader asked us about our long-term vision. We said we'd come to help seed and cultivate church planting, with multiplication as the goal. His reply shocked us. “There is no place for such work here,” he said. Instinctively, we knew our response could either expand or limit our involvement with the Akha. We had arrived at a key crossroad — an opportunity to demonstrate the way of the Cross.

So, we sought the advice of our leader, Floyd McClung, who'd trained us in the church planting and multiplication vision. His advice to us, though also shocking, was perhaps the most valuable lesson he’d ever taught us. "Die to the vision of church planting, serve the Akha leader for another five years, and let's see what the Lord does,” he said.

Floyd always valued hearing from the Lord, even when it called for laying down our rights, strategies, and potentially our lives. His advice was simple yet costly: lay down your vision and training as a sacrifice for serving others. Serving (by releasing not grasping leadership) is not only the foundation of our ministry to others but how we build relationship with others. "Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves,” Jesus told His disciples. (Matt. 10:16) This key concept of the upside-down Kingdom can be found in Floyd's publications, Leading Like Jesus and Apostolic Passion.

We followed Floyd's advice, and in retrospect, it was this act of servanthood that not only kept us serving cross-culturally but has continued as an active part of our lives today. By laying down our rights to our strategy (even good strategy), in time God opened another door for us to serve among the unreached Akeu. This opportunity came as we continued taking the position of servanthood. Our call cross-culturally is to be grounded in and followed by faith. As the Apostle Paul said, we “walk by faith, not by sight." (II Cor. 5:7)

Key Word Definition: hierarchical (adjective)

-- describes any system of persons or things ranked one above another
-- arranged in order of rank

Excerpt from Devotional 32 with highlighted word:

"Whether top-down (hierarchical) or bottom-up (equality), both views of power have value, and the Kingdom of God can work through either."

Scripture: Matt. 23:11

"The greatest among you will be your servant."