We are servant leaders
Photo by Ashim D’Silva on Unsplash
We’ve had a difficult past two years due to COVID-19. We struggled with staying at home for work, not being able to visit our churches or having our kids home from school on an irregular basis. I have seen this as a struggle in both adults and kids. Judah, our middle one, has not been feeling connected as he did before with his classmates, and I got almost depressed by not being able to dance like I used to do.
Reflecting on all of our experiences inspired me to start a Facebook group for people in our town who also felt very lonely because of COVID-19. I started this before the summer last year and right now we have almost 200 members. Some of us have also moved into a Signal group called "the living room."
After the summer holiday, I started to meet with the people from the group. I had no clue what I could expect, but about 25 people came to the meeting. We were sitting outside drinking tea and getting to know each other. It was amazing! I found that in addition to connecting people, it was a good place to share Jesus with others.
As for being a servant leader, I would say I naturally take the second position as a leader. But as I felt the need to connect with people during these lonely times, I took the lead and started to bring people together. As the group was growing, issues popped up. I gently tried to solve the issues, first alone, but later as I got to know more people, I asked them for help.
Servant leadership, for me, means always being friendly, being the first to stand up and give someone your chair or offering a helping hand. I always try to see each member of the group, greet them, and talk with newcomers, so they feel welcome. The beautiful part of this is that other people also stood up and started serving others. For example, a lady I met at the first meeting told me she would help me look for an address for the next meeting. She ended up organizing and hosting that meeting.
I think everybody knows me, but I am not always in the front. I actually don't like being in the front. I can be very shy sometimes. Leading does not always mean you are in the front. I think of Jesus, who was washing the disciples' feet. They were questioning why He did so, as a servant should do this job. I am a gentle, quiet spirit who is there to serve others. I feel like a butterfly, sparkling rainbow colors all over the place. I like to inspire, to see the person, to cast vision, to create a welcome atmosphere. From the inside, it has to be us, and not me.
Last weekend when we were busy organizing a big meeting, I got sick. My two helpers had to do everything alone. I gave away my authority of leading. It was so amazing to see these people managing the whole thing by themselves, and me just being there, and able to serve during a walk in the forest. As I was serving during my walk in the forest, I had a very good conversation with another adult that walked with us. It turned out I got an invitation to talk to 40 people to teach them how to start a group like this and inspire them.
I think the most difficult part of being a servant leader is courage. It takes a lot of courage to let other people do things you believe you should do as a leader. One, because it might go differently than you had in mind, two, because things can go totally wrong, but most of all I think it is our pride and ego that gets in the way.
As a leader, we sometimes like to be seen, to be in the middle of the attention. But as a servant leader, you have to bring all the attention to the other and the common purpose of being together. As a leader, we feel content and pleased with ourselves when we reach goals. But sometimes we forget that true pleasure lies in empowering and raising up others. Sometimes we put our identity in our position, but we can discover that servant leadership has so much more power and blessings.
I would like to encourage all of you leaders: Dare to serve! To dare to let things go wrong, to dare to let others take the lead, to dare to face your pride in the eyes and humble yourself. Just try this for three months and go and serve your group. As a leader, you can start, get it going and then step back and wait at the sideline. Be part of it but just as everybody is part of it. But only be there when you need to be there. Let other people have the ability to take the lead too, if they want to or if they need to. You will be amazed at what will happen, to you, the group and your work.
About the author: Christina Nolan and her husband, Jonathan, International Business Director with All Nations International and their three children, live in Houten, a village in the Netherlands. The family is busy making disciples, starting new groups, and training people on how to make disciples. In addition, they train people in starting new neighborhood groups. They’ve been part of All Nations since 2008 and have done church planting and business planting in Cambodia, Spain and the Netherlands.
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