Servant Leadership Part 3: Applications In Everyday Life Series

Servant Leadership - Part 3

Applications in Everyday Life

I have been studying various ways in which people apply Biblical principles to their lives. Some very interesting facts have come to my notice. Let me narrate a couple of them here.

After a Sunday school lesson on Ten Commandments, the Sunday school teacher asked the students, “Now, which of the Ten commandments applies to our relationship with our siblings?” A little girl thought for a few moments and brightly replied “Do not murder”

A pastor was sitting in a flight near an elderly woman. The woman was clutching a Bible, and praying. The woman’s uneasiness grew as the plane started taxiing and increased further as the flight took off. As the plane continued to climb higher, the woman kept getting more nervous and sweat drops were forming on her forehead. The pastor finally decided to intervene and told the woman “Now .. there is nothing to be afraid of, Jesus has said that “I am with you”. The woman quickly shot back. That is not what he said. He said “Low, I am with you”.

A family had the habit of treating their children for ice cream after the church service. One Sunday the father decided to break the habit. The children were not happy about it. They started whining. The father decided use spirituality to deal with the situation. He asked, “where in the bible is it said that we should eat immediately after the service?” The children turned out to be smarter than him, they replied, of course the Bible says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst.. “after all the Righteousness”, for they will be filled”

I am back here to speak on my favourite topic, Servant Leadership; and the question that struck me, as I started preparing for this message was this. What is the application of this in the lives of those who are going to spend 30 minutes listening to this message? Two things come to mind when we talk about application of a topic t our lives. First is; Is it doable by me? The second is; Is it applicable in my case, is it applicable in my day to day life? Let us look at it from the topic of today, Servant Leadership.

We know that Jesus practiced Servant Leadership. My earlier sermons have dwelt on it sufficiently enough. Very often, we have the tendency of saying, Jesus was God (and is God), so he could do those things, we are human and hence it is not possible for us to do all things. Sure! Granted! We cannot be like Jesus overnight. But the question is, do we really believe in what He said, in John 14:12 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do. I want us to keep this in mind when it comes to emulating the Servant Leadership behaviour demonstrated by Jesus.

And there are some times more basic questions. Is Servant Leadership Model really relevant to my day to day life? Isn’t it meant for Leaders in the church, or leaders in corporate, or leaders in NGOs? How about my day to day life? Let us try to find some answers to that basic question today.

Our everyday life, is made up of interactions, interactions with people around us. Whether we are at home, office, School, Church, neighborhood, shopping mall, flight or wherever, this is true. Is Servant Leadership relevant in such circumstances? Let us explore some of the relationships, where there is some sense of Leadership, or authority involved.

Let us first look at the man-woman relationship, the basic relationship for all families. One of the most controversial concepts of 20th century has been the concept of “Headship”, especially the headship of male. Talking of headship, and submissive wives, I am reminded of a story.

A man was diagnosed with a rare case of anemia and after many tests, the doctor told the wife the condition was bad. He told “Your husband will be dead within a few weeks without treatment. The good news is that this can be treated with proper nutrition. You will need to get up early morning everyday and make him freshly cooked pancakes, bacon and eggs. Then he will need to be fed with home cooked wholesome lunch. He will need to have freshly cooked mash potatoes with meat and home made bread for dinner every evening. These are the things that will allow your husband to live symptom-free. And one more thing, he is allergic to dust and dirt, so you will need to maintain your home spotlessly clean at all times. Do you have any questions?”.

The wife had no questions.