Issue #150, March 4, 2015
What is your ultimate goal as a servant leader? Is it to strengthen your church, expand your business, or to influence your family? These are great goals, but they fall short of the intent God has for your leadership. Jesus Himself clarified what He sees as our task in His final words to the disciples: Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:18-20).
We call this the Great Commission, and it is the primary task He has given to every believer. Whether God has given you influence in the marketplace or in the church, this commission is for you! It’s not just for the original 12 disciples; neither is it only for pastors or an ‘elite’ group of missionaries. Jesus only gave one commission. It is big enough for all of us and specifically a commission to leaders. In the next three issues, we’ll examine the role of servant leadership in the Great Commission. First, servant leaders see the needs connected to the Great Commission.
Servant leaders see the need for leadership.
Many leaders have never considered how their own leadership is connected to the Great Commission. But God has given leaders a unique and strategic role in this task. Jesus gave this task first to His leadership team. He instructs his followers to go and make disciples of all nations. This happens when leaders see the goal, act on it, and share it with followers in a way that moves them to involvement as well. Without effective leadership, the Great Commission will not be accomplished. Every leadership position, including yours, is given by God to accomplish some part of fulfilling the Great Commission. Servant leaders see the connection between the Great Commission and leadership and acknowledge that their leadership role is crucial in reaching this goal.
Servant leaders see the needs of the world.
The daily news makes it clear that we live in a broken and needy world. Servant leaders see these needs as opportunities to fulfill the Great Commission given by Jesus. Servant leaders also see clearly the reality that two of every 7 people in our world today have never heard the message of Jesus in a way that they can hear and respond. Their hearts are gripped with the reality that 2 billion people are still waiting to hear. Servant leaders cannot accept that we have not completed the task after 2000 years and are moved to action. They also see the physical and spiritual needs in their communities as places where discipling has not yet been accomplished. They see the heart of God to bring His kingdom to their working places, businesses, churches, families, communities, and beyond. They acknowledge that God has commissioned them to, in some way, meet these needs. Servant leaders look beyond themselves to the Great Commission.
Servant leaders see the need for workers.
As servant leaders see the needs of the world, they quickly realize that they cannot alone be able to meet them all. They see a need for workers and remember the call of Jesus, “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field”(Matthew 9:38). Servant leaders prayerfully ask God to reveal to them how their influence can help supply the need for workers. We’ll look more at this in our next issue.
Servant leaders recognize that their leadership role is much larger than their own ambitions or dreams. They humbly accept that God has placed them in a position of influence to impact the world by being a significant part of fulfilling the Great Commission. They seek to understand that role and creatively find ways to maximize their impact for the sake of the Great Commission.
For further reflection and discussion:
- Reflect on your own leadership role. What does it have to do with the Great Commission? What difference would it make in your daily activities if this was the ultimate goal of your leadership?
- Think about the needs in your area of influence. What are the spiritual, social, physical needs? In what way does God want to use you to meet those needs?
- Reflect on the needs of our world and the reality that there are still 2 billion people without a chance to hear the good news of Jesus’ love. In what way can your own leadership be used of God to reach them?
- How faithful are you as a leader to pray for workers for the harvest? What is God inviting you to do in the area of prayer? Share your commitment with someone else and ask them to hold you accountable.