Driving with Purpose

Day 34 - Thinking Like A Servant

My servant Caleb thinks differently and follows me completely.
Numbers 14:24 (NCV)

Think of youdselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself.
Philippians 2:5 (The Message)

For some reason, I’ve put off posting this chapter. I think I had to process Day 33, thinking through the implications of serving while having a public profile.

Rick Warren today addresses the attitudes that mark genuine servants:

Thinking more about others more than ourselves.
Rick points out how difficult it is to move beyond manipulation, in which we serve others to achieve our goals or to win admiration. I appreciate Rick’s honest confession that humility is a daily struggle. I’m with him on that one. I suspect that some people don’t have the same struggle, but for me I find it hard to practice self-denial.

Thinking like stewards, not owners.
“If you’re a servant of God, you can’t moonlight for yourself”. Challenging words. Especially to a blogger building an online income. Am I developing an income for my own ends, as a wealth builder, or is this part of what Rick calls Kingdom building?

Thinking about our work, not what others are doing.
I have a vivid memory from childhood in which my younger brother was mucking around while I was busy hanging out the washing. I complained to my mother about his lack of attention. She told me to focus on doing my own task, and not to worry about his. Using the story of Mary and Martha, Rick reminds us that it is not our job to evaluate the Master’s other servants.

Basing our identity in Christ.
With the poise that comes from living in God’s acceptance and grace, there’s freedom to serve without posing. No need for name dropping. No point in impressing with qualifications, experience, titles or other symbols of status.

Thinking of ministry as an opportunity, not an obligation.
Serving gladly. That’s the byproduct of the other attitudes.

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Day 33 - How Real Servants Act

Whoever wants to be great must become a servant.
Jesus, Mark 10:43 (The Message).

Rick Warren challenges popular assumptions regarding leadership and service, writing that just as the disciples struggled with each other for the prominent position, so Christian leaders still ‘jockey for position and prominence in churches, denominations and parachurch ministries.’

Rick says that real servants make themselves available to serve, pay attention to needs, do their best with what they have, do every task with equal dedication, are faithful to their ministry and maintain a low profile.

He’s describing the classic behaviour profile of steadiness from the DiSC Model.

From a course I’ve been editing recently I’ve inserted here the characteristics associated with the person who’s behaviour is motivated by steadiness.

The steady person is content, accepting of others, helpful and co-operative, compassionate and caring, good in one-to-one or small group relationships, a good listener, obedient, reliable, modest, a good team worker and one who prefers routine.

This person needs a secure, stable, safe environment, sincere appreciation, and support with coping with change.

Steadiness people fear isolation, being in the limelight, loss of security, and unplanned changes.

Having said all that, it’s clear that people who enjoy up front work have to work on the behind-the-scenes faithfulness Rick’s talking about. It’s been said that charm can you get you into a job, but only character will keep you in it.

I’ve been watching the British comedy series, “The Office” this last week - it was a present for Christmas. Watching David Brent, the embarrassingly self-focused office boss, reminded me of the need for a servant attitude at the heart of leadership. The difficulty is that learning a servant attitude usually requires a level of humility. Humility for some is learnt through humbling times.

Rick says that self-promotion and servanthood don’t mix. Real servants don’t serve for the approval or applause of others. They live for an audience of One. He says that we won’t find many real servants in the limelight. Rick says that many leaders start off as servants but end up as celebrities, addicted to attention.

Now that’s a challenge to a blogger as much as a public speaker! Do I write as a service or do I write for the attention I might get? Or both at different times? I usually find my motives are mixed.

So that’s the challenge I face in working through today’s material. Being in a high profile position through my work could blind me to attitudes that need correction. I need the quiet encouragement of family and friends who treat me as the ordinary person I am.

I also have the challenge of being a servant in my own neighbourhood even when it might seem more glamorous to fly off somewhere else as the much appreciated consultant. Being on leave for a month has helped me rediscover the disciplines of care - feeding the chooks each day, routine housework and digging out the stump next door.

I also have the challenge of following through on my commitments. Or perhaps the call to be more careful about which commitments I take on this year.

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Day 32 - Using What God Gave You

Since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvellously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be.
Romans 13:5

What you are is God’s gift to you.
What you do with yourself is your gift to God.
Danish proverb.

In today’s chapter Rick pulls together the SHAPE: spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality and experience, providing helpful and healthy evaluative questions. I’ve found this approach helpful over the last month as I’ve re-evaluated where I’m heading in vocation and involvement with my local congregation. Should I apply for that job? How best can I be used at a local level?

The difficulty is that sometimes there are so many things I could do - giftedly. Choices have to be made - boundaries set, limitations accepted.

Begin by assessing your gifts and abilities.
Where have I seen fruit in my life that other people confirmed?
Experiment with different areas of service.

Consider your heart and your personality
What do I really enjoy doing the most?
When do I feel the most fully alive?
What am I doing when I lose track of time?
Do I like routine or variety?
Do I prefer serving with a team or by myself?
Am I more introverted or extroverted?
Am I more a thinker or a feeler?
Which do I enjoy more - competing or cooperating?

Working through this list helped me realise how much I enjoy online journalism. I can see it as potentially a God-given vocation rather than a distracting hobby.

Examine your experiences and extract the lessons you have learned.
Rick recommends taking an entire weekend for a life review retreat.

Accept and Enjoy Your Shape
Recognize your limitations
Don’t overextend yourself beyond the boundaries in which you best live and work.
Don’t compare yourself with others.

This last section is so helpful. The times I have despaired of myself have been when I have compared myself with somebody else. I’m learning time and time again that such comparison is a pointless exercise.

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