"Jesus was not a prince," Pope Francis
stated
yesterday during his General Audience. "It is awful for the church when
pastors become princes, far from the people, far from the poorest
people. That is not the spirit of Jesus."
According to the pope, true followers of Jesus take up his yoke to
receive and welcome the revelation of God's mercy, bringing salvation to
the poor and the oppressed. He called us to learn from Jesus "what it
means to live in mercy in order to be instruments of mercy."
The fact that the pope's call for servant leaders is resounding in
today's news says as much about the culture as it does about the church.
Clearly, Christian leaders need to be reminded regularly that we serve
Jesus when we serve those in need (Matthew 25:40). Our Lord came "not to
be served but to serve" (Matthew 20:28) and called us to imitate his
sacrifice in loving and serving others (John 13:15).
At the same time, the pope's call resonates today in large part because
our culture is so skeptical of leadership. We have watched politicians
resign from office after admitting moral failures, business leaders go
to prison for corruption, and athletes face suspensions for using banned
drugs. Such failures are so common that they no longer surprise us.
Leaders who choose to serve with humility and public integrity seem the
exception more than the rule.
But authoritarian leaders are not true leaders.
J. Oswald Sanders, in his now-classic
Spiritual Leadership,
claims that "true greatness, true leadership, is found in giving
yourself in service to others, not in coaxing or inducing others to
serve you." Max De Pree, the former CEO of Herman Miller and author of
bestselling leadership literature, defines leadership this way: "The
first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to
say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a
debtor. That sums up the progress of an artful leader."
Serving others is not only the best way to lead, it is also the best way
to serve ourselves. Pete Wilson made headlines this week when the
popular megachurch pastor resigned from his position, citing burnout and
stress. As he
noted, "Leaders who lead on empty don't lead well. For some time, I've been leading on empty."
Christianity Today is
reporting on the thousands of pastors like Rev. Wilson who will leave the ministry this year, burned out and hurting.
One of the reasons for this epidemic is that many pastors have shifted
from serving people to running organizations. They lose their connection
with the souls they serve and wonder why their hearts are hurting. But
God feeds us when we feed each other. He gives us what we will give
away.
George MacDonald encouraged us to "trust God to weave your thread into
the great web, though the pattern shows it not yet." Choose to serve
those you influence today and know that your Father is using your love
to impact more lives than you can know.
One of the souls you bless will be your own.
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