Yes…Anyone

This past weekend, I worked at the Youth Pastor Summit. It was the first time we hosted this event at Word of Life and was a great event that brought in a lot of new guests that got to see what we are all about. It was done in partnership, with Student Leadership University.

The talks ranged from leadership to vision to serving to ministry (which are all really the same thing). Jay Strack was the main speaker and mentioned the words of Jesus in Mark 9,

“(The disciples) had argued with one another about who was the greatest. And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

The disciples felt the need to figure out the flow chart, they needed to know who was next in command:

1. Who is going to be great?

2. Who is going to be in charge?

3. Who is going to be served?

4. Who is going to lead?

5. Who will get the perks of leadership?

That’s a pretty natural inclination… To want to figure out the pecking order. Chain of command is super important to us humans. (It’s also interesting that this discussion took place right after Jesus prophecies his own death.) But Jesus totally and forever flips the leadership paradigm upside down saying that to be greatest, actually you must be the servant of all…

So Jay’s point was that, “Anyone can lead because anyone can serve.”

Thank you, Jesus! What a breath of fresh air!

I’ve known this for a few years now, but it’s great to be reminded of it and hear it from a fresh perspective. You see, I grew up telling myself that I can’t lead because I’m not a ‘natural born’ leader. I thought you either ‘have it’ or you don’t, and was sure that I didn’t.

The more that I learn about the type of leadership that we see Jesus exemplify, the more I’m convinced that anyone can lead, because anyone can serve. So no matter what your predisposition is to leadership ability (as the world would define it), serving others is a must.

Whom have you served today?

#leadership #youthministry