Learning to Let Others Lead
A few years ago, I had the opportunity to minister to 13,000+ people at a conference in Nashville. I was neither a platform speaker nor in one of the praise bands.
I passed out sandwiches.
Knowing time was short and they needed to feed 13,000 people quickly, the organizers of this event asked for a small army of volunteers from several ministries, including Lifeway, to help. So, we arrived and were trained in the fine art of sandwich distribution by a twenty-something college student. She was young enough to be my … younger cousin.
I’m not throwing anyone under the bus, but I could think of several ways we could have fed this crowd more quickly and with less volunteers. I looked around at our small army of volunteers and saw many of my Lifeway colleagues who have handled such events for years. Some had more years of experience in logistics than this girl had birthdays. Many of my colleagues were in management and were used to giving instructions and leading people. I learned later that they, too, saw more efficient ways to carry out the work.
I also observed something else. No one rebelled. No one publicly corrected the young leader or took her aside to tell how she should do it. A small army of leaders chose that day to follow.
I hope it was a good learning experience for her. But I think it was a great experience for the rest of us. It was a reminder to serve without complaining, to take a backseat when needed and serve someone else in his or her role of leadership.
We see a great example of this in the Old Testament hero, David. David was slated to be king. He had been anointed by God’s man to be the king (1 Sam. 16:1-13). David exhibited all the traits of leadership. Everyone knew Daivd would be king.
At the same time, King Saul had failed in his leadership. He was not a good king, He was on the way out, and everybody knew it. In today’s climate, such a leadership problem would be resolved with a coup. A revolution. David would force his way onto the throne, send Saul packing, and everyone would applaud.
That’s not what happened. Instead, we see David serving the inept King Saul. Even more, David served with excellence (1 Sam. 18:1-7). His time would come, but for the moment, he would be a servant. It’s that heart that made him such a great leader.
Whether you see yourself as a leader or not, you need the heart of a servant. We all do. David gave us an example to follow. Even more so, Jesus gave us an example to follow.
“Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5).
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
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This post supports the study “David” in Bible Studies for Life and YOU.
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