Up To Down Leadership

I have to begin by saying I have always been baffled by the term “leadership.” Now I know what leadership means, of course, and have been beneath a person’s leadership…maybe even many people.

But what makes a leader and what or who gives them a place to lead? What makes people follow some more than others?

There is a plethora of books on becoming a leader…on leadership, in all sorts of areas of life. But what made me begin to understand real leadership was something one of the greatest leaders the earth ever brought forth had said.

Jesus said: For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve… (Matthew 20:28 NIV)

Now, I believe Jesus was the son of God, the living word of God, and God in the flesh. So, with that said, then it was God who really came into the world to serve humanity. He was literally…a servant. So, if He, God Jesus, was a servant, how could He be the supreme leader of all things leadership, everything natural and supernatural? There are leaders and followers, right? Right!

Jesus also said: The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants their masters. (Matthew 10:24 NIV)

But in Matthew 23:11 Jesus said this, “The greatest (leader) among you shall be the servants of others. (Also, for reference: Mark 9:25, 10:43; Luke 22:26)

Mmmm… Food for thought. So, having been in the church in a servant and a leadership role, I began to look up, and then down.

Leadership does not mean to rule over, as Jesus said, “The student is not above the teacher.” Leadership means to serve, to our best ability, the people who look up to us in a leading role. In a leadership position, in order to lead, we must first look up to God and become His servant…wholeheartedly!

When Solomon became King, he first looked to God and asked, “How can I govern so great a nation as Israel?” God gave Solomon the wisdom to SERVE his nation. He is famous today for that wisdom. For most of his life Solomon served God and His people. Solomon bowed down and became God’s SERVANT.

When Jesus came into the earth he looked up to God his Father and became an humble SERVANT. Jesus said: “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me. (John 5:30 KJV) Jesus said: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.” (John 6:38)

Jesus came down from heaven, looked back up to heaven, found God’s will everyday on how God, his Father, wanted him to serve God’s people. He looked up, then down, and out to the people, teaching, healing, delivering…all the way to the cross. What a great servant-leader he was and is and will always be.

So, to sum up what I learned about leadership, as a leader, you must first look up to God and submit yourself to him as His servant. Then you look down from heaven straight out to those you are leading and become a servant to them. This is UP TO DOWN LEADERSHIP! To be a great leader, in God’s sight, you have to become a servant to Him and to people, doing God’s will for the people He sends you to lead, and not accomplishing your own thoughts and ways. To become that great leader we must do as Paul said… “Die to ourselves.” Becoming a Godly leader we must first “pick up our cross” and follow Christ.

Moses did. He is considered a great leader. Solomon did. He is considered a great leader. Jesus did and he is considered the greatest of leaders!

Becoming a great leader is to put our passions aside in Christ and become an humble and obedient servant of our Master…Jesus, who is the greatest example of UP TO DOWN LEADERSHIP, our role model, and example to follow. His life, his love, his words, his way, and his sacrifice are our example. So we must begin, as Biblical leaders to:

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
But made himself no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8)

So, in your view, in up to down leadership, who is the greatest, the servant or the master?

So, from my heart to yours, I hope this inspires you to become an UP TO DOWN humble servant in a leadership role, whether it is as a father, mother, church leader, teacher, bible study leader…a leader among friends, or wherever life takes you.

Become inspired by other servant leaders in the bible and other leaders in your life today and become an up-to-down servant-leader and serve with LOVE!

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Thanks! Love and His blessings,

From Romance & The Homestead,

Della