This chapter hits points that have all been in my thoughts, are things I struggle with, are questions I'm trying to answer, etc...so it OVERWHELMED me a little. I'm just going to go through and share some of those points.
"God is always more interested in why we do something than in what we do. Attitudes count more than achievements."
"Unfortunately, a lot of our service is often self-serving. We serve to get others to like us, to be admired, or to achieve our own goals. That is manipulation, not ministry."
"I am, by nature, selfish. I think most about me. That's why humility is a daily struggle, a lesson I must relearn over and over."
"The Bible says, 'If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life.'"
"Servants remember that God owns it all."
"Living for ministry and living for money are mutually exclusive goals."
"God uses money to test your faithfulness as a servant."
"Wealth Builders continue to amass wealth for themselves no matter how much they make, but Kingdom Builders change the rules of the game. They still try to make as much money as they can, but they do it in order to give it away. They use the wealth to fund God's church and its mission in the world."
"It is also not our job to defend ourselves against criticism. Let your Master handle it."
"If you serve like Jesus, you can expect to be criticized. The world, and even much of the church, does not understand what God values."
"Because they remember they are loved and accepted by grace, servants don't have to prove their worth."
"Insecure people are always worrying about how they appear to others. They fear exposure of their weaknesses and hide beneath layers of protective pride and pretensions."
"When you base your worth and identity on your relationship to Christ, you are freed from the expectations of others, and that allows you to really serve them best."
"Henri Nouwen said, 'In order to be of service to others we have to die to them; that is, we have to give up measuring our meaning and value with the yardstick of others...thus we become free to be compassionate.'"
"Point to Ponder: To be a servant I must think like a servant."
Daily Verse: "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." Philippians 2:5 (NIV)
Daily Question: "Am I usually more concerned about being served or finding ways to serve others?"
From My Journal: Finding ways to serve others...undoubtedly. This can range from my husband and children, to friends and family to complete strangers...and God. I get lost, confused, twisted up about things, etc, but I am a servant.
I have a confession :) I typed this blog 4 or 5 days ago, but felt like I was JUST listing the pieces of it that struck home to me, but I didn't know how to convey what I was feeling/thinking/wanting to convey.
I just finished watching an Oprah interview with The Invisible Child Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Jason Russell. To learn more about his movement read HERE: http://invisiblechildren.com/
There were LOTS of things talked about, but THAT interview will HELP me to EXPLAIN my struggle with this whole..."Thinking Like A Servant."
Here's the cliff notes: Jason Russell had a nervous breakdown/psycotic break/meltdown...whatever you wanna call it. Jason & 2 friends decided to film a documentary in East Africa & ultimately... (straight from The Invisible Children website): "They discovered a war in Uganda that had been going on for 20 years where a brutal warlord named Joseph Kony and his rebel army, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), were abducting children and forcing them to become soldiers." Go check out the website, because what this group of individuals did was TOTALLY coming from the RIGHT place...a place of PASSION for people...for humanity...for wanting to make RIGHT what we know from the CORE of our being is wrong.
They created a video called: KONY 2012. PLEASE watch it when you have some time. It generated an intense, BOLD movement, that my words can't even begin to describe...Questions started being asked that questioned the INTEGRITY of the cause. Jason...feeling SO passionately about it...saw it as questioning HIS integrity right along with it. I can't speak for him, but watching the interview...it seemed as if (from what seemed like a GLOBAL standpoint for him) it was all crumbling. The cause that he believed in was losing it's....value right before his eyes & he felt responsible. He wanted to FIX it & he couldn't sleep. He couldn't do anything, BUT think about the negative reactions...the judgements against the cause (& those he related to himself). It didn't matter that over a million people believed in THE CAUSE, that HE was so passionate about. The judgement of a few (in comparison) &...in my opinion... was the devil's CHANCE to get in and twist things up.
It can happen SO fast. Why is it SO easy to forget all the positive feedback & listen to the negative? Why is that what our natural response has become?
So...I digress a little. In this situation (how I see it) the devil capitalized on Jason's need for positive perception from EVERYONE. He preyed on it...he used it to TRY & defile it all......
Then God stepped in...& Jason's paraphrased words when Oprah asked him about the BIGGER picture of his VERY public breakdown: "It was God's way of plucking my EGO right out of the situation." (He didn't say it quite like that, but that's how I heard it.) All along the way...Jason could have LISTENED to OTHERS when they told him to rest, take a break, reassuring him that his role is coming from the
RIGHT place...he chose not to...(with the devil's help) & God USED that mess that was spiraling out of control to STRIP Jason of his EGO. To make him realize that God's WAY is way easier than the convaluted mess that he's trying to make work....on his own. I mean...GOD uses ALL of us to make his plan work...we are kind of foolish to think that we can go it on our own.
So as we talk about thinking like a servant...How does someone...a leader...that gets bombarded with a plethora of questions daily & who is looked to, to have the answers...How, when questions start bubbling up & that leader doesn't have all the answers, do they NOT hold the responsibility in KNOWING it? I mean...I can see how fast & somewhat easy it could be to get twisted up like Jason did. It happened to me just a few weeks ago on a MUCH smaller level than this & It took me several days to work through it & REALIZE (through prayer & journaling) that I don't have all the answers & how foolish I was to think that I was the ONLY person that had gone through something like this.
The quotes from the book, I made bold, all can be applied to this situation, but I think the one that we ALL need to rest in...especially those that are subject to more criticism is this: "It is also not our job to defend ourselves against criticism. Let your Master handle it." God KNOWS we don't have all the answers. In actuality...we have very little. God will not call us to go it alone...EVER. God wants us to rely on each other...& HIM. I can almost bet money that Jason will be able to hear that inner voice now, enabling him to stop the whirlwind. We may not always like the way God gets his victory, but we're sure glad he got it.
The movement Jason helped start & continues to DEVOTE himself to is so IMPORTANT. It's God's work...no doubt. I admire his tenacity, his strength, his mission, his faith. I admire that he GOT UP after his breakdown & is back at it, full force. I also admire him & his friends ability to: "create with abandon." When I was milling around with the same emotions Jason was dealing with...just muted down, I pulled out a journal that I bought that I hadn't written in yet & along with a lot of other encouraging words...the words "Create with abandon." LEAPED off the page at me. That is what I did. That is what Jason and his friends did. In that moment I TRULY realized it was all okay. It was not as big a deal as what my head was telling me it was. I wasn't going it alone & I not only had friends to support me, but I had friends that new stuff...new stuff to make it BETTER...to REACH more people. If either of us wouldn't have "created with abandon" the people we are helping, wouldn't get the help. I THANK GOD he found a way to speak to me that stopped my whirlwind...& I'm even thankful for Jason's experience. That it could be shared, so people that struggle with the same feelings can learn from it. God knew he could handle it & bounce back WAY stronger.
The leadership role can be a tough one sometimes. You start your work to serve God & serve people, but (because of the role you have) you can start serving your ego & not even know it. Put people in your camp that can "check you."
Buck Up Baby & Ride With Jesus! CREATE WITH ABANDON! That's how we WILL change our world & LEARN to TRULY trust God!
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