Servant Leadership is Key

Servant Leadership is Key

Servant Leadership is the only Biblically endorsed leadership.

That does not mean we want to dominate you by telling you how to put your faith into practice. We want to work together with you so you will be full of joy, for it is by your own faith that you stand firm. – 2 Corinthians 1:24

The Apostle Paul is revealing that each man will only stand firm by the practice of his own faith.

While you’re leading men, you are their servant, not their master.

God gave man dominion over the earth, not domination over other men.

Domination:
The exercise of control or influence over someone or something, or the state of being so controlled; submitted to the rule of another.

We have been taught that the issue with men is we’re not accountable. The idea is if we will enter into male-to-male relationships, we position ourselves to live the disciplined life of holiness by submission. The notion assumes that “shame” is a great motivator.

Here are some obvious problems with the accountability philosophy of men’s ministry:

• This positions men’s leaders as judges. This requires a man to live the righteousness of other men.
• This positions the “submitted” as a child or even as a woman. It causes a grown man to be spoken down to.
• In attempting to implement this strategy, many men’s ministries have adopted militaristic themes and protocols as a strategy.
• When men are forced into this perversion of the peer-to-peer relationship, authentic manhood is actually weakened, emasculated, and effeminate.
• Every man who has ever asked me to hold him accountable, eventually stopped talking to me.
• The suggestion is that somehow we need men to open their hearts and release their emotions in order to purify themselves.

Men are emotional. However, the emotions of men are directly related to their purposes.

The word, heart, means, “seat of purposes; seat of appetites; seat of emotions.”

The residence of purposes are within the heart of a man. When he gains understanding of his purposes, he dictates the appetites that determine his emotions. That’s why Paul said, “We want to work together with you so you will be full of joy.”

If a man lives by emotions, he has uncontrolled appetites, and perverts his purpose.

I’ve found that when I speak to the five purposes of authentic manhood, men commit themselves to live them out and become very passionate about pursuing them.

How do we lead men? By taking on the nature of a coach or an encourager—someone who knows how to draw upon the gifts within a man and sharpen his life skills.

• A good coach doesn’t clone players to be as good as he was—he challenges players to be as good as they can be.
• Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called, Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. -Hebrews 3:13
• A coach edifies, encourages, corrects, even at times rebukes. However, the motivation is to calibrate a man to the standard of God’s original intent of authentic manhood.

This may seem like I’m being nit-picky on this subject, but in reality the accountability philosophy of men’s ministries has been a repellent for reaching men.

Leading the 45-Day Challenger is simple in that you serve him as an encourager.

You cannot live another man’s righteousness.

Only Christ is the High Priest, only He can live the righteousness of another man. Do not attempt to be another man’s priest.

Let me give you an example.

When a man approaches me and wants to ‘unload’ his burdens and sins and make confessions, I stop him. I do not want to know the details of his sins. I can’t carry them. He has one High Priest and Advocate with the Father, only Jesus can carry such a load.

My response to the man is one of compassion and encouragement, I say, “Please, do not tell me. I can’t carry your burdens and sins. Only Jesus Christ can do that. Let me go to the altar with you or let’s pray now in private together, but let’s take these sins to Jesus.”

How can two walk together unless we agree in the destination?

When I am serving men through servant leadership, I do not call them to hold them accountable. I call them with a word of encouragement.

A Word of Encouragement
“Hey, my friend, you’re a champion today! I was just praying for you. I have an expectation for you today to see the mighty hand of God on your life. I expect favor to open doors of opportunity for you. I am anticipating that your family is blessed. As you continue to pursue God, He will continue to show Himself strong on your behalf. Be strong and be a man!”

That simple example of a word of encouragement can change a man’s life.

I challenge you to work on several of your own so that you have a complete arsenal of encouraging words to share with your challengers.

Summary

• God gave man dominion over the earth, not domination over other men.
• The accountability theory of men’s ministry often leads to a perversion in the peer-to-peer relationship.
• Men are emotional; however, the emotions of men are directly related to their purposes.
• The word, heart, means, “seat of purposes; seat of appetites; seat of emotions.”
• A good coach doesn’t clone players to be as good as he was — he challenges players to be as good as they can be.