Jesus gave us a model for the work of the church at the Last Supper. While his disciples kept proposing more organization – Hey, let’s elect officers, establish hierarchy, set standards of professionalism – Jesus quietly picked up a towel and basin of water and began to wash their feet.
Servant
Lysa TerKeurst
I would rev up my Christian to do list with all manner of serving, blessing and giving others that kind of love I was so desperate to have boomerang back on me. Those are all good things. Fabulous activities. Biblical instructions. But when given from a heart whose real motivation is what I’m hoping I’ll get in return is not really love at all. That’s not the answer. Giving with strings of secret expectations attached is the greatest invitation to heartbreak. That’s not love. That’s manipulation, and it’s also unrealistic. Only audiences are trained to applaud performances. People in everyday life can sniff out the neediness of a performer trying to earn love. Their instinct isn’t to clap, but rather to be repulsed by the fakeness of it all, and walk away. No soul can soar to the place of living loved when it’s a performance based endeavour. Living loved is sourced in your quiet daily surrender to the One who made you.
Richard Wurmbrand
A pastor must be like a matchmaker who persuades a girl to marry someone else. He must be very careful the girl does not fall in love with him, the matchmaker. Likewise, the pastor must be a guide, enabling the believer to reach the Bridegroom. He must ignite a love for the Bridegroom in the hearts of the believers, so that after hearing one of his sermons, the congregation should not say, “How beautifully he has preached,” but “How wonderful Jesus is!” Remaining attached to the pastor and not passing through him to the Savior, about whom he preaches, can be a deadly danger for the believer.
Charles R Swindoll
Attorneys, doctors, counselors, physical therapists, dentists, fellow ministers, nurses, teachers, disciple-makers, parents . . . hear ye, hear ye! Fragile and fearful are the feelings of most who seek our help. Like tiny feathers, easily blown away in haste, they need to sense we are there to help because we care about them… not just because it’s our job. Truth and tact make great bedfellows.
Duane Elmer
Power is to be used in the service of others and only secondarily, if at all, for the benefit of oneself.
Ed Stetzer
Our world constantly preaches that you can do or be anything you want until it is offended at what you are doing or what you are. Then a switch flips, a mob forms, and the pitchforks are unleashed. Holiness is replaced by autonomy and justice by rage. In the midst of this environment, Scripture calls us to be people of the towel rather than people of the pitchfork. Jesus modeled this for us when he washed his disciples’ feet (John 13:1-17) without exception or expectation. This was not a simple object lesson but an example of perfect service that reflected Jesus’ humility when he came to earth (Philippians 2:1-11). Jesus then asked his disciples to imitate him in washing one another’s feet. People of the towel grasp that Jesus wants us to humbly and lovingly serve others in every human interaction.
Dave Harvey
Your leadership is never about you. Leadership is always about the next generation. How can I leave them better off to bring revival to our next generation?
Bill Johnson
It is important to note, ruling from God’s perspective means to be the servant of all… Our strong suit has been, and always will be, serving.
N.T. Wright
We expect God to be, as we might say, ‘in charge’: taking control, sorting things out, getting things done. But the God we see in Jesus is the God who wept at the tomb of his friend. The God we see in Jesus is the God-the-Spirit who groans without words. The God we see in Jesus is the one who, to demonstrate what his kind of ‘being in charge’ would look like, did the job of a slave and washed his disciples’ feet.
Leonard Ravenhill
The Cinderella of the Church today is the prayer meeting. This handmaid of the Lord is unloved and unwooed because she is not dripping with pearls of intellectualism, nor glamorous with the silks of philosophy, neither is she enchanting with the tiara of psychology. She wears the homespuns of sincerity and humility and so is not afraid to kneel!