“We are waiting to discover why God sent you to us.” This is one of the first things Mary Jo said to me in my early days at the Church of the Saviour. I was surprised, even disappointed, that no one wanted me to do anything. I was a doer, eager to serve. Mary Jo’s startling words have stayed with me over the years. They turned my world inside out.
I learned that when new inspiration comes about call to action, time is needed for new gifts to emerge. These gifts may be given to the one who first has the inspiration, or vision. Or not. They may show up in another person, even a visitor. I learned that I need to be a follower at the point of your gifts and a leader at the point of my gifts, always looking to the Giver. Amazing things happen.
I learned that the Spirit moves powerfully in a community which acknowledges divine authority over everything else and waits to discover it. Continually looking to the divine Source as the creative initiator of action engenders deep humility. This is a radical way of being in community. It is a countercultural view that leadership is essentially followership, searching for and yielding to divine authority.
Authority is given to everyone when there is recognition and response to the authority of the Spirit. Community is essentially collaborative, listening and watching together for discernment and accountability. Waiting to discover what the Author is up to. Humility and vulnerability become precious values, hallmarks really of a healthy, fruitful community. Without the group and shared intent, it is easy to drift into cultural norms of individualism, hierarchical power, and certainty.
Jesus spoke about and modelled this inside-out way of authority. In the Gospel passage for today, the disciples’ response to his information about his upcoming death was befuddled.* They chattered about who would sit on his right and his left. He told them the first must be last and the last shall be first. Later, he said his power was made perfect in weakness. Henri Nouwen rightly called him “the descending Christ.”
Jesus, humble and full of the fire of truth, was quick to call out false authority. He often criticized abuse of power in religious and political leaders. He was quick to recognize evil in the culture:“a brood of vipers.” Even in his friends, admonishing Peter, “get behind me, Satan!” Always, he was quick to recognize the True Authority, the One who sent him.
--Ann Dean, Dayspring Church
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“Moral authority is another way to define servant leadership because it represents a reciprocal choice between leader and follower. If the leader is principle centered, he or she will develop moral authority. If the follower is principle centered, he or she will follow the leader. In this sense, both leaders and followers are followers. Why? They follow truth. They follow natural law. They follow principles. They follow a common, agreed-upon vision. They share values. They grow to trust one another.”
–Robert K. Greenleaf, Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness
