Vince Deagler

hi again.  unless you have been on another planet for the past week or so, you are well aware of all the flack over president obama speaking to the students of our nations schools.  it was one of those mountain out of mole hill moments so prevalent these days in the media.  and depending on where you get your news, the facts being presented were quite slanted.  for instance, and i have no intention of getting into the whole political quagmire, one side of the argument was…what is wrong with the president speaking to our students to encourage them to stay in school and do their best.  the other side was focused on the lesson plan that teachers were to use that day which included students writing a letter to themselves on how they could help the president, which was seen as political in nature.  now as i said, i’m not gonna get into the politics of it all, but i did have a moment of clarity as i listened to this ongoing debate.  and it really is quite simplistic.

what could be wrong with students writing an essay on how they could help the president????  well maybe i’m off base, but what is the big deal?  but here is where i think there is a big deal.  since when was the model of governance a model that says the led are to serve the leaders?  isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?  isn’t that why we call those in public office, public servants?  is this what is wrong with our government these days…for awhile now?  i think so.

now here is where i want to bring it down to very practical levels.  when you think of excellence in the area of leadership, who do you think of?  i think of jesus.  but jesus modeled leadership by giving himself up for the church.  sure he wants we christians to follow him, obey him, serve him…but that is not the starting point.  the starting point is…we love him because he first loved us.  what would our country be like if we actually could get back to our leaders serving us?  what would our churches be like if the leadership sought to serve the flock?  or homes be like if husbands sought to serve their wives and wives their husbands, and parents served their children and children their parents.  what about our communities, how would they be different if neighbor sought to serve their neighbor.  it would be revolutionary.  and i believe overwhelmingly positive.

so, even though i thought the whole issue (the school speech) was much ado about nothing.  i think it was a valuable moment.  leadership is about serving those you are called to lead.  we have to many leaders expecting to be served without first serving those they intend to lead.  until leadership starts with service, i think the ongoing tug of war we witness all the time will continue.  so take a lesson from jesus.  if you have a position as a leader (and most of us do on some level) start your leading by serving those you intend to lead.  by doing this, you are creating an environment where they will follow you…and that usually ends up in a partnership where together you can accomplish all god puts in your heart.

thanks for reading.  be blessed.  vince