BEING Disciplines of a Serving Leader

Jesus practiced self-leadership disciplines that kept him aligned with his earthly mission and his Father’s will. In terms of “being” a serving leader, one must spend time in prayer and solitude, remaining anchored in his or her Father’s unconditional love—the solution to fear and pride.

Consider Jesus' discipline of prayer. Not only did Jesus teach his disciples how to pray (Matthew 6:5-15) but he also modeled prayer (Luke 5:16). As with Christ, prayer keeps us anchored in the Father's love—connected to the Vine so we can bear much fruit (see John 15:1-8). Prayer is about being before doing.

Jesus often practiced prayer along with the discipline of solitude. You see both of these disciplines when he had big decisions to make such as choosing those who would serve on his team (see Luke 6:12-16). During solitude Jesus aligned himself with his Father’s will, preventing himself from doing only that which would secure his popularity (see Mark 1:29-39...in this case the proclamation of the whole Gospel instead of a healing ministry only). Mark 6:45-46 gives us a glimpse of how Jesus prioritized private relationship with his Father over public popularity with the crowds he had just fed. In Luke 22:39-46, Jesus got alone with his Father when facing crucifixion—his greatest challenge while on earth. Setting aside time for solitude creates an ideal environment for simply being.

A final discipline in terms of being is experiencing unconditional love. How often do you take time to reflect on who you are and whose you are? If Jesus needed to hear WHO he was and WHOSE he was through his Father’s proclamations of unconditional love (see Mark 1:11 and 9:7) how much more should we!

[Next week I will begin to look at the KNOWING part of our serving leadership framework by discussing the philosophy of a serving leader.]