| To help someone requires two prerequisites and a capacity to live in the moment. Imagine you’re hiking with a small group, and you meet up with another hiker along the trail. You start talking and decide to walk for a few days together. The first morning along the trail, you’re surprised when you wake up at sunrise, and the new person already has the fire going by the lake and the coffee made. Later, when you and your friends are struggling with tangled fishing lines, the experienced hiker you just met comes over, helps you get untangled, teaches you to tie on lures, and, from a distance, smiles as you land excitedly land a fish. A few days later, the new person heads off in another direction, and everyone misses the cheerful, helpful presence. Months later, you see a picture of the person on the news. They are one of the richest people in your country and have been on a sabbatical to get some alone time. How could you become a helpful, cheerful presence wherever you are as you walk with God on this earth? 1. Two PrerequisitesThe other feels a need for helpThe other thinks you are Jesus told his disciples to go to people who were ready to receive their help and to move on from those who were not ready (Luke 10). The goal is mutual servant leadership. Some people have difficulty transitioning to a peer relationship. They either want to keep being the ones who are wiser and more powerful than you, or they want to keep being the receivers. Developing the capacity to help others transition to peer relationships is a rare gift. The author of Genesis thought transitioning to peer relationships was an important concept. We risk doing others, including our children, a disservice if we help them before they sense they need help.“For this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:26). 2. Discern why others want your help. Are people obligated to receive your help, or is it optional? When I, as a foreigner in our marginalized neighborhood in Brazil, offer to help someone, they may accept for many different reasons. Some people may accept a servant leader’s invitation to an organization as a way to climb an organizational ladder. The disciples thought they would become high-status leaders, and Judas was even ready to move past Jesus for increased personal gain (Matt. 20:20-24). Mixed motives were not a surprise for Jesus. He engaged with people and tried to move them along on the way to servant leadership. Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled (John 6:26). 3. In My Experience, You don’t know who is ready for your help until you ask them. For example, I have seen hardened criminals who welcomed my help and others who did not. The benefit of starting with peers is that they will have less ulterior motives.“You shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8b). In Summary: Look for people with felt needs. Engage with them to see if they will accept your help or advice. Start with peers, and start where you are. Expect to move on to serve other social and cultural spheres. One of the signs of a mature servant leader is that they developed the capacity to raise up and release other servant leaders (Greenleaf, 1998, p. 55). “But Jesus called them to Himself and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:25-28). References Greenleaf, R. K. (1998). The Power of Servant-Leadership (p. 55). Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Kindle Edition. |
| Pastors Conference The Brazilian church leadership team organized a Brazilian National Pastor’s conference in Atalaia, a place along the ocean three hours South of Belem. This is the first time they held the conference at this location. The theme was pastoral care.   |
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