Interning Thoughts...

The next few posts come to us courtesy of some of our interns who are out and about this year. Our first post is from Clark Holmes who is interning at Redberry Bible Camp. He is recently married to his lovely wife Kelsey (Regehr) and together they are learning the ins and outs of married camp life.

Enjoy!


I have been pondering what humility looks like in servant leadership. Humility, to me, is when someone remembers who they are in light of who God is and doesn’t desire to elevate themselves more than their fellow man. I find that humility is a biblical model for leading people but I am searching for the phrase, or even foundation, for being a servant leader. In my mind I pictured someone who is trying to please everyone and will do whatever it takes to see their followers still smiling. But that isn’t the picture I’ve been finding as I look through the pages of Scripture.

I think that lately some Christians have thought that putting two good words together will make the phrase even better than if there were only one. Moses led the people with the authority given him. Peter pronounced judgment on Annanias and Saphira without making sure they would be happy first. And even though Jesus was a servant to all he called the baby by its name when Peter wanted to make sure the Son of Man wouldn’t have to suffer and die. Humility appears to be something God-oriented and being a servant or leader sounds like an attribute judged by our human interactions. Therefore to “learn humility in servant leadership” seems paradoxical.

To call oneself humble in regards to people before we approach God’s throne on our faces is lying. The best case scenario would be us assuming a door-mat position with other people. This, in reality, is allowing other people to define where we should be going and who we should become. It leaves little room for God. We would profess to put others before ourselves but we are also putting others before God. When God comes in second or third all who compete lose because God doesn’t win.

My pondering boils down to this: What order does humility, servanthood, and leadership come in? To be a leader first - without humility and a servant-heart - is cold at best and tyrannical at the worst. And without first grasping the kingdom-reality of who we are we could become self-deprecating and diffident where we lack all self-confidence and the boldness we should have in our God-given gifts. In other words, for a servant to bloom into a leader they must first learn humility.

Humility is plainly remembering who we are in Christ; not more or less. Wretched yet saved; redeemed but not all there yet. I will cede that we can learn this in the throes of serving and leading but if we as yet don’t possess a humble attitude there will be an extreme level of patience necessitated from those whom we are serving or leading. The polite and loving boldness we can have in all areas of life, if we possess true humility, is worth opening ourselves to be taught such a foundational treasure.

Isaiah 2:11
The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled
and human pride brought low;
the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.