As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“Paul was not self-focused; he didn’t spend his days beating himself up mentally for his failures and shortcomings. But he did have a healthy distrust of his own inclinations, and he saw to it that the circumstantial doors to those inclinations were kept closed.” - Olinger
“I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.” - Desiring God
“When I review what I preached ten years ago, I find I would change a lot of what I said. When I think about how I led ten years ago, if I could, I would tell my twenty-six-year-old self to change approaches. How can I get angry about dissenting views now when I don’t even agree with myself in the past?” - Rainer
“I put the mic down to adjust my notes and then started back up with the talk. After about 30 seconds, I looked down and … I was talking into a water bottle like it was a microphone. The audience burst out in laughter and all I could do was smile and join them.” - C.Leaders
“…in just that way, social media can be used for such good and such ill. It can display human beings at their best and worst, their most gracious and most condescending, their most humble and most prideful.” - Challies
What comes to your mind when you hear the term “servant leader?” In our first post on servant leadership, we noted that servant leaders are not docile doormats, but careful cultivators who steward their leadership gifts and opportunities to see others flourish. In today’s post, we will explore the commitment servant leaders have towards developing and equipping new leaders to carry out the work of ministry.
Servant leadership is something people frequently talk about but rarely understand or practice. Many Christians seem to equate servant leadership with passive or subservient leadership. They envision the servant leader as a gentle, accommodating person who works hard to meet everyone’s needs and keep everybody happy. True servant leaders, however, are not docile. They’re driven.
“In his recently-released book, Faithful Presence: The Promise and the Peril of Faith in the Public Square, Haslam draws upon his years of experience to highlight the redemptive role of faith in politics while offering biblical insight into the hot-button issues of today.” - C.Post
Last Sunday, my son and I visited a nearby Orthodox Presbyterian Church. As a Baptist, I don’t quite fit in there, but then I don’t quite fit in at a lot of Baptist churches either!
I’d visited this church before, some years ago, but my son had never worshiped with Presbyterians. So for him it was an educational field trip, and for me it was a chance to catch up a bit with some friends and former students—and worship together.
It is interesting that verse 20 refers to John as “the one who had been reclining at table close to him” right after Jesus gives Peter a chance to retract his threefold denial of Jesus with a threefold affirmation of his love. We could easily surmise that Peter the Denier is going to suffer martyrdom while John the Beloved will escape such a fate, and each will do so based on their faithlessness or faithfulness. Yet, there is no hint in the text that this is so. Their differing fates were the result of the good pleasure of God—“if it is my will.”
Discussion