Servant Leader: Have you answered your call? DeMarco Banter

To command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less. -Andre Malraux

serv·ant [sur-vuh nt]
noun
1. a person employed by another, especially to perform domestic duties.
2. a person in the service of another.
3. a person employed by the government: a public servant.
Origin: 1175–1225; Middle English < Old French, noun use of present participle of servir to serve; see -ant

Perhaps the question is WHO do you serve? Yourself? Your boss? Your corporation/organization? Or something bigger?

Reading the first eight verses of Isaiah this AM and about a million thoughts came rushing to me. First…this is still how leaders receive their call–you don’t have to believe as I do, but have you ever had that nagging feeling–“I NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!.” That’s your calling. I wish I could say I have had or even knew people who have had the exact same experience as Isaiah…but no–not quite that intense. But if you break it down…Isaiah receives a vision, God clearly lays out a need for someone to speak for Him. So God has a message and is looking for a messenger–NOW we are talking. Have you ever been there? Did you answer or or just let the iPhone ring? God placed a call…and Isaiah answered–and he took it personally.

John Maxwell talks about three factors that make up a call to lead and to serve:

Opportunity: We see a specific place where we can make a difference…it’s all about timing.

Ability: We recognize that we have a gift or talent to answer the need…it’s all about competence.

Desire: We want to step out and address this need…it’s all about passion.

In reading Isaiah’s account closely I think many of us can relate… Isaiah was called, didn’t think he was good or strong enough…God assured Isaiah…and Isaiah stepped up to serve–as a leader. Today…I need to be assured and I need to step up and say, send me! How about you?

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:1-8 NIV)