Church of
St. Monica

New York City

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Priests of Saint Monica

Pastor:
Rev. Msgr. Thomas A. Modugno

Associates:
Rev. Joe A. Francis
Rev. Thomas Mankamthanath

In Residence:
Rev. Apolinari Ngirwa

In Sunday Service:
Rev. Richard Arold

>>STAFF

Tel: 212-288-6250

Fax: 212-570-1562

Email: info@churchofstmonica.org

Servant Leadership - Progressive Growth in Christ
Servant leadership requires the practice of certain disciplines (habits we practice to please the Lord). These disciplines are key elements of "abiding in Christ." They are progressive in nature as set forth below:

• Humility - "apart from Him I can do nothing" - leads me to:
• Seek Him - and as He reveals Himself and what He is doing - I can:
• Love Him - by obeying and working with Him - this will lead me to:
• Serve Him - as I lovingly serve others - this creates opportunities to:
• Exalt Him - by giving Him the glory - and to maximize my faithfulness:
• Accountability - I ask others to hold me to these disciplines.

Servant Leadership - Discovering Humility
The key characteristic and focus of servant leadership is "humility". Why? Because, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). What is pride? In the context of a Christ-led business, pride is simply the belief that I (we) can build this business for God -- without His involvement. On the other hand, humility is the belief that "apart from Him, I can do nothing" (John 15:5). In a nutshell, it's the heartfelt belief that I (we) cannot build a Christ-led business that reflects His works and is love and brings Him great glory -- only God can do that (through us).

Servant Leadership - Seeking Him First
In servant leadership, the degree of our "abiding in Him" is dependent upon the depth of our understanding of who the vine is and who we as branches are -- in other words, the more we understand "who He is" and "who we are in Him", the more we can "abide in Him." The degree of our "abiding in Him" is dependent upon the depth of our understanding of His love, power, grace, faithfulness, mercy, compassion, patience, peace, and joy. Likewise, the degree of our "abiding in Him" is dependent upon the depth of our understanding of who we are in Christ -- as a new creation, child, friend, brother, bride, beloved, saint, and heir of God -- and what He has bestowed upon us -- "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 1:3). The greater the depth of our understanding of these things, the greater will be the depth of our "abiding in Him."

Obviously, the beginning point for "abiding in Him" is seeking Him. Hebrews 11:6 vividly demonstrates this principle: "without faith (knowing His works & words) it's impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. "

Servant Leadership - Loving Him Through Obedience
The next discipline of servant leadership -- "abiding in Him" -- is loving Him. The Scriptures make it clear that our love for God is demonstrated by our obedience (John 14:15, 23-24; John 15:10; 1 John 5:3). As Henry Blackaby aply stated, an obedience problem with God is really a love problem with God. If we are to be Christ-led, we must be willing to obey regardless of the cost. Obedience consists of three components: (1) timeliness (act or speak when the Lord indicates, not before and not after); (2) fullness (partial obedience is disobedience); and (3) joyfullness (not grumbling, complaining, whining, etc.).

Servant Leadership - Serving Him In All You Do
"Servant leadership" has become a popular buzzword in executive circles. Jesus established this biblical principle with his twelve apostles in response to their concern about who would be the greatest -- He explained that the greatest is "servant of all" (Matthew 23:11).

Jesus gave this a different twist when he taught about the judgment day. In Matthew 25:34-40, He explained that those who are granted entry into His kingdom will be commended "for I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was imprisoned, and you came to Me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, "When did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You drink? ... Jesus responded "truly I say to you, to the extent you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me. "

In other words, for a Christian executive, Servant Leadership has a deeper meaning than the world's understanding -- it doesn't simply mean that we are servants -- but it also means that as we serve we are not merely serving men and women, we are serving Jesus Himself.

Servant Leadership - Exalting Him Above All Else
Servant leadership is leading for His glory and not our own. Paul exhorted us, "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). Jesus instructed us to let His light in us "shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify the Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). God wants His name to be glorified (not the name of the Christian executive) in all the earth through His works of love and power accomplished through His children!

Servant Leadership - A Requirement of Accountability
Whether we like it or not, servant leadership requires accountability. In Ephesians 4:15, Paul explains how the Body of Christ matures when its members "speak the truth in love" to one another. Then, in the next chapter, Paul exhorts us to be imitators of God by walking in love, putting aside immorality, learning what is pleasing to the Lord, being careful how we walk, understanding the Lord, and giving thanks for all things. In the final chapter, he closes the teaching with a key for doing this -- "be subject to one another in the fear of Christ." John adds, "if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

In other words, each member of the Body of Christ has the responsibility to: (a) "walk in the light" (be vulnerable and keep nothing hidden in the darkness); (b) be held accountable for his or her walk with Christ; and (c) hold others accountable to their walk with Christ. We should walk openly, speak the truth in love humbly, and receive such love eagerly. Thus, to practice the discipline of accountability, a Christian executive should be in deep relationship with a group of men or women: (1) with whom he or she walks openly and vulnerably (1 John 1:7); (2) from whom he or she can receive correction (the faithful wounds of a friend -- Proverbs 27:6), which are truth spoken in love (Ephesians 4:15); (3) to whom he or she can confess his or her sins (1 John 1:9); and (4) from whom he or she can seek counsel (Proverbs 27:9).

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