A2: How to have a posture of servanthood

Biblical intro

Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Matthew 20:25-28 NIV UK

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’ Mark 8:34 NIV UK

At a glance

Jesus modelled the laying down of self and the posture of a servant and calls his disciples to do the same.

Arriving as a self-declared leader is both un-Christlike and practically unhelpful as it alienates and/or annoys local residents

Laying down our personal – or church agenda – and listening to local people is embodying being a disciple of Jesus within the community

Listening and facilitating rather than controlling that community is important

Some allocate the first 6 months or year to listening and serving rather than initiating

Am I doing this for me or in order to selflessly serve the community?

Key Points

Jesus modelled the laying down of self and the posture of a servant and calls his disciples to do the same. However, it could be easy to slip into an approach where you arrive on the estate as a self-declared ‘leader’. Not only does this fail to embody the nature of Christ and the message of the gospel but it can also alienate residents who do not relate to church and have little tolerance or respect for those arriving with an attitude of superiority.

Lythan’s Story – A posture of servanthood

Lythan shares her story of the importance and embodiment of the posture of servanthood. She has been reflecting on being a servant to, rather than master of, the community. She has learnt to be involved without feeling that you have to lead everything and has seen the way in which this has both empowered the community and also made space to see God at work.

The Litter-Picking Group is a good example. It’s a 6-year-old idea that has grown and developed. Cornerstone now underwrite the group but do not run it. ‘Partnering is healthy’ Lythan states and she notes that it helps with succession planning so things can grow and continue.

The story of the a toddler group, set up by Cornerstone, a fresh expression of church (and part of the Church of England), is another great illustration of this. Originally it was run by friends of the minister but it got to the stage where Lythan was almost leading alone. She knew that she couldn’t just keep ‘soldiering through alone’ and wondered if the group should close. She shared the dilemma with the local community and local people emerged into leadership. Lythan says, ‘It was a miracle! There are times when there is nothing we can do and God steps in.’ It’s interesting to see how the name of the toddler group indicates how the local community sees the input of Lythan and the church. It was called ‘ Cornerstone toddler group’ then the Community called it ‘Cranbrook Toddler group’ but now Lythan has noticed that locals are calling it ‘Cornerstone Toddler Group’ again. In one sense this is a small change, yet it seems significant in understanding how, by letting go of control. a community can embrace both the activity and the church.

The final example is recognising that by being servants to the community we also allow God to be in control. One day Lythan met a local family who were blackberry picking. Later she thought “wouldn’t it be great if they were part of Cornerstone”. She didn’t know how to make that happen but, amazingly, that afternoon they got in touch and said they would like to be part of Cornerstone. Lythan recognises that it won’t necessarily always be that easy! But it’s a reminder that not everything is about us, our leadership and what we do: God is the real leader. Rather than seek to be in charge, we should serve.

We should ‘find the gaps serve and respond’. Sometimes we need to step back even further to let go of control and let God lead.

Listening and Facilitating

Being a Christlike servant of the community means laying down our personal, or church focussed, agenda and listening to the community. For Ali, this was the embodiment of being a follower of Jesus. She also believed that God would show them what to do through the local community so by being humble and listening they were also hearing the voice of God.

Many of the new housing engagers who shared their stories for these guides named the importance of humbly listening to the community and joining in rather than dictating what should happen in the community. Most set aside the first 6 months or year to listening and serving.

Angela Parfitt undertook a case study on the estate where Ali lives as part of her academic studies. Parfitt, who has no Christian or church affiliation noted that a strength that emerged from the approach Ali and the team were taking. She states, ‘The church leader has facilitated, rather than dictated, how the community develops’. She titled her research ‘Divine Inspiration?’ in response to the huge (and unexpected) impact that the Christians were making on the new estate.

A key question in leading is – Am I doing this for me or in order to selflessly serve the community?

Learning Points

As Ali immersed herself in serving the community, she was asked to take on roles of leadership such as Chair of Governors of the new school and to chair the residents’ meetings. Local residents looked to her to lead. She inadvertently gained power. Ali had to be aware of this power and ensure power was used to influence for good and not to take control. She laid down some roles to enable others. She learned not to accidentally exercise power over people in the community who felt powerless or had little self-esteem. This meant that she did not tell people what to believe or invite people to faith events directly, as some felt obliged to ‘obey’. Instead, she shared her own faith and simply made people aware of events, allowing others to invite their peers.

Engaging With New Housing