"The servant-leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant - first to make sure that other people's needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer is: Do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wise, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And what effect on the least privileged in society; will they benefit, or at least not be further deprived?" - Robert Greenleaf, Founder of the Servant Leadership Movement

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

The Call of the Servant-leader: Washing Feet


     Responsibility has a variety of meanings.  Of the synonyms and definitions given for responsibility I like:
"The character and reliability within a particular domain or way of life."
     The call to Servant Leadership is the call to responsibility toward our society - allowing the context of our relationship with others-in-the-world to define the character of our lives and the character of the faith community.
     The “Pastoral Constitution on the Church and the Modern World” of the Second Vatican Council rests on the fundamental dignity of the human person and our solidarity with others.   The preface to the document begins:
 “The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ."   
   With human relationships we have responsibilities towards each other which the fundamental right to life requires. This right also implies the responsibility that we share to make our world – this domain we call “home” a place where individuals-in-community can be affirmed in their dignity and in their relationship with God and one another.  Jesus provides us with the heart of our responsibility and our rights:  "Love one another, as I have loved you" (John 13:34, 15:9-17).  Love is the vocation of every human person – it is fundamental to our relationship with God and the fullest realization of our lives – both our rights and responsibilities.

   Each of us then shares a corresponding responsibility to care for others as servant-partners in working for the benefit of the disadvantaged and those less privileged.  Those who have more are called to more – a constant conversion of mind and heart.
   The question that is asked of the servant-leaders is: Do those I serve grow as persons – do they themselves become servant leaders?

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