Thursday • September 02 • 2010

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Home » For Students » Servant Leadership for Students

Servant Leadership for Students

Practical Ideas and Guidance

I've watched amazing life changes happen to students who didn't think they were leaders or who didn't understand Christian leadership—these students transformed into unbelievable leaders for God. If you're ready to discover more about being a student leader, then dig in, open up your heart, and prepare for God to do something great in your life.

Me As a Student Leader

Like you, I was a student leader in my youth ministry. If any books on student leadership existed, I didn't know about them. Actually, I didn't even know what it meant to be considered a leader. I was fortunate enough to have a youth pastor who believed in me and saw something in me I didn't see in myself. When I was in ninth grade, he said, "Doug, I want you to go on a leadership retreat because I think you have something to offer others, and I want to prepare you for ministry." Honestly, I had no idea what he was talking about, but I really liked him, so I said yes. (It's funny now, but my first act as a leader was to convince him to pay my expenses for the retreat. He agreed. I went. My life was changed, and I've never been the same. I guess I should pay him back now.)

I want to take you on a leadership retreat, and I hope you'll commit to journey with me as I try to teach you what I've learned and taught thousands of students in more than 25 years of being a youth pastor. I wrote this especially for the student leaders in my church because I love them and want to watch them continue to grow. Please read this as if you are a student in my youth group—a student I care about, someone I want to see mature in faith, a student leader who will impact the world for Jesus Christ, and someone who God wants to use to serve and honor him.

Opening Questions

Are you ready for this leadership trip?

Do you consider yourself a student leader?

If either answer is no, what will it take for you to prepare for the journey and consider yourself a student leader? Think about that for a minute. If you see yourself having little potential as a leader, you'll be tempted to skim this and move on without considering how these ideas, actions, and challenges could impact you and those around you.

The truth is, you have the leadership potential I'm talking about if...
1. You have a relationship with God.
2. You have a heart and mind open to learning and growing.
3. You want to help others.
4. You can handle being challenged.
5. You want your life to count for something.

Almost immediately you'll find out that leadership isn't about popularity. It's not about charisma, and it doesn't require you to speak in front of others. If you want to serve God and have a heart that gets excited about helping others, then you've got what it takes to be a leader.

Now does that describe you? Yes or no?

If you answered yes, I'm so excited to help you and challenge you!

Student Leadership Is...

Take a few moments to write down your current definition of student leadership. Don't worry about having a right answer—for the moment there is no correct answer. I'm asking you to do this because when you finish, I'll ask you to rewrite a definition of student leadership based on what you've learned. Then you'll compare the two definitions to see if you've learned anything and if our leadership retreat was worth your time.

I think it will be. I'm grateful to God for teenagers like you who want to make a difference with their lives. I hope to meet you someday and hear about how God is using you!

Radical Leadership

If you asked the president of a large company for a one-word definition of leadership, she might describe it as enthusiasm, drive, power, presence, or competence. These words are often associated with the world's view of leadership.

But if you investigate Jesus' leadership requirements for his closest followers, you'll see that only one word makes it to the top of his list. It's not an attractive word that will make you want to race to the end of this book. Ready? Drum roll, please...Jesus asked his leaders to...serve. Serve! (Go ahead and reread it—I'll wait.)

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