Faithfully yours - Leading by serving

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Published on Monday, September 17, 2018

By Neil Strohschein

Neepawa Banner & Press

My high school did not have Peer Support Groups. We didn’t know what Gay-Straight Alliances were; nor did we really care. Religious labels meant nothing to us. We were just students; young men and women who shared a common goal—getting enough high school credits to graduate.

We studied together, we learned together, we participated in high school sports together, and we played pick-up games of football, scrub and basketball during our breaks. And if one of our number was going through hard times, we each did what we could to help him or her out; just as our parents did when tragedy hit any family in our community.

As I look back on those years, I can see how attitudes learned at home helped create a positive, caring and supportive atmosphere in our school. Some of those attitudes are listed below.

First, you are a unique creation of God, with a unique combination of skills and abilities and with a unique contribution that God wants you to make to the betterment of our world.

Second, you can’t do everything, but you can do something. With the help of others, learn what you do well and then do it to the best of your ability. But don’t stop there. Be honest about your weaknesses—about those things that you cannot do well—those areas in which you need help.

Third, we do our best work when we are part of a team. Good team members lead in areas where they are strong and follow the lead of others in areas where they are weak. By working together and capitalizing on the strengths of each person on the team, they can accomplish far more than they could ever achieve by working alone.

Fourth, you are responsible for what you do with the time, talent and resources God has given you. Once you use any of them, what you have used is gone forever. It won’t come back. So be careful how you use those gifts. You will answer to God one day for what you have done.

Consistently applying these principles will radically change how we interact with people. Our world is filled with people who love to steal, kill and destroy. Huge profits are made each year by those who make weapons that allow us to steal more goods, conquer more land, kill more people, destroy more property and do it all faster than ever before. It only takes a moment to destroy what others have built. It takes a lifetime to build a world in which every person is accepted, respected and free to achieve his or her God-given potential.

But that is what we have been called to do. And as people of faith, we are to take leading roles in building this world. But our leadership style is to be the exact opposite of what we see in government or business. Our task is not to tell people what they should do. Our task is to show them what to do and help them learn how to do it well.

We call this “servant leadership,” giving up our desires for position, possessions and power and investing our time, talent and treasure in tasks that help others develop the skills they need to succeed in life. The best time, in my view, to learn these skills is when we are young. A public school that stresses the need for peer support and that encourages students to work together to achieve common goals will give them these skills and help them build a better world.