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via TheStreamingFaith:
Warning: the following devotional may RADICALLY change our water cooler conversations at work. So please, read at your own risk.
I am often asked by younger (and sometimes older) leaders what they should do when they feel like their boss is no longer delegating responsibilities to them, but rather dumping them in an effort to remain in charge and void of responsibility. It seems that nothing can frustrate a lower level leader more than when he or she has come to the realization that his or her boss or team leader has begun to take advantage of them.
Now more than ever before, one of the most common mistakes any leader can make when given the opportunity to lead or manage a new project or team, is confusing the art of delegating with the art of dumping. With this in mind, my response to this complex challenge is actually quite simple:
If you truly believe you have been called, gifted, and uniquely assigned to your place of employment or ministry…then the time has come for you to learn how to GROW IN THE DUMP.
My wife will attest to the fact that on any given day of the week, if asked, I probably will claim a different passage of scripture as my all-time favorite. Quite recently, I have two that are running neck and neck.
The First: Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. – John 12:24-26
And The Second: But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” – Mark 10:42-45
In my opinion, one of the most unwanted, neglected and underutilized spiritual gifts within the Body of Christ today is the call to serve. Many of us, out of what I believe at times is a sincere desire to be recognized and rewarded for our various gifts and talents, have sadly embraced a ‘survival of the fittest’ attitude when it comes to serving within the workplace God has planted us in. Especially to those who lead and ‘rule’ over us.
