Unselfish Leadership

Leaders often are in a position to make things better for themselves at the expense of the people they lead.  This can put a sour taste in the mouths of the people they lead. I struggle to follow such leaders. This can be very obvious in the political arena or in the hierarchy of any lucrative company.  There are leaders who do want to make things better and better for the people they lead. They are not too good to do the menial tasks that need to be done. They also care about people and often know their employees by name as well as their spouses and children.

Nehemiah was a caring leader. He learned about the oppression of the poorest people. He learned that the wealthy and the nobles in leadership were helping to keep them poor by charging high interest on money they loaned to the poor. Nehemiah calls them out and they agree to give back the money that they had wrongfully charged the poor and oppressed. He challenged them to fear God and respect the people.  He also set an example of serving others by his leadership.  Check this out…

¹⁴ For the entire twelve years that I was governor of Judah—from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of the reign of King Artaxerxes—neither I nor my officials drew on our official food allowance. ¹⁵ The former governors, in contrast, had laid heavy burdens on the people, demanding a daily ration of food and wine, besides forty pieces of silver. Even their assistants took advantage of the people. But because I feared God, I did not act that way.

¹⁶ I also devoted myself to working on the wall and refused to acquire any land. And I required all my servants to spend time working on the wall. ¹⁷ I asked for nothing, even though I regularly fed 150 Jewish officials at my table, besides all the visitors from other lands! ¹⁸ The provisions I paid for each day included one ox, six choice sheep or goats, and a large number of poultry. And every ten days we needed a large supply of all kinds of wine. Yet I refused to claim the governor’s food allowance because the people already carried a heavy burden. (Nehemiah 5:14-18 NLT)

I love Nehemiah’s heart for the people he’s leading. He was unselfish. He was kind. He was firm. He was honorable.  He led the people in an unselfish posture. I think that one of the reasons I even know about Nehemiah is because of his unselfish leadership. He was a strong leader, prophet and governor who served the people well.

Zig Ziglar used to say: “If you will help enough people get what they want, then you’ll get what you want”.   I think unselfish leadership is an excellent model for serving the Lord while serving others. I want to lead unselfishly in my home. I want to lead unselfishly in my workplace. I want to lead unselfishly in my community.  An unselfish leader attracts followers. I also see Jesus as the model of unselfish leadership. By His very words, He came to save and serve instead of being served.  I’d be wise to follow Jesus’ style of humble, unselfish leadership.

Pressing On!

Dwayne