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Archive for the ‘Apprenticeship’ Category

Upside-Down Servant Leadership

Posted in Apprenticeship, Christ, Culture, Servant Leadership, tagged , , , on 11/15/2022| Leave a Comment »

One of the amazing combinations of words I have come across is servant leadership. I got to hear of this when there was a vibe about leadership and the famous argument about whether leaders are born or made. Servant leadership has had its fair share of usage among the brothers I work and live with but it has also found its way into politics and international leadership forums.

Would I call myself an expert in it? Would I think of others as servant leaders? Do we have an abundance or shortage of servant leaders? These and other questions can be answered in many different ways. There is a way you and I have been exposed to leadership and we all have a version of servant leaders that we hope to see.

But servant leadership is commonly viewed as when a senior person in an institution or organization is found practising or engaging in a task or a role of a low-tier employee. I have seen many photos doing rounds when a president is found in a shanty taking tea and snacks with the locals. This looks good to the eye and also measures up to add political mileage when one is seeking to become winsome to the citizens. It is appealing to find a CEO holding a broom and working around with a dustpan to ensure a room is cleared of all litter. We like it when our boss comes around serving tea for everyone and we think of them highly as servant leaders.

Thinking Upside Down

These are the images we have in mind when we think about servant leadership. But there is a converse to it that I am dubbing upside-down servant leadership. We need to ask, why is there an emphasis only on the top individuals acting as servants? Why is this matter expected to flow from one side? What about those below in the pecking order? Do we propose that they are already wonderful servants at heart and do not need to re-evaluate their way of thinking and serving?

From scripture we learn, there is but one leader who was a true servant. He related with the lowly and was equally able to relate with the high in society. His name is Christ our saviour and from Him, we have much to learn and evaluate our posture when it comes to serving others realigning our expectations of others in a fair way.

Coming back to the upside-down thinking, has anyone thought what a relief a top-ranking manager would feel if someone allowed them a break or participated in the hard decision-making roles they bear? Wouldn’t it be great if someone was willing to bear the burden of their role? What would servant leadership from their perspective look like? But you might ask, can the low-ranking employee take up the role of a manager and share in the stresses and agony that come with it? Leadership has privileges that we all look up to but we fail to see other aspects that come with leadership roles and the demands that these roles come with.

Servant Leadership At Every Level

The call, therefore, is to think of all as players in servant leadership at the various levels we are at. We are not to only consider servant leadership when the top floor boss comes to our level but to serve joyfully in what we do for the good of all. The lower-ranking individual is to do their role well for the good of the whole institution, and the higher-ranking individual is to play his role well for the good of all. We should tune our hearts in ways that allow for the acceptance of each other and shape our commitment to ensure excellence in our different roles.

The idea that the top leader needs to do lesser jobs to appear as a servant needs careful evaluation and is to be done in a safe context so that it sends the right message. Shall we also demand that others down the ladder participate in the roles of their leaders to feel the heat? In no way is this a fair one either. In finding balance we are to value each other roles and responsibilities as important cogs within a spinning wheel that need to work together for good. None is to look down upon the other and we should not be found grumbling and expressing dissatisfaction unless there are clear grounds for such.

In conclusion, are you striving to remain a faithful servant in your daily walk and work? Have you honed the art of serving others? Is yours a matter of servant leadership or lordship? Do you have the expectation that another ought to help you and not vice versa? Let your heart always remember that we have that one perfect example of a servant leader, king and priest without guile in him- the Lord Jesus Christ.

This article was written by Stanley Wandeto,

Director for Missions, iServe Africa.

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Being Available is Better than being Gifted

Posted in Apprenticeship, Christian Life, Discipleship, Mentoring, Ministry, Servant Leadership, tagged , , , , on 05/23/2022| 2 Comments »

Many Christians spend a good part of their early years wrestling with the question of their unique gifting. This is especially the case where the church has overemphasized the place of gifts more than the place of character and service. I remember sharing with a friend that I was thinking about Christian ministry back in college and the first thing they asked was what’s my gifting. According to them, Gospel ministry was for those who knew their specific ministry gifts.

But I think this question isn’t just important to those considering full-time Christian ministry but one that explains service in our local churches. You see if people wait to discover their specific gifts so they can serve then you are going to have a lot of people on the waiting list. Someone will argue I cannot teach so I can’t join children or youth ministry. Another will say I’m not good with people so I can’t do welcoming and hospitality. Or I’m not as good as the song leader so the music team isn’t for me.

This inward-looking question will in the end keep you away from service and you’ll not actually discover what you can do for the body of Christ. But here I want to suggest you avail yourself first and let your specific gift if you only have one be discovered later. Because the gift is from the Spirit and for his church then begin by rolling your sleeves to do anything that your hands find to do for the church family. I’ll give 3 reasons as we reflect on this.

Jesus is calling Disciples not Gifted Professionals
When Jesus called his first disciples he didn’t sit them through an interview process to know how good they would serve him. He called anyone who would come to him. Coming to follow him, being with him, and obeying his calling was more important than what they could do for him later, see Mark 3:14. It wasn’t until later that he would send them out in the great commission yet they did serve him by being there with him. They were with him from the beginning, they walked with him and served alongside him without titles. You can say they were his errand boys but who wouldn’t want to be Christ’s errand boy.

What I’m saying here is that the body of Christ needs people who are willing and ready to roll their sleeves and do the work. It needs those available to serve in any and every way not just those with specific gifting and experience. The church needs people to be available in what is called the ministry of presence and to fill in the gaps as they notice them. And it’s only when you are available and ready to serve that the church can then discover your specific gifts not when you sit and wait.

When I did my first apprenticeship I didn’t know what was my specific gift but that meant I was available for anything. I was given an admin job which I wouldn’t have availed myself for before but it was the best ministry I have ever done. That’s where I actually learned how to write as I prepared weekly briefs. Then I tried youth ministry which was at first scary and then it became something I cherish today. I went on to welcoming which I always thought wasn’t for me only to realize how strategic it is. In the end, I wasn’t concerned about my specific ministry gift but was looking for where there was a need. I realized if you are willing to serve then you can have all the gifts to choose from.

Service is the end of Gifting
We can all agree that if the most gifted pastor doesn’t use their gift to serve the body of Christ then it’s a useless gift. They may talk about how good they are with the microphone but that benefits no one. Jesus didn’t call his disciples to display their abilities but to roll their sleeves and work for his church. It’s not our unique abilities that matter but our preparedness to serve and to do it wholeheartedly. It’s actually as we give ourselves fully to whichever area of ministry that is available that we discover what we can do best for King Jesus.

I find people who label themselves with a particular gift early on close the door for service too early. They are content with being evangelists when they haven’t tried hospitality. They pride themselves on their preaching skills without ever discovering the beauty of children’s ministry. They walk around with empty titles when their local church needs them to be available and do whatever is needed. It’s good to clarify that I’m not against discovering our unique gifts early on but I think service is bigger than us and our specific gifts. Because the gift belongs to the church then our availability to serve God’s people is what matters not what we do specifically. In time we may realize a unique need and our ability and decide to concentrate on one or two areas of service but we should always be ready for whatever the master calls us to do.

The Kingdom is bigger than my Gifting
It’s not a surprise that there are countless ministries built around a specific person and their unique gifting. It’s actually very human to rally people behind what we believe and are good at. And it’s not always wrong or premeditated that it happens like that. But we need to be careful if our churches and ministries draw and produce people who are just like us. We may be the most charismatic preacher or the most organized administrator and the most welcoming guy but we must be ready to have and grow many who are unlike us and yet fit for the kingdom of God. Let them come and discover the endless opportunities there are to serve the Lord.

God’s church needs all kinds of servants for all kinds of ministry for the benefit of the whole body. I think it’s a tragedy if everyone in a team thinks and serves like everyone else. Worse if we only think there are only 5 ways or so one can serve the church family. In time this would bring competition and complacency if there are only a few areas that all can do. But the way God has constituted his church is that we find all kinds of people with all kinds of abilities and opportunities to serve in the kingdom of God. The better way to view the church isn’t checking everyone’s gift in order of priority but seeing everyone as a unique gift to the local church. I think if we all set aside titles and abilities we would realize just how much we are needed in the kingdom. We would see beyond us and the vast harvest all around us. We wouldn’t shy from service on account of specific gifting instead we would discover just how gifted we are as a church.

Conclusion
In this article, I have argued that being available is better than being gifted. Yes, I would rather you try to service and fail if anyone ever can fail at service instead of waiting to be good to serve. More than that I think we need to realize that Christian gifts are not qualifications for a CV but opportunities to serve. They are actually not your gift but they belong to the church. In the end, service is what matters not how well we score in a certain area of ministry.

Many people live and die without knowing their unique gifts yet toil so hard for Jesus. And when we come to him the words welcome good and faithful servants is what will matter, see Matthew 25:23. I believe that in heaven we’ll find people who were totally unknown and unappreciated in their diligent service yet are regarded highly by the one who knew their good works without a title. Friends, it’s better to be an errand boy for King Jesus than wait to be recognized by your gifting here on earth.

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Flattering Lips – A Reflection from Psalms 12

Posted in Apprenticeship, Christian Life, Culture, Discipleship, Psalms, tagged , , , , on 04/21/2022| Leave a Comment »

Daisy Njenga leading our staff devotion through Psalms 12

In a world corrupted with sin, even the word legit is not legit. Human relations are not spared as they are many times overrun with conflict on account of sin. It is in this very world that we find vain chatterers. We find proud men who like to bring praise to themselves and flatterers who like to lavish insincere praise on others. But when we are loose with the truth the weak are not spared as they suffer greatly at the oppression of the ungodly. Perhaps you have been caught up in these vices in the past either as the oppressed or as the oppressor.

Coming closer home, how many times have we failed in our own words? How many times have we been dishonest with people perhaps when we feared sincerity would put the friendship at stake. How many times have we promised what we did not think about two seconds later, just because we were afraid of appearing weak? How many times have we disappointed others with our words because we wanted to appear well collected?  Have you been disappointed by a compliment that was given insincerely or with misguided information? Well, this was not different in David’s time as we shall see from Psalm 12.

Psalms 12 is a Psalm of David, which he wrote as a lament having witnessed people talking insincerely with one another and the weak being oppressed as a result. David writes asking for God’s help in this situation while praising God because unlike men’s words his are pure and trustworthy. Looking at the previous Psalms, we can say that David knew of the incorruptible and unchangeable nature of God and he believed in him. We see David asking for God’s help when faced with human injustices such as false accusations as we see in Psalm 7. Here in Psalm 12, we see David allude to the purity of God’s words, in comparison to man’s corrupted words. The big idea is that because God is trustworthy, then his words are pure and they can be trusted implicitly unlike the words of men.

For our reflection, we’ll now briefly look at the flow of Psalms 12 using the ESV:

Vs 1-2  David Laments Against the Ungodly

The Psalmist laments about the disappearance of the godly at a time when everyone spoke lies to his neighbor. He speaks about those who use flattering lips. Flattery is such a serious vice as we see in Daniel 11:32 that it is used as a powerful tool by the enemy. Maybe closer home, is to think about how it’s used in politics at such a time as this. Many a time the public seems to support a person just because they are getting a few coins but in their hearts and elsewhere, they undermine the same person. David cries to God on account of those who flatter with their lips and harbor deception at their hearts.

Vs 3-5 He Pleads with God to Judge the Proud and the Flatterer

From verse 3, we see the Psalmist greatly distressed by the boasts of the proud who disregard God. He pleads with God to bring justice against the wicked. In verse 5, God answers him saying he’s the one who hears the cry of the oppressed. When it feels hopeless we see the character of God as one who does not overlook sin but instead he says he will rise to defend and protect the weak.

Vs 6-7 David finds Refuge in the Pure Words of the Lord

In this section, the Psalmist compares God’s words to silver that has been refined in a furnace on the ground purified seven times. This brings a clear contrast between men’s vain words as we have seen in verses 2-4, and God’s pure words. The process of refining silver is indeed long and tedious, but the refiner watches and waits patiently till he can see his image clearly through the end product after all the impurities have been removed. This is what the Psalmist compares God’s word to that unlike the words of men it is without impurities of flattery, lies, and pride. It’s pure and trustworthy.

Spurgeon once wrote;

“The Bible has passed through the furnace of persecution, literary criticism, philosophic doubt, and scientific discovery, and has lost nothing but those human interpretations which clung to it as an alloy to precious ore. The experience of saints has tried it in every conceivable manner, but not a single doctrine or promise has been consumed in the most excessive heat.”

Vs 8 He’s encouraged that though Wickedness seems to Prevail there’s Hope

David seems to be ending this Psalm on a sad note looking at what the wicked continue to do in vs 8. But as we’ve seen:

The Psalmist is assured of God’s protection against this deceptive world, where vileness is exalted among the children of men. His confidence as we have seen in verses 6 -7 comes from the fact that God has promised to bring justice to the helpless and his words are trustworthy. So it’s not a sad note because the godly are not on their own.

Conclusion

Through this Psalm, there is a clear call for us who have believed in the Lord Jesus, to be careful with our words. Let it not be asked in our generation and specific society, where did the godly disappear to? But the big encouragement is that while we cannot always trust the words of men, we have the sure word of the Lord who died for our sins. This serves both as an encouragement as well as a challenge for us on how we use our words. We are to depend on God’s words as believers both as an example for our words and a source of refuge in this wicked world.

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Desperately needing the Spirit

Posted in 1 & 2 Timothy, Apprenticeship, Ministry, Spirit, tagged on 08/31/2017| Leave a Comment »

Image may contain: 1 person, sitting

Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you – guard it by the Holy Spirit who lives in us. (2 Tim. 1:14)

We go through 2 Timothy with each new group of apprentices but it is always fresh and cutting. One of the things that’s really jumped out for me this time is the emphasis on both human work and the Spirit’s work. There is fanning of the flame to do but the fire is God’s gift (1:6). We are to suffer… by the power of God (1:8). We need to guard the gospel… with the help of the Holy Spirit (1:14). We are to be strong… in the grace in Christ (2:1). We are to think hard… and the Lord will give the understanding (2:7). We are to instruct opponents… hoping that God will grant repentance (2:25). We are to preach the Word… strengthened by the Lord (4:17).

Some of us may be tempted to speak only of the Spirit and to downplay human effort. In that case the challenge of 2 Timothy is that guarding the gospel will involve a lot of hard work, hard thinking, intentional effort and careful following of the apostolic leadership training strategy (2:2). Others of us (perhaps more of us) are tempted to focus on human activity and practically ignore (or only play lip service to) the work of the Spirit. For us, we need to remember that the gospel cannot be guarded simply through structures and programmes and curricula. As Ken Irungu pointed out, gospel ministry cannot be professionalised. We wholeheartedly believe in 2 Timothy 2:2 – it is one of the iServe Africa straplines – but transmitting good gospel truth to the next generation of Bible teachers for them to proclaim and teach it faithfully to others will not serve to guard and advance the gospel unless there is also a powerful work of the Spirit.

Why?

  1. Only the Spirit can change hearts. Only the Spirit can move the affections from love of the world (4:10) to love Christ and his people (1:7). Only the Spirit can move us from being ashamed of the gospel to unashamed (1:8). Only the Spirit can produce faithful, hardworking, persevering-through-suffering servants who are concerned to please their commanding officer (2:4-6) rather than the crowd.
  2. Only the Spirit can open minds to understand the truths of the gospel (2:7). J.C. Ryle: “The very same person who is quick and clever in worldly things, will often utterly fail to comprehend the simplest truths of Christianity. He will often be unable to take in the plainest reasonings of the Gospel… They will sound to him either foolish or mysterious.”

So please pray for us! Pray for iServe Africa and the young people starting off their ministry apprenticeship year that the Spirit would go out with His Word and change hearts and minds.

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The lazy servant

Posted in Apprenticeship, Matthew, Partnership, tagged , , , , on 03/22/2016| Leave a Comment »

safe

In her paper, ‘Christian attitudes towards financial partnership for advancing the Kingdom of God’, Mary Njeri makes a number of very perceptive observations of Matthew 25:14-30 (the parable of the talents – incidentally a an appropriate one for Tuesday of Holy Week).

  1. The motivation to be about the business of Kingdom investment is entering into the Master’s joy. He is a happy God and those who see that, and steward his gracious gifts now looking forward to that, he welcomes us into his inter-Trinitarian happiness.
  2. The motivation not to be about the business of Kingdom investment is seeing the Master as a ‘hard man’, a joy-sucker, a selfish taker, rather than the Good Sower that he is (cf. Matt. 13).
  3. The character of the non-investor is described as not only wicked but ‘lazy‘. I had not noticed this before. Njeri brilliantly connects this with the analysis of sloth by Tony Reinke in the DesiringGod book Killjoys. There, Reinke shows that laziness/sloth can be expressed in what at first seem very different ways – the sluggard (wanting quick fixes rather than working), the workaholic (working hard but not for the things that matter), and the zombie (sleepwalking through life addicted to distraction and triviality) – all united by a fruitless pursuit of leisure and comfort, a lack of love for the church, the poor and the lost, and a “boredom with God.” The wicked servant in the parable buried his talent in the ground because he was lazy – he had lost his appetite for God’s joy. Whether he was lying in bed or whether he was rushing about madly working every hour to build his career or whether he was going through the motions of life checking his smart phone every 30 seconds – he was not excited about the Master and his Kingdom. And the warning is close to home. As Njeri says, “We are [largely] a desire-less church, unenthusiastic about the kingdom of God. We are caught up in just fulfilling our earthly obligations and then having the rest of the time for our comfort.” The answer is meditation on points 1 and 2 above.

This Tuesday may the Lord, by his Spirit, open our eyes to His Joy, the joy set before us;
may He work in us new desire and fresh grace to labour with all His strength for the fame of His Name;
may He give us creativity and ambition and energy to maximise His gracious gifts for eternal profit;
until the return of the Son.
Amen. Come Lord Jesus.

You can read Njeri’s whole article in Issue 5 of Conversation Magazine available in hard and also in soft copy…

Support independent publishing: Buy this e-book on Lulu.

If you’d like to get investing in Kingdom work today and multiplying disciple-making disciples, then why not consider partnership with iServe Africa, locally through MPESA or EFT or internationally through the iServe Africa UK Trust or the Crosslinks iServe Africa Project Fund.

….

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And more reading…

Posted in Apprenticeship, tagged on 09/08/2015| 2 Comments »

book burning

It’s often said that we’re not in a reading culture. The burning of books on graduation day is often cited (though perhaps less often witnessed). And certainly an academic culture that has little if no place for reading for pleasure may be much to blame. But the common early morning sight of a group of men huddled around a copy of the Nation or seeing the time of night at which people are responding to Facebook posts would suggest plenty of reading is happening. And Biko Zulu seemed to speak for many Kenyans (by the look of the comment thread) when he shared his experience last year of book hangover.

The experience of Mez McConnell and Duncan Forbes church planting in estates in the UK with a perceived anti-reading culture has been that once people become Christians and once they start enjoying eating up the Bible their reading culture changes too and they start to find a new taste for reading, even really hardcore theology [testimony from a former drug dealer].

Daniel Odhiambo gave a great testimony to the transforming power of reading at the ministry training last week. Here were some of the top books he recommended:

  1. J. I. Packer, Knowing God
  2. John Piper, The Pleasures of God
  3. J. C. Ryle, Holiness
  4. J. C. Ryle, Christian Leaders of the 18th Century

Let’s get reading…

Resources:

7 motivations and pointers to reading:

  1. Switching off
  2. A great cloud of witnesses
  3. Expressing, feeding, shaping, protecting
  4. Wesley: Do not starve yourself any longer
  5. Spurgeon: You need to read
  6. Watson: Warm your heart
  7. Chill out

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Reading, reading, reading

Posted in Apprenticeship, tagged , on 09/07/2015| Leave a Comment »

noses in the text

The more important thing than hermeneutics is reading. In other words grappling with Scripture is primarily an exercise of attentiveness to One who speaks through a text. (John Webster, Kantzer Lectures, 2007)

Thanking God for the last week of the Ministry Training Course and good times listening at the feet of Jesus. Here are some notes, resources and links for the sessions:

1st year apprentices:

2nd year apprenticeship:

And the video we’ve shared before on the historical impact of young graduates in world missions:

 

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Induction Workshop- Day One

Posted in Apprenticeship, Gospel, Ministry, Titus on 06/27/2014| Leave a Comment »

what is the gospel

We have welcomed about 16 first year apprentices to serve with us for the year 2014/2015. We thus have a workshop to clarify expectations, introduce the whole idea of Apprenticeship and get them excited about the year ahead.

We’ve moved to our new premises in Zambezi, several hundreds metres from Sigona on the Nairobi – Nakuru Highway. It was quite a rush trying to kill two birds with one stone- planning for induction and moving offices! It’s still work-in-progress but thankfully it seems we are pulling it off!

We started with Bible Study from Philipians 1:1-30 where we saw the joy of partnership in the gospel.

Andy did exposition of Titus 1- Knowing the Truth that leads to Godliness. The saving God promises even before creation to save a people for Himself and it is in knowing this truth, holding firmly to it, living it out and teaching others also. But coupled with that is refuting those who contradict the truth.

James then took us through ‘What is the Gospel.’ It was a wonderful reminder that it was not about us saving ourselves or starting the process of salvation but it’s God who initiates it.

Man at his best, rejects God. As Stephen Seamands puts it in Give them Christ,

In our determination to be autonomous & independent, to be our own gods, we would go so far as to get rid of God so we could take His place. Here we see not “Sinners in the hands of angry God,” as Jonathan Edwards put it in his famous 18th Century sermon, but “God in the hands of angry sinners”. The cross reveals how hell bent we are & how heinous and horrible sin is.’ But that is the heart of the gospel.

Sammy then took us through the iServe Africa concept. Basically, if you take iServe Africa and squeeze and the gospel doesn’t come out then there’s a very big problem. We are big on gospel- learning to handle the word faithfully and being servant of the word. We are not trying to be professionals but to be faithful servants for, as John Piper says in Brothers, we are not Professionals,

“the pursuit of professionalism will push the supernatural center more and more into the corner while ministry becomes a set of secular competencies with a religious veneer”.

Harrison and Lydia then took us through Communication, Partnership Development and Expectations.

We then finished off the day by watching Distant Boat the movie. It’s such a great way to welcome the incoming team on board and have them think about mission. One comment after the movie was ‘I can’t believe Kenya can produce such quality stuff. This movie resonates exactly with my situation. Am encouraged.’

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Recruiting

Posted in Apprenticeship, tagged on 03/27/2014| Leave a Comment »

apprenticeship ad 2014

If you know anyone who might be interested then spread the word – the recruitment for the September start is almost closed. This is mainly for East African fresh graduates but there is also the possibility of welcoming those from further afield for short or medium term mission experiences in Kenya so do get in touch with the iServe Africa office.

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Bring the books and above all the parchments

Posted in Apprenticeship, Bible on 08/31/2013| Leave a Comment »

pile of commentaries

For the iServe Africa apprentices (and anyone else who wants to join us)…

And for those of us (like me) who find the prospect of reading the Bible in a year daunting see some suggestions and resources here.

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