A Different Concept of Servant Leadership

UV 771/10,000 A Different Concept of Servant Leadership She said to her mistress, “ If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” II Kings 5 v 3 In this uni-verse, we see a different concept of servant leadership where a young Jewish slave girl leads the leader or commander of the army of the King of Aram, Naaman to his immediate healing and ultimate salvation. She was sure that the prophet of Israel, whose name she could not remember or did not know, could cure her master Naaman of his leprosy. Similarly, we as believers are like the servant-leader that the unnamed slave girl was. She enjoyed no position or influence except that she had limited access to the brave general’s wife. She had both hope and conviction that he could be healed. She had faith that the God of Israel who had anointed Elisha as a prophet could heal him through his ministration. Leprosy is a metaphor for the spiritual malaise that all people suffer from that makes us calloused and insensitive to the move or touch of the Lord. We act as servant-leaders when we lead others to their salvation with the hope and conviction that they too like us would be healed of spiritual leprosy. Whatever be our position or station in life, we can play a strategic role in leading people to their healing and salvation. Salvation is leading people to wholeness or fullness of spirit, mind and body. Naaman was not only healed of physical leprosy but of spiritual blindness for he declared after his miraculous healing, “ Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel.” Sometimes it is a chronic, incurable or unsolvable problem that leads people to look for hope in God when all else had failed in the natural, scientific, social and medical plane. It is during these times that we like the Hebrew girl should be empathetic enough, faithful enough and communicative enough to point hurting people to Jesus who alone can heal us in spirit, mind and body. When the media had predicted death within a few days for a former Prime Minister diagnosed with an incurable blood disease, a man of God told him that he could not heal but he knew someone who could heal him and that One is Jesus. The leader wept as the man of God prayed and he lived on for another good ten years. The Lord had extended his life like Hezekiah the King as he had shown a little faith in allowing the man of God to pray for him when all hope was lost. Like the servant girl, we should be humble, gracious and persuasive that a person be healed and a soul might be saved and not to prove our point right. We are servant leaders, taken captive to Christ like her, but unlike her not taken captive by force but by love. As servant leaders, we become instrumental to lead others to hope, healing, blessing and the joy of salvation. But in this age of grace, our role play changes since we are not only the servant or slave of God but we are also to play the role of the king who gave Naaman permission to leave for Samaria to avail of the spiritual cleansing and healing. We exercise the authority of kings. We are also to play the role of the prophet who triggered the healing by his divine dispensation. We cannot be proud or self righteous for we were also once the spiritual leper that Naaman was. But today in this day of salvation, we exercise the priestly and prophetic anointing. Naaman’s solitary case of healing from leprosy preceded the many cleansings and healings that Jesus did to many lepers. The waters of Jordan were foreshadowing the Word of Christ- a Word spoken in faith in the Father, anointed by the Holy Spirit, spoken in compassion and authority, “ be cleansed, be whole.” Just as Naaman dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, we too should dip ourselves in the meditation of the Word seven times a day, if not in actual reading at least in frequent rememberance and each time come out of the “water” praising, thanking and worshipping the Lord like King David did. Prateep V Philip