A corporate executive read my personal bio as he waited for a meeting to begin.  He stopped midway through the first sentence which began, “David S. Bell serves as a Senior Partner with Design Group International™.”  He reread it and looked puzzled.

He said, “That’s an odd way to say what your title is.” 

“Serves as,” he mumbled.  “Why not just ‘is’? In the corporate world you would just say, ‘is a senior partner;’ never ‘serves as.’” 

Personally, I have read many introductions that state the person serves as . . . a pastor, a caretaker, an executive director, or some other title.  I had never given it much thought.  We went on to have a very productive meeting.  I have exchanged e-mails back and forth with him for a few months.  He has never mentioned this initial stumbling since our first time together.  His corporate world has been expanded to understand more of the non-profit world; vice-versa for me. 

Driving away from his corporate office tower, I thought about the contrast between stating that “I serve as” vs. “I am.”  I remembered a book that I had read in college.  In 1983, Robert Greenleaf  wrote Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness.  It has proven to be a timeless resource for those who lead.  Interestingly, the topic of servant leadership has turned into a big business.

Serving is a core principle of being a steward.  Serving implies that one is acting on behalf of, in partnership with, or in the best interest of another.  Serving requires humbleness.  As Christian leaders, we are called to serve others in the name of Jesus Christ.  Servant leaders can be bold, prophetic, ambitious, decisive, savvy, and all of the other qualities that we may associate with great leaders, including corporate ones.  However, servant leaders demonstrate a deeper core value that undergirds their leadership approach – namely, recognizing their role as a steward or a trustee.  Servant leaders realize that they are one person in a larger system.  The entire system does not revolve around them.  This realization is tremendously freeing.  It frees one from the burden, or the false impression, of believing that everything relies on one’s own ability. 

We have witnessed the negative consequences of leaders believing that they can go it alone, be exempt from the rules, or are justified in their self-righteousness.  The leaders whom I consider great all embody a principle of service, more specifically Christian service, inherent in their leadership style.  They are in service first to God out of recognition that life is a gift from God.  After all, God is the great I AM.  (Exodus 3:14 )  As Christian leaders, we are called to serve and to be a steward of, the One who was, is, and forever shall be the only one who can claim, “I am. . .”