Leadership Development and the Suffering Servant

Our church leadership team has been completing the StrengthsFinder survey as part of our leadership development process. The Strengthsfinder is a morph on the traditional personality test and focuses on areas of strength. The theory is that we are more productive when working within areas that give an internal sense of excitement and fulfillment and that people will be more productive and successful overall when spending time maximizing these strengths rather than attempting to minimize or grow in areas of weakness. (For those familiar with the test, my strengths are Learner, Intellection, Acheiver, Input and Responsibility).

As I help in this process, I've been reading a book, Go Put Your Strengths to Work. This book takes the Strengthsfinder philosophy to the next level. It addresses how to manage your work environment to your strengths through several practical steps. And this is exactly where I'm stuck.

I really like the concept of working in our strengths. I like the idea even more when partnered with the knowledge that God has created each individual unique and has called us to work in community to be the physical representation of Christ in our world. There is no doubt in my mind that God has gifted us and used the experiences in our lives to work for the good of the Kingdom.

I struggle with the way to actually implement the idea of working in our strengths. First off, as a stay-at-home mom, the strategy in the book is incredibly unrealisitic in my day to day life. Breaking up fights, driving back and forth to schools & activites and doing laundry are definitely NOT things that bring excitement and passion to my life! At a deeper level, I have to wonder about the approach of focusing on always making my environment work for me. Go Put Your Strengths to Work does recognize that you can't always work in your strengths, but the goal is to work toward the greatest percentage of time being spent in those things that you excel at and that bring personal fulfillment.

In the gospels, particularly the book of Mark, Jesus is portrayed as suffering servant in the way of the prophets in the Old Testament. The expectation was that the Messiah would be crowned King, not die a shameful death on a cross. I doubt that Jesus, as he approached Jerusalem, or as he knelt crying out to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, was operating feeling impassioned and personal fulfillment. It seems to me that he sacrificed himself for a vision and purpose greater than his own fulfillment and yet ultimately gained the fulfillment of restored relationship.

The fact of the matter is that of my top strengths, mercy is glaringly missing. It's not a natural strength of mine. Yet, that doesn't let me off the hook. The Bible is pretty clear about where my motivation should spring from. Any knowledge or accomplishments I obtain are worthless without love. In addition to the requirement of love, Jesus makes it clear that the highest commandments are to love the Lord with all our hearts, minds, souls and strength and to love others as yourself.

I think one of the keys to keep in mind as we develop the gifts God has given us is that it cannot be all about us. The purpose of using our gifts is to build the Kingdom, to offer God's love in our community and our world. As such there's a fine balance of using our gifts and growing an attitude of humility and community in service of our Creator and Redeemer.