OBERT GREENLEAF CREATED QUITE THE buzz in the business community when he developed his theory of servant leadership back in 1970. Leaders are still quite enamored with his ideas. While many leaders give lip service to "servant leadership," rarely do we see it in real life.

Occasionally, however, a servant leader comes along who descends into greatness. Jane Byrne comes to mind. She was the mayor of Chicago who made a highly publicized tour of Cabrini-Green. This public housing project of 81 high-rises and row houses embodied evil in its purest form. Gangs controlled the 14,000 people living there. Rape, murder, extortion, drugs, and violence--these vices plagued the residents on a daily basis.

Addressing the terrorized citizens, the mayor promised, "You are going to live in security and safety." It sounded like a typical promise from a polished politician. That is, until the next week when Ms. Byrne announced her plans to leave her luxury apartment and move to Cabrini-Green! Now that raised some eyebrows. Headlines screamed, "Mayor Moving to Cabrini!" Commented one city politician, "It is a pretty dramatic thing to do."1

Indeed, servant leadership is dramatic. As dramatic as the mayor moving might be, it pales in comparison to the Son of God taking up residence in our unruly world. And yet that is exactly what Jesus did. Then he taught the guts of servant leadership when he said, "Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must become your slave" (Matt. 20:26, 27, NLT).

My hunch is that nobody would quarrel with the tenets of servant leadership. Who would dare disregard the clear counsel of Christ? And yet, in practice, the prevailing attitude of Christian leaders often sounds more like this: "I'm the servant leader around here . . . now buck up and follow!"

Whether you're the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or a stay-at-home dad, Jesus calls you to be a servant. Whether you're leading a workforce or your family, you will have plenty of opportunities today to let those around you know that you are a servant.

How?

Let me be specific by underscoring the major themes from the book of James. This classic letter, penned by the half brother of Jesus, could be considered the definitive training manual for servant leaders. Below are four suggestions that James gives us:

1. Practice servant leadership with your eyes.
This might be called the ministry of noticing. James 2:15, 16 (NIV) puts it like this: "Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?"

If it weren't so tragic, it would almost be comical. Imagine, James suggests, approaching someone who is starving and naked, and saying, "Hope you enjoy watching me eat Krispy Kremes. Oh, and by the way . . . nice threads." Of what value is that? True servant leaders develop eyes that notice needs.

Want to be a servant leader? Then notice the needs of people. Notice what they do right, and affirm that. It's so simple, yet powerful.

I once received a letter from my boss that basically said, "I noticed . . ." He wrote, "Dear Karl, I noticed an article that you had written in the Sabbath School Teacher's helps. I noticed that your church met their financial goals last month. I noticed . . . " He went on to say, "I don't know how you get everything done that you do, but I want you to know that somebody notices such things. I appreciate you." Then he offered this PS: "Enclosed you'll find a very small token of my appreciation."

Sure enough, he sent a crisp $5 bill. Isn't that classy? I know it's not a lot of money, but imagine if everyone reading this article were to notice what I do! (You know I'm kidding. Don't--and I repeat--don't send me money . . . unless, of course, you're really spiritual, then by all means--I'm joking.)

The point is, you can practice servant leadership by noticing what people do. Perhaps you can call your stepchild and say, "I noticed you mowed the lawn last night . . ." Or write your boss a note: "I noticed you stayed after work again last night. That kind of commitment is inspiring to me . . ."

2. Practice servant leadership with your ears.
This might be called the ministry of empathizing. James offers this advice to servant leaders: "My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry" (James 1:19, NIV).

Now, when James calls us to be good listeners, he is suggesting more than just hearing auditory sounds. He has in mind the notion of empathy. In other words, he wants us to be authentic servants, and really crawl into the skin of someone in need.

I learned about the ministry of empathizing when my wife, Cherié, was pregnant. We dutifully enrolled in a Lamaze class. Now for the record, Lamaze tends to be quite optimistic about the whole birth deal. For example, our Swedish instructor, Natilda, would never use the word "pain" when talking about delivery. Instead, she said, "You may experience some discomfort." She even took us through a simulation exercise in which we clipped clothespins on our ears--as if to suggest that delivering a baby would feel much the same. Then she instructed us to "think happy thoughts" in order to cope with the "discomfort." (By the way, Natilda had no children of her own.)

I, too, was assigned a role in the birth. I was called "the coach." Now, the primary role of "the coach" was to empathize. "Put yourself in your wife's place," Natilda cooed. "Feeeeeeeel her discomfort. Seize the moment as if you were the deliverer. Support the one you love."

"OK," I said. "Empathy. Righto. I'll deliver!"

The day that went down in empathy finally came. Our doctor induced labor at 8:00 a.m. This was welcome news, since we assumed the ordeal would be over by noon. By noon, however, Cherié was in excruciating pain--with no promise of a munchkin anytime soon. By 6:00 p.m. Cherié felt as if she were swimming in a pool of hot tar. I tried to be a good coach, but I felt more like a magician trying to coax a greased Saint Bernard through a cat door. Nothing seemed to work (except Cherié--now she was working).

After 20 hours Cherié let out a scream that turned my spine into a crystal goblet in the old Memorex commercials. So I said, "Ah, honey, are you experiencing some discomfort?"

Come to find out, that was not the most empathetic thing I could have done. While that may go without saying, let's agree that empathy is a tricky art at best. How can I really know what it's like to have a baby? (Sorry, Ms. Discomfort, but I'm not convinced by the clothespins.) How can I feel the pain, the joy, the struggle, or passion of another person? It's a precarious proposition, to be sure.

Nevertheless, it is possible to model empathy. Look at Jesus. He lived a sinless life, yet empathized with sinners. We do not need to experience the exact things; we must only be willing to listen so deeply that we are consumed in the same emotions as another person.

Empathy isn't easy, but it's worth the effort. So why not give it a whirl? Walk in someone else's Birkenstocks. Put on someone's pain. Crawl into another's skin. The dividends will be well worth the investment. For Cherié and me, the result was tons of joy . . . that weighed 8 pounds, 14 ounces.

3. Practice servant leadership with your mouth.
Another way that you can be a servant leader today is by using your mouth to practice the ministry of blessing. Again, this is a prevalent theme in the book of James. "If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless" (James 1:26, NIV).

Think about tongue power. On the one hand, words can wound the soul. Whoever suggested that sticks and stones can break the bones but words will never hurt ought to be sued for slander. Words can hurt.

But on the other hand, words can also heal. Proverbs 16:24 reminds us, "Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones" (NIV). So practice servant leadership today and venture words of affirmation, love, and blessing. Speak kindness to your roommate, your professor, or your employees. Maybe you haven't talked to your ex-wife for years. You are so angry because of what she did to you. Well, the Holy Spirit is talking to you: "Be a servant leader. Take the initiative to humbly serve the person who you think least deserves your love."

4. Practice servant leadership with your hands.
The final way that James calls us to be servant leaders is by putting our hands to work, and practicing the ministry of service. "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress" (James 1:27, NIV).

According to James, servant leadership manifests itself by caring for the marginalized. My favorite story on this comes from Philip Yancey.

It seems that a woman went with her fiancé to the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Boston to arrange the details for their wedding banquet. The couple pored over the menu, selected china and silver, ordered flower arrangements, and so on. Because they had pricey tastes, the bill totaled more than $13,000! They left a deposit of $6,500 and went on to tackle the seemingly endless list of other details for the big day.

Then the romance soured. The day the invitations were to be sent, the potential groom got cold feet. "I can't go through with this," he whined. "I must break off our relationship."

When the fiancée tried to cancel the banquet, the events manager at the Hyatt could not have been more sympathetic. She even shared her own story of heartache. "But about the refund," she said, "I have bad news. The contract is legally binding. You're entitled only to $1,300 back. You have two options: forfeit the rest of the down payment, or go ahead with the banquet. I'm sorry; I really am."

It was a wild idea, but the more the jilted bride thought about it, the more she liked the idea of going ahead with the party. It wouldn't be a wedding banquet, of course, but a banquet just the same.

You see, 10 years earlier this woman had been living in a homeless shelter. Thanks to some community servant leaders, however, she was able to get a good job and save some money. Now she wanted to treat the down-and-outs of Boston to a night on the town.

Yancey writes: "And so it was in June of 1990 the Hyatt Hotel of downtown Boston hosted a party such as it had never seen before. The hostess changed the menu to boneless chicken--'in honor of the groom,' she said--and sent invitations to rescue missions and homeless shelters. That warm summer night, people who were used to peeling half-gnawed pizza off the cardboard dined instead on chicken cordon bleu. Hyatt waiters in tuxedos served hors d'oeuvres to senior citizens propped up by crutches and aluminum walkers. Bag ladies, vagrants, and addicts took one night off from the hard life on the sidewalks outside and instead sipped champagne, ate chocolate wedding cake, and danced to big band melodies late into the night."2

Forward March!
Maybe this week you too can be a servant leader and throw a banquet for someone in need. It may not look like the meal Yancey describes, but just the same, you can use your hands to serve people in need.

I say, enough with all the lip service about servant leadership. It's time to unleash an army of real servant leaders.

How? With your eyes--notice the needs of others. With your ears--hear the hurts of people around you. With your mouth--speak words of blessing. And with your hands--serve "the least of these," and you will be among the greatest leaders in the only kingdom that counts.

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1 This story is adapted from S. Rickly Christian, Alive (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1990), p. 115.
2 Philip Yancey, What's So Amazing About Grace? (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1997), p. 49.

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Karl Haffner is senior pastor of the Walla Walla College church in College Place, Washington.