PUTTING A STAMP ON YOUR WORLD Week 2: Egocentric Leadership vs. Equipping Servant Leaders This includes: 1. Leader Preparation 2. Lesson Guide 1. LEADER PREPARATION LESSON OVERVIEW Egocentric or self-centered leadership is the second global giant that we are going to examine in this series. It sometimes seems like leaders in our world in all realms of life are focused only on what s best for them. Many of these leaders didn t start out that way, but they became obsessed with power. Somewhere along the way they started to ignore the people they were leading. As Christians we have the opportunity and responsibility to model servant leadership, not egocentric leadership. LESSON OBJECTIVES 1. WHAT: True leadership means more than just being in charge of other people it means a willingness to serve others. 2. WHY: Our culture often promotes and emphasizes egocentric leadership as the standard to follow. 3. HOW: Students will examine ways they can be servant leaders and serve as Jesus did. PRIMARY SCRIPTURE Zechariah 10:2 SECONDARY SCRIPTURES Proverbs 11:14; John 21:15-17; and 1 Timothy 2:1-4 TEACHING PREP The short overview below is designed to help you prepare for your lesson. While you may not want to convey this information word-for-word with your teenagers, you ll definitely want to refer to it as you lead your small group lesson. In today s passage, we see that God wants leaders to realize that people in their care, in many ways, are like sheep. They need someone to care for them. God wants leaders who are willing to care for the people and not ignore their needs. Read Zechariah 10:2. We see in this first part of the verse that a leader must look to God for direction. Zechariah says it s foolish to look to idols and fortune-tellers for answers. Many leaders in our world turn to anything BUT God. They may get temporary results, but ultimately these methods are foolish and destructive.
THE BEFORE & AFTER [optional] Text Message Questions We ve provided a couple of different text message questions to send out to your students prior to your meeting. Feel free to use one or both of the questions below. As with the rest of the curriculum, edit these questions to fit the needs of your ministry. Got followers? Yep, you do. Let s talk about it tonight at small group. Ever considered sheep-herding as a career? Come to small group tonight. Parent Email We ve provided you with an email below that you can send to your parents following the lesson. Our hope is to encourage parents to continue the conversation at home. Feel free to edit and customize the email to fit your ministry needs. Dear parents, We continued our series on global giants in small groups this week by looking at our second challenge: egocentric leadership. It sometimes seems like leaders in our world in all realms of life selfishly focus on what s best for them. Many of these leaders didn t start out that way, but they were not able to handle power. Somewhere along the way they started to ignore the people they were leading. As Christians we have the opportunity to model servant leadership instead of egocentric leadership. We discussed how our students can learn to model Jesus style of servant leadership. We saw that the cure for this global problem of self-centered leadership is to have leaders who are willing to think of others before themselves. Our students talked about some practical ways that they can begin serving others right now. Over the next week, take time to talk with your student about the effects of egocentric leadership in our world. Discuss ways your teenager can practice servant leadership right now. Here are some questions you could use to launch your dialogue: What s the connection between your relationship with God and the way you lead or serve other people? What are some ways you ve been an effective behind-the-scenes leader? How might our world be different if more leaders decided to be servant leaders instead of egocentric leaders? Thanks for your continued prayers and support for our small group ministry. Have a blessed week!
PUTTING A STAMP ON YOUR WORLD Week 2: Egocentric Leadership vs. Equipping Servant Leaders 2. LESSON GUIDE GETTING THINGS STARTED [optional] Welcome your students and invite them into your meeting area. Open in prayer, and then SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Attitude is crucial to success, as we will see in this scene from the movie Remember the Titans (rated PG). Gerry criticizes Julius for not listening and not sacrificing for the team. Julius responds by saying leaders must lead, and he accuses Gerry of not guiding the white players to sacrifice for their black teammates. Gerry isn t pleased with Julius attitude. Start the clip at 0:29:15, as Gerry and Julius bump into each other. Stop the clip at 0:30:45, as Julius says, Attitude reflects leadership, captain. When have you seen one person s poor attitude drag down an entire team or group? What characteristics have you noticed in Christ-like leaders? Does servant leadership mean you re always positive, never negative? Why or why not? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Many people like the idea of being a leader, but not many people really know how to lead. Leading others is more than just standing in front of a group; it means getting a group to move in a specific direction or work toward a common goal. In this lesson, we examine the difference between a servant leader and an egocentric, selfcentered leader. What are some characteristics of a servant leader and some characteristics of an egocentric leader? [NOTE: We ve included some basic qualities of each type of leader that you can use to help your group at the beginning or to augment their lists.] Some characteristics of a servant leader: Willing to serve in whatever way is best for the team Focused on others Eager to share the spotlight with teammates and co-workers More concerned with people s well-being than personal reputation Listens to what other people have to say People are following because they are valued or appreciated Recognizes the dangers of power and influence and control Some characteristics of an egocentric leader: Wants to serve in the most upfront, noticed position Focused on self Craves and hungers for attention and recognition More concerned with personal reputation than others well-being Dominates conversations and rarely seeks input from others People are following because of intimidation or job security Hungers for power and influence and control
SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Many of you will someday have opportunities to lead, and you will have to decide what kind of leaders you become. God desires for us to follow the biblical example of servant leadership, and when we do, we honor him. Unfortunately, in some nations, millions of people live in poverty and filth while their leaders are living well. Many people in these countries survive without basic necessities or even food, but the leaders have huge homes and more than enough food every day. This type of self-serving leadership breaks God s heart. If you came up with an opening activity, movie clip, or game that worked well with your group, and you d like to share it with other youth workers, please email us at ideas@simplyyouthministry.com. TEACHING POINTS The goal of the Teaching Points is to help students capture the essence of each lesson with more discussion and less lecture-style teaching. The main points we have chosen here are (1) Take time to focus, (2) Take time to practice, (3) Take time to care, and (4) Take time to review. Remember: All throughout these lessons, it s up to you to choose (1) how many questions you use, and (2) the wording of the main points keep ours, or change the wording to make it clearer for your audience. Read Zechariah 10:2 together as a group. Consider allowing one or more of the teenagers to read the text. SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Let s spend some time focusing on how we can serve in a way that is pleasing to God. 1. Take time to focus Read John 21:15-17. Why did Jesus repeatedly instruct Peter to take care of his sheep? What s the connection between your relationship with God and the way you lead or serve other people? What s involved in taking care of sheep, and how do those tasks translate to leadership roles in our culture? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: When you become a leader it can be hard to stay focused at times. Ministry begins with loving Jesus! This is why Jesus asked a question before giving an instruction. There are always things that will be pulling at you, including pressure from others, competing and conflicting obligations, the need for resources, and other unforeseen obstacles that threaten to derail your plans and vision. As you learn to lead others, maintain your focus on serving God. Your personal relationship with God must be at the center of your life. Make choices and decisions that honor God. Don t see yourself as superior to the people you lead, but remain willing to serve them and serve alongside them.
2. Take time to practice SAY SOMETHING LIKE: God wants you to learn to model leadership as Jesus did. This means that you are a participant in the process. Many leaders think that they are above the ones they lead, but servant leaders come alongside the ones they lead. As a servant leader, don t ask others to do something you are unwilling to do. And the best way to practice being an effective servant leader is to do exactly what the phrase communicates: Serve others. What are some ways you ve been an effective behind-the-scenes leader? Why do many people believe someone has to be up in front of others to be a leader? What are some examples of servant leadership you ve noticed in our ministry and church? 3. Take time to care Why did God compare the people to sheep in Zechariah 10:2? How do you know when someone is lost or wandering spiritually? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Zechariah tells us that the people are like sheep. This analogy is important. Sheep require constant care and guidance. Sheep need a shepherd for protection and direction. A true servant leader plays that role of protector, guide, and provider. The end of the verse shows us what happens when leaders ignore the people. We see that the people wander and lose their direction because no one is caring for them. 4. Take time to review Read Proverbs 11:14. What does it mean for a leader to find safety or strength in having many advisers? If you re not responsible for a team of people right now, how is this verse relevant to you? What role have other people played in your life to help you grow as a servant leader? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Christ-like leaders are willing to step back and review so that they might learn from others. They evaluate their motives and assess the quality of their leadership efforts. Are you following your own ideas and dreams, or are you in tune with God s plans and vision? Are you displaying patterns of servant leadership or egocentric leadership? A trusted peer or mentor can offer feedback as you assess how well you re doing and how you can continue to grow. ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION [optional] Based on the verses we ve read and our discussion so far, what are some reasons that servant leadership might be better than egocentric, self-centered leadership? What aspects of egocentric leadership might be redeemable? Based on your experience, are people more likely to follow a servant leader or an egocentric leader? Explain.
Read 1 Timothy 2:1-4. What can you learn from these verses about the way you can interact with leaders right now? What can these verses teach you about the way you could interact with other people when you are a leader? APPLICATION The issue of egocentric leadership is a global giant. How can you as a group of teenagers help others learn to be servant leaders? What can we do as a youth ministry or a congregation to promote and encourage servant leadership? Pair up with another person in the group for this discussion. It isn t always easy to be a servant leader. It sometimes means making sacrifices and doing things that you may not always like. What s one way right now you can practice being a better servant leader in each of these categories: o At home? o At school? o At church? o In our youth group? o On your sports team or another club or group? o At work? Bring back everyone in the group to talk about some of the ideas your teenagers generated. SUMMARY End your small group lesson here. Provide your teenagers with a quick summary or takehome challenge based on (1) the content of this lesson, (2) the dialogue that took place during the lesson, (3) your understanding of the issues and struggles your teenagers are facing, and (4) the big picture of your youth ministry and what your leadership team wants accomplished with the teaching and discussion time. FOR KEEPS [MEMORY VERSE] Encourage and/or challenge your teenagers to memorize the verse below. So my people are wandering like lost sheep; they are attacked because they have no shepherd (Zechariah 10:2).