It's been a full week for our denomination - three days of Mission Congress, followed by three days of Conference and then the annual ordination service taking place this Sunday. We saw lots of creative energy at the Congress and it'll be exciting to see what concrete decisions Conference makes based on the recommendations from Mission Congress.
A deceptively simple question posed by one of the keynote speakers at Mission Congress has stayed with me all week. He was speaking on the topic of leadership and he asked us to reflect on our motives - what is it that actually drives us? If I am leading for the sake of status or affirmation, or for material benefits, or for the exercise of power, then everything I do will be touched by that motive. For example, if it is status that motivates me, every action I take will have me conscious of how it makes me appear to others.
Jesus calls us to be different. Keenly aware of how our motives drive us, he says to his disciples: "Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not to be served—and then to give away his life" (Mk 10:43ff).