ILI: History Makers Leadership Podcast
Explore the transformative journey that is leadership. In each episode, we will dive deep into strategies, stories, insights, and the core values that shape and inspire effective Christian leaders who make an impact - all around the globe. Get ready to unlock your leadership potential.
When leaders are equipped, kingdom impact multiplies. Equipping leaders and spreading the Gospel. Let’s change history together!
This podcast is brought to you by the International Leadership Institute.
ILI: History Makers Leadership Podcast
Ep 44 | Building Authentic Relationships through Servant Leadership
In this episode of the History Makers Leadership Podcast, Daniel sits down with Carey Aiken, founder of Global Servant Leaders, to explore what it truly means to lead with authenticity and humility. Drawing from decades of ministry experience, Carey shares how he discovered that the greatest need among leaders isn’t more resources—but deeper relationships.
Together, they discuss the challenges of leadership isolation, the dangers of performance-based ministry, and the importance of discipleship rooted in genuine community. They also unpack how depleted leaders struggle to mobilize the church and why true transformation does not come from striving harder but from a deep, abiding relationship with Christ.
If you’ve ever felt the weight of leadership, struggled with burnout, or wondered how to cultivate a thriving spiritual life while serving others, this episode is for you. Join us as we dive into the heart of servant leadership and discover how God calls us to lead from a place of humility, surrender, and faith.
When you begin ILI training, you will discover how the Eight Core Values will lead to the Seven Outcomes in your life and the lives of those you lead. Join a community of leaders who are ready to change history and make an impact in this world. Discover more at ILITeam.org/connect.
Welcome to the History Makers Leadership Podcast, where we explore the transformative journey that is leadership. Each episode, we will dive deep into strategies, stories, insights and the core values that shape and inspire effective Christian leaders who make an impact all around the globe. This podcast is brought to you by the International Leadership Institute. Now get ready to unlock your leadership potential and let's change history together.
Speaker 2:Hey and welcome back to the History Makers Leadership Podcast. I'm Daniel and I'm really excited today to be joined by a longtime friend and friend in the ministry, Kerry Akin. Kerry, great to have you here, man. Thanks, Great to be here. Absolutely, brother. So for everybody here that maybe doesn't know you yet, will you just kind of let us know, man, what's some of your story? How has God been using you, Sure? What are some of the ways that you've been connecting into the kingdom work that God's doing around the world? What's some of your story there, man?
Speaker 3:Yeah well, and ILI is a big part of my story as well, so it's exciting to be here with you guys today. It's neat to see how God weaves things together over the years, and so I've been in full-time ministry since 1990. So that's longer than I would like to be old, but it's true, and God has taken me through lots of ups and downs. He led me on. I started out in youth ministry, did college ministry, did a couple of contemporary services and then, all through that, I was doing different kinds of mission work and then God began to really stir my heart for missions, and about 2007, I went on a trip with ILI to Uganda and it really stirred my heart.
Speaker 3:I met these leaders and I thought these guys are so humble and they have so little, but yet they seem so full of God, and it actually convicted me.
Speaker 3:It's like they have something I'm here to teach them and they have something I don't have, and so that kind of began a journey for me over the last number of years, and there's been key moments. I was in Venezuela around 2010 and God spoke to me and said you know, someday I want you to pour more into these leaders that have helped you in so many ways, I want you to pour more into these leaders that have helped you in so many ways, and so the ministry I started three years ago, going on four years now, is called Global Servant Leaders, and it was really in response to a call that God put on my life to say how do you help these leaders, who are giving so much with so little, to be more full, to be, you know, relationally with God, with others, that kind of thing. And so the whole ministry was based on the idea of pouring into those leaders around the world that are really spreading the gospel in ways we don't even see it spread here in America oftentimes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I love that vision, man. You know we teach intimacy with God is one of the eight core values of the most effective Christian leaders, and sometimes leaders can get either stuck in a rut or what I often hear from pastors is the most time they spend in the Scriptures is actually much as they're just trying to prepare it for someone else and it becomes this medium of kind of exchange where maybe God's trying to say something to them but they assume that's just always a word for someone else or whatever. So I know you've been really kind of leaning into that space. You've been in India, You've been in Uganda, You've been in Kenya. God's had you working in a lot of these places. What are you seeing as really that deeper discipleship need, that deeper, you know, cup-filling experience that these leaders are needing right now?
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I've seen it growing. What God's teaching me? 2014 to 17,.
Speaker 3:I did several trips where I spent time with leaders, and it was through ILI leaders. What I wanted to do just to understand what these leaders are really going through is I wanted to identify young leaders that were being effective and how they perceived their role and how they were feeling effective and what it was doing for them. And this is what I discovered that some of these guys that were so effective and girls, men and women that were out there in the trenches doing ministry, were doing so much and God was using them. It was authentic, but most of them felt pretty empty. Most of them felt oftentimes isolated. They felt like they were doing what they did and they had this relationship with God, but they just sensed there was something more to it. And as I began to talk to them, what I discovered is that, you know, I thought when I started, what do you need the most? And they'd go oh, you know, those of us who've done a lot of mission work is like, well, we need money.
Speaker 3:You know we need resources we need, and I was, uh, pleasantly surprised that relationships came above and beyond anything else, that you know as much as they wanted resources and as much as they lacked resources, as much as they could use other kinds of things, and they shared those things. But if you said, you know, could you choose between you know, having somebody to mentor you and having the financial resources, they chose the mentor. You know, if you could choose between having a deeper relationship with God or having this church do these things for you, they're like they wanted the relationship. So that was kind of revolutionary. I believe that's what the scriptures say, but I didn't know if that's what they were really feeling and it really was Wow.
Speaker 2:I love that because I think that the reality is that's how a lot of folks feel. Right, there's lots of loneliness, crises, articles, that I see a lot of people that are kind of yearning for authentic, genuine relationship, and I really think that's an expression of how God designed us. I think he designed us to be in community and, in fact, in the garden. He designed us to be in communion with him.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right. And so I think part of the fall is that experience of that brokenness, that longing. And when we don't have that, I think we begin to experience some of that sense of loss, that sense of lack, that sense of a desire for the kingdom really.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And so, as you're meeting leaders in that kind of context, how are you seeing, you know community start to be formed? I mean, we talked a little bit over lunch about you know, you've got these alumni groups that you've been being able to gather. Yeah, how are you, what are the conversations you're seeing in leaders as they kind of regather and build community as as're seeking to walk in a deeper relationship with the Lord?
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I think the thing I've seen the most is getting them past the barriers. You know, there's all these barriers and they're invisible barriers, you can't see them, but in their own life and we look at things like cultural barriers, you know. We look at, you know things where they're talking about, you know leadership barriers, and a lot of times there's a feeling that if I'm real, I'm going to get disqualified. You know, if I have problems, I'm not supposed to, you know. And so one of the things we try to get them to do is to begin to open up and say you know, this is a safe space yeah, you can't trust everybody, so don't you know, but we're a safe space and get them to get here's your real needs. How can you begin to form authentic relationships? We look at, you know, the key thing is those relationships. You know, curriculum, training, all those things that they so often long for, are only as good as they point towards relationships.
Speaker 2:Yes, it's only as valuable as the relationships that you build in the midst of them, the relationships that you know kind of fit across the table from you, and those kinds of things. I think, kerry, as I reflect on that, I think that really kind of points to one of the reasons why we're facing such a leadership crisis, just in general. Right, you know, I've been reflecting. The statistics are pretty clear. There's, you know, a little over 3 billion people who haven't heard the gospel, let alone those who've rejected, right, so these are just people who haven't heard the gospel, and still there are two billion believers in the world. Right, the three billion who have never heard the gospel may feel or seem overwhelming as an idea because, well, gosh, that's a whole lot of people, but when you've got two billion people to mobilize, I see that as that leadership, like that's a leadership failure.
Speaker 2:We have the resource in our congregations. We have a resource in our Christian community in many parts of the world. What's the connection you see between depleted leaders and the lack of mobilization of the congregation? Right, between depleted leaders and the lack of mobilization of the congregation, right Between depleted leaders and the lack of the mobilization of the body of Christ. What connection do you see there?
Speaker 3:There's a couple of things I see very vividly. One of those is, if they're depleted, you see the lack of energy, the lack of drive and all of those kind of things. But in addition to just their energy level and those kind of things, when they're depleted they're not communicating the gospel because it's not in them. And a lot of times when we're doing training ILIs, doing training GSL and people like you know, how does that result in souls won for Christ? And you know, you've seen this, I know, you've seen this, I've seen this the number one thing that draws people to Christ is seeing somebody Christ-like. You know, you've seen this, I know you've seen this, I've seen this the number one thing that draws people to Christ is seeing somebody Christ-like.
Speaker 3:You know, and so many churches, you meet a leader, you meet a pastor and you're like, oh, what a great communicator, what a great preacher. And then the curtain comes back and you get to know that you get involved and you go. That's not who I thought that was. And I want to know that you get involved and you go. That's not who I thought that was. And I want to be careful here because we're all imperfect.
Speaker 3:If you draw my curtain back. You're going to see me and go yeah, kerry's not exactly what I thought, and so it's not that we have to be these perfect people and that's actually part of the problem, because we think we have to be and so all these leaders start creating barriers and you know if I can just stay behind, you know, like the Wizard of Oz, if I can just stay behind the curtain, they'll think I'm greater than I am.
Speaker 3:And the real secret God says we're servant leaders is to draw the curtain back and say you see me, warts and all, and I'm on this journey with you and I'm authentic.
Speaker 2:I think that's such a powerful—you're right, kerry. We see these leaders and part of the problem is the sense of deception that can come when you present one way but the reality is something else. The point isn't that, you know, look, until we're up there with him, you're not going to be fully perfect. And so, in the meantime, it's that acknowledgement of, hey, you know I'm not perfect, that's okay, here's how I'm pursuing that, here's how I'm, you know, creating an accountability for myself, or you know, structures to help me be, you know, safer, or, you know, ultimately pursue Christ.
Speaker 2:But I reflect on, you know, even in the scriptures, david himself, I mean gosh, if you just look at David, he didn't really do a whole lot that was perfect. He had a few problems, he had a few problems. Well, and even look at the apostles, right, I mean Peter would go on to deny Christ. And you know, all throughout the scriptures we see these individuals that just fall over themselves with failure. But God is gracious to use them, and many times, right, I mean David again called a man after God's own heart.
Speaker 2:And I heard one pastor say this. He said it's just because he kept falling toward faithfulness, Like that. It was the acknowledgement, right, when he's approached over his sin with Bathsheba, right, there's brokenness that wasn't the same as Saul when Saul was approached with sin. And so I do think you're right that when we have those depleted leaders, we've got people that are kind of putting up these, these false fronts, uh-huh. Uh, we create for ourselves a context where, uh, our people, the people that are following us, yeah, they encounter their own failures and they don't know how to respond to that. Right, they're going.
Speaker 2:Oh well, I also should probably hide this I also should probably keep this it's being modeled to them. It is, it is so okay, uh, you know we're both in this space where we're trying to help kind of change correct. Move this issue to the side. When you guys walk through the servant leader process, you're looking to develop people with a Christ-like character, values Like how would you describe? Like, what do you want that person to look like and how long do you think that journey takes?
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, it's kind of a good news, bad news thing when you think about it, because you know what we tell them is, hey, guess what? This is a lifelong journey. You know, if you think that you're, you know my concern and a lot of very young popular leaders isn't their youthfulness. I've met very mature young leaders, but sometimes we think we get serious about God and then we're instantly going to be these different people and you know, I mean, I don't know about you, but it took me years to get into the mess that I was in when I came to Christ and it took me years to get back out of that mess. And what we try to encourage them is and this is the good news of the gospel you know, when you pick up a Bible, some people see a rule book and what God wanted us to see is a story about a relationship. And I think that getting them to look at that way one of the things that I'll do we were talking about.
Speaker 3:You know, what do leaders do when they have sin in their life, you know, and how do you actually grow through that? And so we always do this thing. Well, sometimes I'll say to them OK, I'm going to tell you something. And then I don't want you to think about it, okay. And they say okay. And I say, well, I don't want you to think about a banana, okay, so don't think about a banana right now. And I say what are you doing right now? And they go I'm thinking about a banana. That's what everybody's thinking about.
Speaker 3:And so often when leaders discover sin in their lives, their approach is I'm going to quit doing that. I'm going to stop that. And one of the things we try to teach them is you're not good enough to quit sinning. I'm not good enough to quit sinning. And the only way you and I are going to quit sinning is if we shift our focus from not thinking about a banana to thinking about an orange, you know, or whatever it is. That's the Christ-like, god-like thing that we can focus on Him.
Speaker 3:And the funny thing is, you know, when I'm in God's presence, I'm not sinning. I don't have to think not to sin. When I'm close with God, I'm just simply not sinning, because His nature doesn't do that Right. And so for so many leaders, the funny thing is, they all know that. You know it's, it's Christianity 101, you know that, that you become holy by being closer to God. But somewhere along the way we kind of have these things and we hide these things and we think I can't let anybody know. I've got to get rid of these things instead of being vulnerable, taking it to God, taking it to other people you trust and allowing a community. And that's hard. The higher you get as a pastor, the harder it is to pull back the curtain, and so that's been a struggle.
Speaker 2:It is, and you know I can't help but think of James, where it says you know, confess your sins, one to another that they may be healing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I do think that's that's one of the means that the enemy uses to kind of keep people outside of the maximum impact that God intends or desires for them. And the greater joy that comes from living a life of faithful obedience way, that comes from living a life of faithful obedience, you know, um, I love, I love that your initial reaction was to say, uh, you know, ultimately, a lifetime of faithfulness is, you know these are my words a lifetime of faithfulness is just that a lifetime. Right, it's not something that we're going to produce, uh, over over one seminar or one, one interaction or or anything of the sort. That's why we need relationship, that's why we walk in those journeys and that's why, you know, as we look at the Scriptures, yeah, it's a relationship, it's a set of, you know, precepts that the Lord gives us to walk in over the course of our whole life. Sure, our whole life, sure.
Speaker 2:And I think I think, as, as leaders engage with that and as they embrace that, I really think that's going to help stop some of the kind of hopping around from one thing to another without ever actually seeing transformation. We think, oh well, if I go, and if I go and take that class or if I go and read that book, if we're going to do that thing, I'm going to experience, you know, transformation and I'll make it big right, like I'll finally be there. I'll make the impact I want to make you know for the kingdom. But you know, gosh, gary, it takes a lifetime of faithfulness, a lifetime of consistent pursuit. So how would you suggest to a leader to find a context where they can do that? How do you walk alongside a leader and help them find that relationship or that community so that they can be in a lifelong pursuit of Christ?
Speaker 3:Right. Well, and I think, as you've said, you know how do they form that relationship, and so it's just like anything. One of the things I'll often say is you know, when my wife and I got married, you know we knew each other, right? But this next, next summer, we'll celebrate our 40th anniversary. Congratulations.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 3:She's put up with me really well.
Speaker 1:Man a saint right there.
Speaker 3:She is, she's ready for sainthood. So but over those 40 years, like we've learned so much, you know, and there's been some hard times. You know there's been some good, you know, and I and you know I wasn't always the wonderful guy that you see here before you today, and so you know we would struggle with all these things. But now we know each other on a certain level and you know the relationship is built through going on that journey together and knowing each other and sharing things with one another. And I'll often say to them you know, over the years, you know, if you got married and you said to your wife OK, I really love you and I want us to grow closer together and I'm going to stop by and see you every morning before I go to work and then I'll see you again tomorrow, and you say that, well, that doesn't make any.
Speaker 3:You can't have a good relationship if you just touch base every now and then you know there has to be an incredible investment. And it's funny how we can spend years and years working for God and we're not working with God and we're not being with God. And we may be but this is the way I've equated it We'll fall into checking the box. And so he'll say I do a devotional time every day, check the box. You know, I read my Bible, check the box. But what are you doing that you see your relationship with God as a lifelong thing, a way of life that you're living out each, every day. And so what are the habits that you form? What are the ways that you do things so that you yes, you do this here, but you do it meaningfully. You know you have things throughout the day to remind you of who you are, and then you have relationships around you, not just the one with God, but he gives us one another to kind of grow that relationship with Him. And so I think so often we turn it into task, and I think guys can be women can as well but particularly good at trying to make everything an assignment. And when you do that, you can just check the box, you know, and so I think God's really calling us to see it as centrally.
Speaker 3:How do we build a lifelong relationship? It's a journey that we're going to do and when I get to the end, I want to be more spiritual when I'm 70 than when I turn 60. And most people you know you'll see it. I was in the church for so many years and you'd be like we're recruiting new Sunday school teachers and they'll go. I've served my time. It's time for the younger generation. Well, that may be true in terms of some things, but in terms of a relationship with God, that never happens. You know, if we ever decide we're too old to keep growing, we're in trouble.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, I think that should be a, you know, a personal red flag if we ever had one. Right Like we're about to spend all eternity with God in His presence and glory, and that should be the fulfillment of our greatest longing. You know that's part of that. You know the anthem of the church Maranatha come, lord Jesus. And so there is that kind of heart that cries out for that and we should yearn to seek that. But I do think that, again, coming back to this idea of a leadership crisis that exists within the body, you know, to put it simply, leadership matters, and when we're failing at that, when we're not mobilizing the people, or, in some cases, when we are the only means by which people think ministry can be done, we're going to find ourselves perpetually just empty, perpetually in that state. So how do we help people begin to take ownership and responsibility for their own faith? How do you see discipleship resulting in individuals accepting a calling from the Lord and then leading themselves?
Speaker 2:How do you see some of those things carrying?
Speaker 3:out One of the things when I was going around to different countries and meeting with leaders and talking to them, what I saw was a direct connection between relationship and vision. Okay, and I hadn't really seen that, I didn't realize that before.
Speaker 2:Unpack that for us.
Speaker 3:And what I mean by that is as God would get closer to them and they would get closer to God. They would always emerge a vision from that relationship, Kind of like, you know, when I was growing up and my dad was in the military and I would be around him and I'd be, you know, learning things from him. And it's like, as I got older, I didn't go in the military, I'm in God's army, but I found all these things. It's like, why am I like this? It's like, oh, I got that from that relationship.
Speaker 3:My dad was a guy of integrity. It's like, you know, people would say, oh, you seem like and I go. I'm not as much integrity as you think I am, but that's important to me and it came from. And so what we have to teach people is how do we have healthy relationships? What do we do so that it gets caught and not taught, which is a phrase you'll hear thrown around sometimes, but that really is true to me that so often we're trying to get information instead of really looking at things that cause transformation, that are really changing us.
Speaker 2:I think that's so true. We have often thought of even discipleship as an intellectual pursuit, right when the discipleship process more is akin to school learning than anything else. But I heard John Marcoma. He put it in this kind of a phrasing. He said we're apprenticing right.
Speaker 2:And what do apprentices do? Well, they learn on the job, like they're doing it with the master there, and sometimes it means repetition of the same task over and over again until you start to see those minor details. You know, I used to do audio engineering kind of things for churches. Nothing professional, just a volunteer. But when I would train someone else I would often say, hey, I'll teach you how to do this and it'll take about five minutes and 95% of the things will be done. You're going to move this slider, you're going to move that knob, and it's fine. It's the other 5%. When things are broken and everyone's turning their face back at you, going why did you just make that terrible sound come out of the speakers? Why isn't my microphone working? Now, all of a sudden you got to and there's nothing I can do to teach you how to solve that other than just sitting here with you and then, when it happens, fixing it and then explaining.
Speaker 3:Do you see what I did All right.
Speaker 2:Now let's walk through that, and I think there's a degree to which that apprenticing to Jesus is that walking alongside him and learning. Hey, this is what integrity looks like. It looks like answering yes in this moment or no in this moment Right, when otherwise you might have just stayed silent or you might have softened that a little bit too much. Right, yeah? And I think there's some element there. I mean, what do you think? I mean, you've been in this space for 30 years. Does that ring true to you?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's absolutely true. You know, so often we're trying to be something that we're not, and one of the things he keeps showing me over and over again in my own life. You know, I'm a slow learner. I think the reason I was so old before I started this know, I'm a slow learner. I think the reason I was so old before I started this is because I'm a slow learner and God's basically saying this if this guy could do it, surely you can do it you know, and I really do think that's the story of the gospel.
Speaker 3:That's why he chose fishermen and he chose tax collectors and that kind of thing.
Speaker 3:It's like no, I don't want to take a guy who is a pretty good guy anyway yeah, of course he's doing pretty good. It needs to be. This is the thing, the profound truth that's hit me in the last few years harder than it ever did before. There's really nothing I have to offer apart from Christ. That's right. I have been crucified in Christ and I no longer live. Christ lives in me. That's right. And when I think about that you know I'll have scriptures I meditate on every day and I'm thinking if that's really true, then for years I thought God, make me a better me. And it's like, yeah, I know you made me the way I am, with my personality and gifts, and it's not like you're acting like I don't exist. But I'm only of real value if I'm filled with you, if I, if I've died to myself, I don't want anything for myself, and that's such a hard thing, it's so easy to say and it's so hard to do, you know.
Speaker 2:You know that that is such a true statement it is. It is easy to say and hard to do. It's one of those things that I feel like, certainly in the West, but maybe even broader, because the West certainly has cultural influence globally Right, but in the West it feels so countercultural.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, you know, it is so much like you've got this.
Speaker 3:you're able, you're the man, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
Speaker 2:Pull yourself up by the bootstraps. You know, look how great you are, you've got to be able to do this and you might have some insecurity, but don't worry about that, or I don't know. I just I think that there's such a kingdom opportunity, when we are authentic, open and just vulnerable, to say, yeah, you know, I really don't know, but this is the best I've got. This is where I feel like God's direction and teaching leads me, and then, at the personal side, to just go God, the most valuable thing I can offer is the application of your truth in my life and in front of others and in service to others. And, you know, I think we see that borne out where God blesses people, even people that reject him, by the actions of others in faithful followership of him. Let me give one brief example. I've been listening to a book called Unreasonable Hospitality.
Speaker 3:I don't know. Yes, I've heard of that one.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, great book. Really really enjoyed it. He quotes scripture in it. I don't know the individual's faith story or anything of the sort, but he quotes the scripture don't let the sun set on your anchor. Okay, yeah, biblical scripture. And he even is a little dismissive. He goes you know, I don't know how good that is for marriage or whatever, but I certainly used it in my restaurants and it worked really well and I thought, man, how how interesting, like you're experiencing the blessing of this thing, yeah, this scriptural truth, you're applying it, you're, you're receiving that benefit. But you may not even know the context that Paul's teaching in there or any of the other truth that's being purveyed in that teaching. And I think, when we live and lead from that position of full acknowledgement, that you know, yeah, I've been crucified with Christ, I'm just abiding in Him, gosh, there's peace there, there's release there and I think there's greater fruit for the kingdom there. I think he does more in that.
Speaker 3:The Bible. You know I used to read passage about. You know fruit and multiplying and what that was, and I always thought in terms of numbers. But if you really look at the context of most scriptures that talk about fruit, you know what is the fruit of the spirit. You know love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control. You know the fruit of the spirit and and the thing that always bothered me about the fruit of the spirit is it wasn't the fruits, it was the fruit. So I was supposed to have all those things.
Speaker 3:You know, and it's like the fruit of the Spirit was this thing that we can only get through that relationship with Him, and so often we're trying to drum that up or do something on our own. You know I feel so much for leaders. A lot of times it hurts me when I see that they've had poor leaders, because what happens and I see it, you see it in different places in the world. I've experienced it where you're under leadership and you know you're in it for long enough and you think well, I guess that's what it looks like in my culture and one of the things we talk about is that Christ is over culture.
Speaker 2:You know that you can use.
Speaker 3:You know some cultures are more relational. That's a good thing. Use that.
Speaker 3:Some cultures are better at hospitality. That's a good thing. But you know, there's a lot of things in our culture that aren't Christian-like, they're not biblical, they're not what God's wanting us to be, and so often we feel like, oh well, if that's the way my pastor did it, that's the way I should. You know, if I'm harsh with those under me, you know it's because he was harsh with me and if I don't control him, I'm not going to be effective. I read a book a few years ago. I got a free book that turned out to be kind of a transformational. Somebody gave me a book by Andrew Murray, Okay, and he's written a bunch of little books. They're great little things and this one was called Humility and I decided to read it and I thought, you know it didn't excite me. Sure, Humility, that's good.
Speaker 2:I mean, you know who wants to pick up a book on humility.
Speaker 3:You know leadership, you know power, you know something, but it's like, okay, that's a good read. And he made the case biblically that humility is really where you start in your relationship with God. It's the only you know throughout the scriptures. Isn't it funny? When it talks about Abraham, it talks about Moses, it talks about David. Do you know? It never refers to them as the leader. It always refers to them as a servant. You know, I'm a servant of God, I'm a servant of this and I think that book was a life changer for me, because what I realized is it's not about being mealy-mouthed, you know, kind of like, oh, I'm so humble, people walk on me, but it was about saying it's all under God, I'm not controlling it, god is. I'm not trying to decide what my will is, I want God.
Speaker 3:When I was doing youth ministry, we went to a program one time and there was a speaker and I'll leave out some of the details so you can't identify anybody and they kept talking about how they had this heart and God helped them fulfill the desires of their heart, and sometimes those things align. But what I heard that day? I had to get our youth together afterwards and say God's not here to fulfill your desires. He's here for his purposes, and if you fulfill his purposes, it will fulfill your desire. It'll better than you ever could on your own.
Speaker 3:And I think so many of these young leaders, they they feel like they got to control things. They've got to prove themselves. There's all these lessons that are cultural, but they're not God's lessons. It's not the guy who washed their feet, it's not, you know, it's not the guy who would spend every day with them, and so I think that's you know. If I could teach one thing to young leaders, it would be you have to start with humility and let God become your teacher, you know day by day and imagine, imagine what that generation could look like.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely. Imagine what that generation could look like, Absolutely, absolutely, man Kerry. That would be world transforming. Yeah, man, I love it. I love hearing your heart. I love hearing that vision of genuine, humble, servant leadership, from a heart and a perspective that says God, this is yours, and I'm not so boastful or arrogant as to presume to know better than you how to lead, respond or guide your people and accomplish your purpose. So, man, I love that. Thank you so much for sharing a little bit of your heart and spending a little bit of time with us today. Absolutely.
Speaker 3:You know, as I said at the beginning, ili has been part of my journey. You know I'm doing. You know it's not about ILI, it's not about GSL, it's not about any other letters or any other ministries. You know it's about the kingdom and it's so great. That's, I think, when we really see it become what it's supposed to be, when it's no longer about us, it's about what he and so many last year or two.
Speaker 3:I'll just share this that, as we've been sharing about this, I see so many leaders kind of get refreshed and be like I thought I had to just keep working until I died and I can actually be in a relationship. I can actually feel God's spirit again. I can actually. I don't have to live up to anything, I just have to do whatever God tells me to do, and it's been a very freeing thing and I think that's when we become more effective. We believe that if we got all the skills and all the gifts, we'll do it. But I think God really wants to take us and remold us and make us. Jeremiah 18 talks about the potter and he's remaking us, and so I think that's kind of my calling and you all are doing such an incredible job of helping people understand what are the things that really matter versus all the things we think matter.
Speaker 2:I love it, man. So if somebody's looking to connect with Global Servant Leaders you got a website someplace you should you can send them.
Speaker 3:We do. They can just Global Servant Leaders. That's a mouthful. It's got an S on the end. It's not a leader, it's leadersorg, and that'll give them gives a little brief video about who we are and there's even a place on there if they want to connect with us and say we want to learn more about what you're doing.
Speaker 2:Wonderful Well, Kerry. Thank you so much for spending a little time with us today, brother, I really appreciate it. Thank you.
Speaker 2:If you've joined us on today's episode, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for your time. If it's been valuable to you, you can just encourage us by sharing it with a friend, sharing it online, hitting a like, subscribe, whatever those various elements are for the platform that you're engaging on. And if you're looking for other leadership resources, I want to encourage Global Servant Leaders. A great resource that can help you discover that relationship that God intends, but the International Leadership Institute. This is what we do. We sit down, we walk through the eight core values of the most faithful Christian leaders.
Speaker 2:We help connect people into that global community, because there are men and women who are in desperate need of a clear calling and the values necessary to fulfill that calling, so that the whole world will know that Jesus Christ is Lord. The kingdom will advance and we'll see leaders walking in that abiding, intimate relationship with God that he calls us to. Kerry, thanks so much for spending some time with us today man, that's great, great to be with you, man.
Speaker 3:Amen, amen.