“I am Second”? NO “I am Third”!
You may have heard of the Christian ad campaign “I am Second.” This is the practice of living your life with God first and yourself second. But, I have a problem with this. Yes, God is first in my life, but why am I second? The great Zig Ziglar says, “If you help enough other people get what they want, you can have everything you want!” What that means is, if you put other people first, you can achieve all your goals. Why would I question the great Zig Ziglar? Zig and the ad campaign contradict one another, because I know Zig puts God first! So, “I am Second,” NO “I am Third”! IF you’re looking to become more successful in business, place everyone else’s needs ahead of your own! You’ll only find success through other people, not in spite of other people!
There’s a business philosophy called “Servant Leadership” which was started by Robert K. Greenleaf back in 1904. This philosophy has been updated by some of the great business writers of our day, like Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Peter Block and Peter Senge. They’ve given their input on what “Servant Leadership” is and its advantages.
Servant leadership turns the management pyramid upside down by putting the employees at the top of the triangle, and management on the bottom of the triangle. For some, this concept is hard to understand because it requires management to trust that the employees will perform to achieve great things with its clients.
One of the best examples of a company that practices Servant Leadership is Southwest Airlines. Southwest “serves” its passengers to the tune of being the most admired, envied and profitable airlines in the world. Why? Because it understands the benefits of “serving” people. Southwest doesn’t only serve its passengers; it also serve its employees. Here’s a quote from the now-retired CEO of Southwest Airlines, Herb Kelleher: “Just as Southwest has their customers, the passengers, the management team has their customers, the employees. If the customers are not satisfied, they will not fly again with Southwest. If the employees are not satisfied, they will not deliver the required performance!” Now that’s turning the table on every management practice around – and the proof is in the pudding!
One of the greatest leaders I know of once washed the feet of his subordinates, then, instructed them to serve others as he served them. Do you have anyone’s feet to wash today?
We’ll dig deeper into Servant Leadership next time.
John, This blog was great! I was impressed by you willingness to share your faith, even in such a public form. I applaude you sir- very well written. I also am excited to learn that servent leadership stretches beyond individual encounters and has been utilized in the work place. I can only imagine how different of an enviroment that must be! The love of Jesus is worth sharing, and we should all be so humble as to kneel and wash the feet of others- we should all be investing in people! Again, thank you for sharing!
John,
I like this post. Thank you for being so bold to share this with others as a Christian should do. I truly agree with Zig’s philosophy and I follow the Word of our greatest leader and Savior.
I don’t think that’s the point of being “second”. If you look at how God looks at us then yes, we are second and when it comes to treating other people than yourself then you would still treat them second (as you would treat yourself). It’s the samething really but the idea is to not bring yourself down! Because we are second from God no matter how you look at it. being third (I think) just brings you down, I used to think I was third too but “I’m second” just makes more since.
I agree that I CANNOT BE SECOND … God is first. No debate there!! He has to be #1 in my life, my home, my work, school, on my team, etc. But putting myself SECOND is disturbing and it is bad theology in my humble opinion. I certainly get what “I AM SECOND” is trying to portray, BUT … if I am second, then where does my wife and family come? What about the poor and destitute? Where are the homeless and even my enemy (hopefully I don’t have any enemies)?? Remember, Jesus taught us to “Love one another as I have loved you” … and He loved us all the way to death on a Cross. So, therefore, I need to put others … ALL OTHERS before myself. In no way do i think that is “bringing myself down” as Cherrie suggests in the prior post.
One of the best acronyms I ever heard is J.O.Y. = Jesus Others Yourself …. if we want true happiness and Joy in our lives, we must live our lives with that priority.
The absolute best acronym I ever heard is, F.A.M.I.L.Y. = Forget About Me I Love You … now that really sums it all up!! We need to rid ourselves from the greed and selfishness that exists in our hearts and start loving others more unconditionally and selflessly. Jesus was NEVER selfish. Let’s try to be more like Him everyday!
I was questioning the whole “I am second” philosophy so I thought I would google it. I am so glad I did as this is exactly what I was thinking myself.
Thank you for posting this blog John and for the replies. I feel so connected to people I don’t even know by sharing our faith with one another. God is soooo good…