Serve them, and they will follow
The elders counsel Rehoboam
The old men who had served Solomon gave young King Rehoboam the wisest counsel of his reign: if you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and speak kind words to them, then they will be your servants forever. Serve them first, and they will follow you for life. Rehoboam rejected it, listened to his peers, threatened the people with heavier burdens instead — and split the kingdom in a single day.
The counsel exposes the order most leaders get backwards. They demand that people serve the vision before they have served the people; they ask for a loyalty they have not earned. The elders saw that service flows downhill first. A leader who genuinely, sacrificially serves his people — before asking anything of them — wins a devotion that no amount of demand can produce. Rehoboam wanted servants without being one, and was left with a fraction of a kingdom to rule.
“The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
— Jesus, on why he came — Matthew 20:28 (WEB)
Service flows downhill first. Serve your people before asking them to serve your vision, and you win a devotion no demand can produce.
“If you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”
The elders knew loyalty is earned by serving, not commanded. A leader formed here serves his people first rather than demanding they serve his vision. The inner work is the humility to lead by serving, as Rehoboam would not.
Serve your people genuinely and sacrificially before asking anything of them. Speak good words and bear their burdens, and let followership grow from that. Refuse the Rehoboam path of demanding loyalty you have not earned.
Leaders ask people to serve the vision while never serving the people, then resent the lack of devotion. The blind spot is demanding a loyalty that only service can earn.
Identify a place you are demanding service or loyalty. This week, reverse it — serve those people first, concretely, before asking anything.
Leaders demand that people serve the vision before they have served the people, asking a loyalty they haven't earned. Rehoboam wanted servants without being one — and split a kingdom in a day.
Are you serving your people before asking them to serve your vision, or demanding a loyalty you haven't earned?