Leaders Vision Chapter 4
Source of the Vision
Christian organizations should take careful note that, throughout Scripture, God rarely worked in the same way twice. God’s activity was always unique to the people with whom he was dealing and the time in which he was working. God’s activity cannot be reduced to a formula because God is always more concerned with peoples’ obedient response to his will than with the means of communicating his will. Churches are remiss if they assume that because God worked mightily in a particular way in the past, he will choose to work in exactly the same way in the present. Many organizations today are locked into doing things a certain way, not because it is still effective, but because it was effective yesterday. This is the curse of success.
How do leaders generate vision? They envision a desirable future for their organization and then develop a plan to achieve the results. This venture can put enormous pressure on leaders as they assume responsibility for interpreting the rapid, global changes around them and for peering into the future to determine the best approach for their organizations.
What kind of person is qualified for such a demanding task? Leaders who have had a broad range of experiences, who have traveled extensively, have read broadly, who know a wide variety of people, and who have stretched their thinking through education and a mosaic of life experiences are thought to have a good chance of developing compelling and innovative visions. But the job doesn’t end there. Once leaders develop a vision, they have the onerous task of selling it to their constituents.
Often, leaders put their reputations and credibility on the line as they seek to win support for their vision. When people reject leaders’ visions they are expressing a lack of trust in their leaders. Leaders feel pressured to develop visions that are grand enough and compelling enough that people want to “sign up.” If people still refuse to follow, leaders may attempt to develop a still more impressive and attractive vision that will enlist people’s commitment. James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras in their book, Built to Last, talk about “Big Hairy Audacious Goals,” or BHAGs. These are organizational goals that are so large and so challenging they compel people to unite together to achieve the seemingly impossible. Companies have embraced such goals and the results have, on occasion, been impressive.
Many Christian leaders have adopted BHAGs with gusto. Yet, at times, there seems to be a hollowness to their rhetoric. They say, “We need to dream big dreams for God,” or “We must set goals that are worthy of the mighty God we serve.” This all sounds exciting and can generally elicit a chorus of amens from the audience, but is it biblical? Isaiah 55:8–9 cautions: “ ‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.’ ”
Yet many Christian leaders adopt the world’s approach to vision and miss out on God’s way. In seeking to serve God, they inadvertently try to take on the responsibility of God. The truth is, God is on mission to redeem humanity. He is the only one who knows how to do it. Leaders must understand, as Christ did, that their role is to seek the Father’s will and to adjust their lives to him. Too often Christian leaders operate under a false sense of assurance that they are seeking God’s will. Being proactive by nature, leaders want to rush into action. As a result, they don’t spend enough time seeking to hear clearly from God. Instead, they simply have a cursory moment of prayer and then begin making their plans. They seek out a few relevant Scriptures and hurry into the goal-setting phase, falsely confident that because they incorporated prayer and Scripture into their goal-setting process, their plans are “of God.”
Asking God to set one’s goals and to bless one’s dreams does not ensure that they are from God. Only God can reveal his plans and he does so in his way, on his time schedule, and to whom he wills. How often do Christian leaders claim to have received their vision from God when in fact they have simply dreamed up the most desirable future they could imagine and then prayed for God to bless their efforts as they set out to achieve it? It is critical for leaders to walk closely with the Father, so they are keenly aware of his revelation and are ready to respond in obedience to his initiatives. The role of spiritual leaders is not to dream up dreams for God but to be the vanguard for their people in understanding God’s revelation. The Christian leader is far better described as a servant of God.
The manner in which God leads his people is best understood by examining the Scriptures. When God revealed his plans, he frequently did so in the form of a promise accompanied by vivid imagery. Thus, when God spoke, his people clearly knew what he planned to accomplish and could often describe God’s coming activity in rich symbolism. For example, when God revealed to Noah his plans for the earth, God made a promise—he would destroy all the peoples of the earth. He also gave Noah a clear picture of how this promise would be fulfilled—a terrible flood would consume and cover the earth (Gen. 6:17). Noah’s ministry of preaching and constructing the ark was not driven by his vision of how he could best serve his community; neither was it his imagining the best possible future for his society. Noah’s vision came from God’s promise of an imminent flood. After the flood subsided, God made another promise to Noah. This time the symbol of God’s promise was a rainbow (Gen. 9:12–13).
God also approached Abraham with a promise. Not only would Abraham have a son in his old age, but God also promised to produce through Abraham a multitude of descendants who would bless all nations of the earth (Gen. 12:1–3). God provided several images to help Abraham grasp the enormity of the promise. Abraham’s descendents would be as countless as dust particles (Gen. 13:16), as numerous as the stars (Gen. 15:5), as innumerable as the grains of sand on the seashore (Gen. 22:17). God’s revelation to Abraham came as a promise, clothed in vivid imagery.
When God promised to deliver the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt, he referred to a land flowing with milk and honey, giving the downtrodden slaves an inspiring vision of comfort and prosperity (Exod. 3:8). When the risen Christ promised his followers an eternal home in heaven, he used the imagery of a groom coming for his bride and of a spectacular celebration feast (Rev. 19:7–9). God often presents his promises in images that captivate people’s imaginations.
An examination of God’s promises, as seen through the Scriptures, makes two things obvious: (1) God’s promises are impossible to achieve apart from him, and (2) God’s promises are absolute. They are not open for discussion or amendment.
Reception of the vision
The challenge for leaders is to understand how vision can motivate followers to do things they would never attempt otherwise
Vision must be clear, compelling, and common to all the people.
To the world, a good vision is an image of something that is both desirable and attainable. The difference between worldly visions and God-given visions is that God-given visions are always impossible to achieve apart from God. In this regard, Christian leaders have a tremendous advantage over secular leaders. People want to be a part of something significant. People want their lives to make a difference in their world. People want to be a part of something God is doing. If it is clear that God has made a promise to a group of people, there should be little difficulty in enlisting the support of group members.
Communication of the Vision
Spiritual leaders don’t sell vision; they share what God has revealed to them and trust that the Holy Spirit will confirm that same vision in the hearts of their people.
The leader cannot convince people that a particular direction is from God. This is the Holy Spirit’s task.
As people grow in their relationship with God, they will hear from God themselves and want to follow him. No one will have to cajole them or entice them into following. It will be a natural heart response. The key to spiritual leadership, then, is to encourage followers to grow in their relationship with their Lord. This cannot be done by talking about God. It cannot be accomplished by exhorting people to love God. It can only be achieved when leaders bring their people face to face with God and God convinces them that he is a God of love who can be trusted.