This cartoon by Nakedpastor.com got me thinking...I've wondered many times as a leader how much people can take of visionary language. Yes, vision empowers, motivates, gives people a "taste" of a preferable future...but how often can vision be something that does not inspire but rather becomes a burden? I was the pastor of a church in Denver years ago...it had had five different pastors over a 25 year period of time...each bringing to the congregation "their" vision...by the time I got there, the people were clear with me - we don't want to hear any more talk of "vision". One man actually said, "don't burden us with your vision, pastor...you do it and tell us how it's going...we're burned out on vision". Just because a leader has a vision does not mean that that vision is owned by the people in the movement/organization. If the vision isn't owned, isn't shared, isn't one that comes out of the heart of every person, then the vision might be one that de-motivates, discourages, or disrupts what God is really up. The dynamic of leadership that is one of the most difficult to attain and experience is how to discern vision in the context of community. Leadership isn't defined by the vision that the leader imposes on the people, or by the time it takes for the leader to convince the community that the leader's vision is worth investing in...but rather is something that is experienced when the leader senses the vision that God has for the community in the context of relationships...in other words, helping people as well as ourselves to see and sense and hear the voice/vision of God that we can all grasp on to and make our own. When the community is owning and leveraging its gifts and passions to actualize a common vision, now there's power! Any further thoughts? Comment below or email me @ rdugall@apu.edu
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