Leadership – the
book, Vision
Talks for UCB 3 min
I always feel sad when I come the end of my chance to talk with you. I hope you have found our
times together helpful, as I have chatted about the subject of leadership. I have
written a book on the subject and in it I cover many other areas that I haven’t had time
to talk to you about in this series. I looked through all
the subjects in my book, ‘Leadership and…’ to decide what
to share with you during this last talk, should I
tell you about decision makers or small
groups of people, or perhaps the platform? Goals? Work or loyalty? And I was very tempted by
the chapter on Solomon’s clothes, there’s one I wish I had time for right now, but as I pondered it
became very clear what should I talk about during our final time
together. I decided it has to be
vision.
Scripture says that where there is no vision,
people perish. Now maybe it’s just the
people I mix with but there has been a bit of a backlash against vision. Maybe you are not aware of that and if not
don’t let it worry you. The thing is
that people, and I understand why they do, react against the fact that leaders want everyone to buy into their vision, and sometimes they exhaust people in trying to see things achieved and the
vision reached, and why their vision anyway? Why not
mine?
Well here are some answers; firstly
do you have a vision? People regularly come and chat with me, seeking advice about
the direction their life is taking, or not, as the case may be, they may say
things like, ‘ I don’t have a vision, I really would like one, what should I do?’ I’m sorry but I have
a stock answer which is, ‘get on board someone else’s vision!’ Don’t forget that scripture says, without one people perish
Secondly as leaders, aren't we all called to lead? Yes we are,
but we are also called to follow. Scripture states
that we should be under authority, and if we are all practicing servant leadership then things will work really
well. I would also hope that as a leader you are following a vision God has given you, one that reflects what
Jesus would say, ‘I must be about my Father’s business.’ Or let’s put it another way,
the Father’s vision is what I plan to accomplish.
So let’s think again about those who
have no vision, if it is the Father’s vision that
your leader is following, why not get on board? A
key point to bear in mind is that the Father’s vision is broad enough to
encompass other visions. For the church
community to function smoothly and effectively, you will all be following a God
given vision but that does not eliminate the possibility that God can also give
you a vision, at which point you should be able to say to the leadership, ‘ hey I really
want to do this and accomplish what I believe God has shown me,’ and if we are all under authority, in close relationship with the Father and
his purposes, it should be equally possible for the
leaders to say, ‘That’s great! That extends the vision in this area and
makes things work better in that area. How fantastic that we
are going in the same direction.’ Often
when we cannot respond in that way, then perhaps what is wrong is that the vision is
too small.
In many ways God has given us the broader
visions, outlining them several times in scripture. He wants us to catch His vision, the top priority he give us is to ‘seek FIRST the Kingdom of God Then we are told, ‘tell the good news.’ I know you know it, but let me say it again, the
good news is about a person and that person is Jesus. He is the good news. We are told to,
‘tell it in Jerusalem, in Samaria
and to the uttermost parts of the world.’ That’s a big job, a
big vision isn't it?
Finally we are told to, ‘make
disciples of the nations.’ I think
that gives most of us enough to do for the rest of our lives don’t you?
A vision keeps you fresh; it
actually keeps you alive and moving forward. I have a little saying that some puzzle over;
it goes like this ‘the worst enemy of better is very good.’ The thing is that
when things are bad you can usually see that there is a need
for some vision to make them better, but when things are going well that can put you in the
danger zone. Unless you are alert, you could end up settling down and
dying off. Don’t do it! We have not arrived; the kingdom has not yet
come, there are still dreams to dream and a vision
to have.
Get a vision of leading, forging ahead,
keeping going and kingdom seeking! If you haven’t got one then get on board with someone who has. There is a promised land to be possessed, there is a Kingdom to be
found and we have the power to bring it to earth if we know our God, that’s why he told us to pray and work, ‘your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’ Happy seeking! Thank you for listening God bless you as you dream and vision His
plans.
Adrian Hawkes
Editor A Brookes
For UCB 3 min Script
W 941
