Vision
Your team doesn’t “get” your ministry’s vision. Don’t believe me? What do you hear most from your people?
What issues take up most of your time at your committee meetings? Can we move the piano? Are coffee cups being left behind by the “contemporary worship” people? What is the color of the new drapes? What is the volume of the music? What is the length of the message? How long should the Christmas decorations stay up?
Issues surface because of a lack of vision.
Proverbs 29:18 reminds us: “Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish, they run wild, they are unrestrained. If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves!” The more complicated our church life becomes, the more we must simplify it. Vision simplifies. Turn up the vision until it’s all you hear.
WHY we gather
Let me ask you this: When was the last time someone reminded the gathered body of Christ WHY we meet? Imagine this as a call to worship or as an announcement given after the offering:
“I want to remind us this morning, why we get together every weekend for worship instead of just enjoying a delicious, leisurely brunch. It’s not because we’ve always done it, or because we’re obligated to be here out of duty, or to attend a social event, or to get satisfaction, or to feel warm fuzzies. We get together to encounter God, to give glory to God, to surrender to God, to build community, and to have our lives changed!”
Willow Creek puts it this way: “Vision leaks.” In other words, we always need to be pouring the vision back into people. When you look at a bright light, everything you look at has the shape of the light superimposed on it. After a while it wears off. Vision is like that.
It’s also a grid through which you need to look at everything. Resize the issues in perspective to the vision and the revelation God has given your congregation about how you do ministry. It doesn’t just happen. It’s an intentional, regular habit.
I love what Leonard Sweet said in his 1999 classic AQUA Church. “A vision is not about programs or objectives or scenarios or goals. A vision is about releasing energies. A vision is about a life-giving spirit. A vision is about the excitement of shared possibilities. A vision is about seeing in such a way and communicating what you see that other people come to life with new enthusiasm and resolve.”
Take action (This is not just a good idea)
The only actual test for the presence of vision is the fruit. Partner with Ad Lib Music in one of our coaching programs to see “people come to life with new enthusiasm and resolve.” One such church said, “I appreciated Ad Lib’s timely, specific and insightful feedback into situations and dynamics on the team. Our coach speaks from experience, but also as one who spends time with and hears from the Lord. The things he shared were practical, applicable, and helpful in navigating through each situation.” You could be next!
-Dave Helmuth
(purchase my book, "Worship Fertilizer: (the first hundred)" HERE)
Vision (Nº 6)
