Filling Tasks With Vision

My team mate just did an amazing job of leading.  GraceRiver is a vision rich community full of life and power.  As we are doing a backpack drive for the start of school our church body donated 144 backpacks ready with supplies.  To get the backpacks filled they had a packing party!  And this was the key leadership act on his part.  He told the key organizer/ leader that one of the values was to gather different members of the body and have them connect as they accomplished the task.  The goal was to keep building the community, keep connecting the people.  It became more than just about backpacks!  Yes, the mission of getting the backpacks ready was accomplished but much more was accomplished... community was built, acceptance was given, friendship and faith was ignited.  And the result?  The vision of the mission of leading people to real life in Jesus was lived out as was the value of community.

Filling tasks with vision pushes the vision to the outer banks of the organization.  But it is more than just reminding people what we are doing and why, it is viewing each task a moment to build momentum, to live out a value that will have far reaching impact.

GraceRiver is a blessed place.  So many people made this back to school mission happen.  But we are blessed as well for the leaders we have, leaders who get the vision, who live the vision and who embed the vision in every task.  Here's to my team mate who rocked it big time!!!

Making Vision Seeable!

Most visionaries are abstract thinkers.  That can frustrate those who want to follow but just can't figure out what that vision looks like, what to do, what steps to take.  Vision has to be made "seeable" to those even on the fringe of the organization.  One way to do that is to take the purpose statement (vision) and then use the calendar to connect every activity to the vision.  We have found it really helpful to name each season (this current season of Fall 2012 is "Prayer and Planting") and then showing how each event, every resource and calendar is fulfilling that vision.  

For us that looks like the following:

Planting

Backpack Drive                                 Aug 5-19

Meet the Teacher                             Aug 16

                                                       10-11a & 5-6p

Back to School w/GR                      Aug 19

Kid’s Curriculum Launch                Aug 19

God Space Reading Plan                Sept 2

“Gifted: Discovering How

You Can Impact the World”          Sept 16-30

Growth Groups Begin                     Sept 16

Friend Day                                        Oct 7

Trick or Treat Block Party                Oct 31

Angel Tree                                         Nov

Christmas Eve Worship                   Dec 24

Prayer

Prayer focused worship                    Aug 12

Week of fasting & prayer                 Aug 26-Sept 2

Day of Prayer                                                Oct 22

Day of Prayer                                                Nov 12

Day of Prayer                                                Dec 10

As we lead our people through this plan the feedback was "We have direction!  We know what we are doing."

And the abstract vision became concrete!

Prophets, Priests and Kings

The Old Testament structure for the people of God had three leadership positions.  The king was the governmental rule.  The king had legislative power, laws and taxation, a kingdom to run, etc.  The priest was to keep the people connected to God, to "run" the temple system which was intended to be pathways (traditions) that would help the people to be right with the Lord.  Priestly laws had to do with worship, ethics, relationships and the like.

Both of these mostly had a line of descendants who would follow in their father's footsteps.  Occasionally a king was overthrown and a new king came to power who was not part of the family tree.  Priests were,by and large, all of the same bloodline.

The prophet, however, was a horse of another color.  Prophets had no blood line.  In fact, most of them were people of obscurity until the Lord "called" them to the place of a prophet.  The stood outside the system.  That is significant.  Sometimes being in the system causes leaders to compromise, to shift in decision making to what is best for them, to lead from popularity rather than from direction from the Lord.  The system is set to create a culture of health and obedience.  But when a leader begins to compromise, to lead out of fear or selfishness, the system is corrupt.  Enter the prophet!  No prior connection.  Nothing to lose.  No dog in the hunt.  Free to fulfill the call of God.

Mostly the prophets move on the scene and then disappear.  No wonder.  They are not a part of the system but God's way of entering the system when it goes awry to call His people back.  Prophets enter the drama then exit having done their work, speaking the word of God at the moment.  That requires that the key attribute of the prophet is not boldness but prayer.  The prophet must hear from the Lord.

So the question of the day is how do you know you are hearing from a prophet?  Isn't it likely that if the system is going awry and I am a part of the system I would dismiss the prophet?  Maybe that is why the Lord would send his prophets but they were seldom heard.  Can I hear?  Can you?