Here I am, at Rocky Mountain Christian church just outside of Longmont, Colorado.  I am participating in one of the Satellite locations of the Leadership Summit.  There are 65,000 pastors and leaders all over North America.  Additionally, there are 78 International Locations with over 100,000 leaders involved world wide.

SESSION 1 – A VISION TO DIE FOR

Vision (a painting of the future that creates a passion in people) is critical.  It seems that more and more pastors are getting behind the importance of having a vision and vision Sunday/vision casting.  Yet…it does not seem as if this vision emphasis is making a difference.  Why is that?  According to Hybels, the issue of ownership of the vision is the reason vision is not taking.

The vision may be clear and inspired, but not owned.

He then went on to use the text from John 10 where we find Jesus talking about the hired hand versus the owner of the vineyard.  When our people know we are owners, and not hirelings, the vision will have a chance to be owned.

For a vision to be owned there must be three steps.

The first step is FORMATION.  The question he encouraged us to ask key leaders all the time is, “what does God want for our church in the next five years?”  This is a question that makes people want to talk.  It is a slow an inefficient process, but it builds community and gives people a chance to be heard.

The second step is REFINEMENT.  As vision and the future is talked about more, themes will emerge.  Pay attention to those themes.  Share them with small groups of people and ask, “what do you think of this rough draft?”  This makes people feel important and helps you to know where people are hanging up on these ideas.  Also, the more you share it the better you will become at casting the vision when it reaches its final form.

The third and final step is DECLARATION.  If the previous two steps have happened, when you go up on “Vision Sunday” people are much more likely to buy in.

Bill also reminded us that, “vision leaks.”  People have real jobs and will forget about our message come Tuesday.  To combat the leak we need to celebrate progress and create milestones.  It is also helpful to tell stories and have key phrases we use repeatedly.  (I really liked his example for the racial reconciliation piece, “In a social setting I want us to be the first to reach and extend a hand over a racial divide.”)

The final question Bill posed to use was this, “Are we an owner of a hireling?”  He gave an example of a speaking gig he was on and some visa problems he was having.  To get it sorted out required a great deal of travel and sacrifice.  He was convicted that he needed to sacrifice, be an owner, for the vision to take hold and to be a blessing to the community.

As someone who likes comfort, I found this a wee bit convicting.