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For the next few days/entries, I’ll be debriefing, or basically unloading my thoughts on the Thursday - Saturday leadership summit I attended in Jacksonville. It was hosted, via satellite, by Willow Creek in South Barrington, Illinois. Thanks to CrossRoad UMC for a wonderful satellite site and a beautiful volunteer force that made us feel so at home! Overall, I enjoyed the experience and would recommend it to anyone.

My first task is to dig into and engage the thoughts and concepts of the first session: “Vision to Die For” - given by Bill Hybels, founding pastor of Willow Creek.

Basic overview: Nothing matters more than the ownership of vision (by the WHOLE of the faith community).

I tend to totally agree with this line of thinking. If people aren’t given a chance to engage and own the vision of a “church” then nothing will be accomplished, at least nothing of any significance in God’s Kingdom.

Using John 10:11-13, as a picture for good leadership, Bill inspired us to be “owners” of the vision that God has called us to do while at the same time training and equipping others to be “owners” and not just hired hands who run away at the slightest bit of danger.

Another big point that jumped out at me was that vision that is cast by a leader who hasn’t shared it with a team is not beneficial vision. It doesn’t benefit a community for a leader to “hear from God” alone for everyone else. The days of the Mt. Sinai Approach* are ended. Not that God doesn’t speak to individuals, but that much more is accomplished when every member of the community supplies a strength to the vision. This also doesn’t necessarily mean that God doesn’t initially share vision with an individual, but more along the lines of He usually confirms it within the family, and the most beneficial situation for a community is when the vision is processed out over time, and not just “beat” into the “followers”.

The vision, or future, of a faith family should include many voices, not just one. “People don’t always have to have their way, just their way considered.” I see the inclusive beauty in this statement. Ultimately it’s up to the point leaders to protect and LEAD the community, but not to the point of excluding everyone else.

Another big question that jumped out of me was this:

Would I die for the vision God has called me to steward?

Would I? Would you? Jesus is our ultimate example, and we can read thousands and thousands of stories about people who believed in what God had called them to do to the point of giving their lives for it. It’s hard to think of dying for “student ministry” (what I believe God has called me to), but I know that as I look to Christ for strength, day in and day out, that I die daily to my will and desires, and hopefully can truly live out “not my will, Lord, but Yours”.

I was truly challenged to be a better steward of “leadership” in my life. I don’t want to be like the hired hands who, when a wolf approached, would throw down their staffs and head for the hills. I want to be like the owner of the sheep, the one who probably could tell each one apart. The one who would literally step in between the danger and the flock. I want to be that submitted to God’s purposes that I’m willing to continually lay down my own desires, and if need be, to give my physical life for His causes.

* When Moses would approach God on the mountain top alone, as an individual leader. He would bring God’s thoughts, plans, and purposes back to the nation of Israel. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus at Calvary, the Holy Spirit resides in each and every Believer, and so God speaks His thoughts, plans, and purposes through the entire family of Believers.