Every church or organization has a vision. It is their ethos, the filter they use to pass on ideas. This vision becomes the rallying cry for the organization when times are hard. It takes a bold leader to keep their organization or department on vision. At Cross Point, we have a mission statement that helps to provide our vision for the future:
“To continue to grow as a community of believers radically devoted to Christ, irrevocably committed to one another and relentlessly dedicated to reaching those outside God’s family with the Gospel of Christ.”
All of us have the unfortunate ability to drift. It’s not that we drastically change course, we just start to ever so slightly veer off course. One of the biggest reasons for this is losing sight of our focus. We start to look at other churches, other teams, other pastors…and we start to imitate rather than create. Another dangerous reason for a drift is when we start to listen to the voices. The voices who tell us we should do it “this way.” The voices in our own head of doubt and wonder. The voices that tell us that if we were a little more like THIS person or a little more like THAT person, we might have their success. All these little things can cause us to drift until we look around one day and realize we have gotten off course and have lost our way.
So this weekend, as we enter our churches and services, let’s realign with our unique vision. Let’s allow God to use US the way HE planned. Let’s allow HIM to provide direction, not some other external force that is influencing us. God called you – uniquely you – to lead the tribe of people around you today! Lead. Go for it…because if you don’t, it may be hindering the only connection to God some of those people will ever get to experience.
Lead well. Lead with passion. Lead creatively and uniquely – like only you can. Be bold.
Reminds me of the old adage ship captains would say…if you’re off course by one degree it doesn’t seem like much at first but soon you’re hundreds of miles off course.
Good stuff, Brewster.
Dude, this blog is so relevant and applicable to my life. I’ve been constantly clipping your blog posts into notes in Evernote..even made a notebook called Brewster. You are THE MAN!
Loved your paragraph on drifting.
Lead Pastors of someof the churches I’ve consulted with, have drifting down to a “T”. It makes for an awkward conversation when I tell them that before they can change they have to stop copying because others are cool, and stick to their core statements.