VISION - FOCUS - CHARACTER

There have been a number of questions I have been desperate to answer during the past couple of months. How can I be a leader that God can use for His glory? How can I be a leader who is worth following! How can I be a leader, who knows where he is going and who is able to clearly communicate this direction with those who are under his care? How do I lead effectively? What are the areas that are crucial to success, not as the World defines it, but as God defines it?
There are three areas of Leadership I have been meditating about; and I am convinced that these will make or break the effectiveness of me as a leader.

First, Vision – why you may wonder is it so important to have vision? People need a goal to pursue, an obstacle to conquer, a destination to reach. Men and women throughout the ages have achieved greatness in virtually every field of achievement; science, literature, engineering, technology, as well as physical challenges. They have written poetry, discovered and explained the laws of nature, invented virtually every type of machine and gadget conceivable, have climbed the highest mountains, explored the deepest sees and stretched their hand into the depth of space, all because they believed it could be. And more than that it could be but that ultimately it should be! In this there are certainly those who have seen opportunity, those who have looked and understood what could and should be done. But merely seeing where to go isn’t good enough. It takes a man or a woman who not only sees opportunity but who seizes opportunity! That takes courage.
Andy Stanley, Pastor of the North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia that is attended weekly by over 16,000 states: “Vision is a preferred future. A destination. Vision always stands in contrast to the world as it is. Vision demands change. It implies movement. But a vision requires someone to champion the cause.”
Moses didn’t just bring the Israelites out of Egypt to wander around the desert in circles. He had a vision to reach the Land flowing with milk and honey that God had promised. David didn’t retrieve the Ark of the Covenant by chance, he believed in what should be. The glory of God present in Israel! Nehemiah wasn’t just hoping for something better for Israel, he saw a problem and was convinced of what should be, the walls ought to be rebuilt. The condition of Jerusalem was of great concern to Nehemiah, but he also was driven by a vision of what he believed could and should be. Paul was convinced that the Gospel ought to be preached to all men. This vision propelled him through shipwrecks, bandits, floggings, and persecutions!
Whether it is a more fuel efficient car, outer space or doing great things for God, each of these endeavors starts with a vision of what could and should be! You may not know how to get to where you feel you need to be, but you know where you want to be and what you believe should be.

Second, Focus – how do we ensure that we get to where we want to be going? To fulfill the vision for your life demands focus, and to be a leader who is effective demands to cut down on the amount of things you are doing! What is it that no one else can do? What is it that God has uniquely gifted you to do? What are the things that are good but have nothing to do with where you are going? What are you doing that has absolutely no correlation with the vision you supposedly pursue? The answer is that you can no longer do just anything that comes up. You need to learn to say no! If we desire to follow the vision God has given us and reach the goal He has placed before us we can no longer allow the good to triumph over the best. We may no longer act indiscriminately upon every and any good idea or request, but we have to focus our energy, talent, time, resources and passion on the pursuit of the vision God has placed before us. The apostles knew of this principle all to well.
“In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."
This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.”
Acts 6:1-7
Upon realizing that they were operating outside the realm God had intended for them to operate in they quickly remedied the way things were done and as a result the church grew, and a large number of priests became believers.
The question now remains what are the areas where I am not as focused as I should be. One of the guys on my last leadership team, Garrett, kept me on my toes in this regard. I would often tell him about some new scheme I was working on and his question inevitably was; “what does this have to do with our vision at Real Life (my last church)? Are you sure this is the best use of your time?”

Third, Character – what is the importance of the hidden life of the leader? What is it that makes him worth following? As a leader you can undoubtedly rely on Charisma, on talent, on intelligence and knowledge to influence others. What I am trying to say is that character is optional for leadership. This may come as a bit of a shock to some, but it is true. Character is unnecessary for leadership a fact demonstrated as recently as the Clinton White House. Character isn’t required to influence people. People without character may very well be charismatic. People without Ethics may very well be able to influence others! As a matter of fact they may be very attractive leaders to follow, because they make decisions that work. They are unbound by ethical requirements, unhindered by following the rules, uninhibited by people’s feelings and wellbeing from achieving their goals. The goals sanctify the means is the old adage and it is easy to see its popularity among the greedy and the ambitious.
Undoubtedly, if you call loud enough some will follow. However leading from intelligence and worldly wisdom will only get you so far. Leading out of a charismatic personality will carry you and those who follow for a while, but will eventually be sunk by the iceberg that is life.
The Titanic looked great on the outside, it had charm and charisma, it was considered to be unsinkable, and tragically the first lifeboats were launched filled to only a fraction of their capacity. 1595 passengers were lost on that day in April of 1912. The newspapers in the aftermath were full of accounts of those who had continued to play cards refusing to pay attention to what was happening under the surface, as the band played on the first victims were drowning beneath them in the depth of the ocean liner, as the Arctic waters were beginning to fill the ship. Mortally wounded the ship began to tilt, first unnoticeable, then the truth became more and more obvious sending the ship’s passengers into a panic that would make an organized approach to evacuation and rescue even more impossible.
Often Christian leaders are like the Titanic, looking good on the outside, and yet because of their own neglect mortally wounded beneath the surface. Only those who are shaped by the Holy Spirit and have taken the time to be properly equipped for their walk and for the leadership journey are going to survive the icy seas of life. Unless we are under the direction of the Holy Spirit unless we are formed by Him and unless our character is steeled through the Spiritual Disciplines we may very well suffer shipwreck in our Christian journey.
Many might lead with Charisma, many might draw a following, but few are worth following! That which makes a leader worth following is not simply his vision, not only his focus but that which lies beneath the surface, his character.
How is character built, how is it established? Are the spiritual disciplines spirituality in and of themselves? Are we spiritual just because we sit down and observe some ritual? Is it our doing a certain thing that makes us into leaders of character? The answer is: Absolutely not!
The spiritual disciplines such as prayer, fasting, solitude, Bible reading, memorization, meditation, journaling, etc. are not spirituality in and of themselves, they are merely vehicles for the Holy Spirit to transform our lives and mold us into the image of Christ!
As leaders and as Christians we are called to be disciple-makers, but how can we accomplish this without first becoming disciples ourselves? The shepherd is called to lead the sheep to fresh water and green pastures, but how is he going to accomplish that without having first climbed the peaks and crossed the valleys finding these places of refreshing nourishment?