Vision is a powerful force that can rally people toward a greater future. In fact, vision can help a church get unstuck, break out of old routines, and pursue a path that brings great honor to God. But vision doesn’t come without its disrupters, and in churches those disrupters can show up in three different people.
1. Distracted Leader
Look in the mirror. You could be the first type of vision disrupter. I don’t believe the leader of a church or organization intentionally aims to disrupt the vision, but it can happen when the leader gets distracted.
One of the most common distractions is shiny new visions. In other words, the “latest and greatest” can become a distraction to the original vision God put in your heart. This “alternative vision” might be a new opportunity, a flashy new strategy, or something that exudes fresh excitement.
It takes discipline to stay focused, especially when it takes an extended period of time to see the vision fully realized. Without focus, you’ll jump from one vision to the next, leaving a wake of frustrated team members as they’re whipped back and forth in opposing directions.
Another common distraction that leaders have to deal with is the weekly pressure of “Sunday’s coming.” I’m not implying that Sundays are unimportant. After all, Sundays are one of the most significant ministry environments in your week where God is touching lives and transforming hearts. Instead, I’m simply making an observation that the pressure to deliver a fresh, God-inspired sermon every week can keep you from seeing anything else.
What’s the cure for the distracted leader? I would suggest three things. First, the vision needs to be extraordinarily clear. If there is any vagueness in the vision, you will naturally drift away from it. Second, the vision needs a timeline. If the vision is “somewhere out there,” you’ll never feel like you’re making progress. And third, the vision needs a plan. If a vision isn’t accompanied by a step-by-step plan, you’ll never turn the vision into reality.
Don’t disrupt your own vision by getting distracted by alternative visions or the pressure of weekly ministry. Instead, get clarity, create a timeline, and develop a plan to get from here to there.
2. Divisive Team Members
The second vision disrupter is team members with personal agendas. These agendas usually show up in three forms: self-promotion, pet projects, and divisive seeds.
Self-promotion happens when the team member isn’t there for the team at all. Instead, they are only interested in promoting themselves. They don’t support the vision of the church because they’re too busy focusing on their own self-serving vision. It’s not about what they can give to the organization, it’s about what the organization can do to help them build their personal platform.
The second type of divisive team member is the one consumed by pet projects. These projects aren’t necessarily bad, but they’re also not core to the church’s vision. In most cases, pet projects are only connected to the passions of a team member. But if those passions don’t align with the vision of the church, they quickly become disrupters and dividers of the vision.
The third way team members disrupt the vision is when they sow divisive seeds. These seeds usually show up as hallway discussions, disengaged behavior, and a subtle attempt to create personal alliances that pull others off mission.
All three types of divisiveness need to be addressed quickly and definitively. The longer they fester, the deeper the divide will become. In extreme cases, they lead to church splits.
As a leader, confront the self-promotion, pet projects, and divisive seeds before they disrupt the vision and pull others down a destructive path. This will require you to address the behavior in a one-on-one meeting and then hold the team member accountable to change. If they won’t change, help them find a church or organization better aligned with their passions so they can put their full energy and support behind the vision.
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3. Disgruntled Church Members
The third disrupter is disgruntled church members. Anytime you cast bold vision, somebody will resist it. This can be true for a variety of reasons. Some members simply won’t like the vision. Some don’t fully understand the vision. And others feel threatened by the vision. To address disgruntled church members, take four approaches:
- Build Relationships – John Maxwell says, “People buy into the leader, then the vision.” Too often we reverse this truth, trying to get people to buy into the vision before they buy into us. That doesn’t work. If people don’t buy into you, they’ll view the vision as nothing more than an unrealistic and unnecessary threat to the future. How do you gain buy-in? Start by building relationships.
- Honor the Past – Leaders who cast vision for the future without honoring the efforts of the past will usually attract opposition in the present. You must remember that every idea was somebody’s good idea at some point in the life of the church. Because people often intertwine their identity with their ideas, they can easily interpret new visions as a personal attack. To keep this from happening, leaders must honor those who have gone before them. They should express appreciation for the faithfulness and fruitfulness of others’ efforts before they cast a new vision for the future.
- Welcome Feedback – When you’re in the early stages of vision development, invite feedback from some of your greatest influencers. As the old saying goes, people are down on what they’re not up on. Welcoming feedback doesn’t mean you relinquish the vision. It simply means you invite others into the visioning process to help you see blind spots, address legitimate concerns, and sharpen the vision.
- Address Division – If somebody’s disgruntled feelings turn into divisive behavior, you’ll need to address it through a one-on-one meeting. If that doesn’t work, involve a couple of key leaders in the church. You can’t allow a disgruntled member to become a catalyst for church-wide division and disunity.
Vision disrupters are a reality, but you can’t ignore them. As the leader, you are responsible to look in the mirror and avoid common distractions. You must address divisive team members. And you must carefully navigate the disgruntled pushback from church members. As you do, you’ll create a path forward for the vision to become a reality.
