More Graham Cooke...
I've been reading "A Divine Confrontation" by Graham Cooke and have really been enjoying it and getting a lot out of it. Here's an excerpt from what I was reading this afternoon:
When we begin a new work, we receive a pioneering vision. A work can begin in the heart of a single individual who acts as a catalyst to launch into a new area of activity. His or her foresight, planning, focus, determination, and faithfulness make the vision a reality.
At this stage, the whole vision may be bound up in the life of this individual. The person sacrifices, works, sheds tears, and is misunderstood and written off by some as he or she faithfully pursues the call. Vision at this gut level is highly personal. As the work grows, other people come into it who did not pay the price of those early years. We have to own the vision in order to make it a reality. However, we also can embrace it so fully that we cannot give it up, not even to the Lord.
The vision we start with is never the vision with which we finish. Most vision only lasts approximately seven years before it goes through a cycle of necessary change. Pioneering vision must give way to empowering vision. The Lord never gives us the whole vision at the beginning. Part of His vision for our work is that there will be people He will give us who He wants to influence the ministry. God tells us enough to get us started and to keep moving. He does not give large visions at the beginning of new enterprises. Vision grows with the work. It is complemented and added to by the commitment and faithfulness of those whom God joins to the work.
The Lord always seeks to enfranchise His people within the work of the ministry. Vision must flow out of relationships with a common agenda and purpose. Vision that is set in concrete from the beginning will break people’s hearts by its unworkable nature. One man’s vision must be released into the core vision of the team that grows up within it. All vision changes in some way.
As the vision touches, releases, and builds people up in Christ, He will release vision within them that is real and personal. We do not need the clash between corporate vision and personal destiny. People must not be forced to choose. Corporate vision must breathe and be flexible enough to be inclusive, not exclusive, of people’s calls. This means that reasonable dialogue regarding the individual destiny and calling of people and the corporate vision of the work must occur at regular intervals in the calendar of the ministry.
If the church is running on one man’s vision, we are going to have real problems with divisiveness. If people have to leave the ministry on a regular basis, it is probably because the vision of the founder is consistently disenfranchising their lives. This is the dilemma for founding visionaries. In order to beat the odds, fight the circumstances, and press in God’s purpose, we had to own the vision with the Lord.
Later on, though, the Lord will bring in people who also must own the vision with Him. At this point, the main blockage is usually the founder of the ministry. We must pass from ownership with God personally to stewardship with other people corporately. If we fail this subtle and elegant test, we will insist that people are present to serve our vision. Yet, vision is given by the Lord. Ownership rests entirely with Him. He has enfranchised us with His vision and now He seeks to include others in the same arrangement. This is where vision must change.
The whole nature of the ongoing vision within the work must rest on the fact that sooner or later we have to find out what God is doing in the lives of people He has brought into the work. Leadership is really about facilitating the development of people whom God has given us. Understanding and cultivating their personal destiny is a core aspect of the growth and fulfillment of the wider vision.
As personal vision grows, God adds people to it. This causes an expansion of the work. In the process of that expansion, the vision changes from the personal foresight of one individual to the corporate activity of a group whom God has brought together.
Corporate vision cannot be founded on one man’s destiny. To develop corporate vision the founder must die to personal ownership and become a steward for a loving God who seeks to include others. This does not happen overnight. There is a process to follow. We must make time to talk with members of the church to begin to discover their identity in the Lord. What do they feel strongly about? What is the burden on their heart? What are they praying for in terms of working with the Lord?
Our role as leaders is to understand the vision that the Lord is actually building into the lives of individuals, and then make room to see that vision flourish. Individual vision must be heard, understood, and accepted by the leadership of the church. We need to enable people to actually understand where their personal identity can fit in and complement the corporate vision of the church. The corporate vision will be expanded by various contributions. The detail of the vision will grow and be enhanced by the additions.
If people are being anointed with a personal call and destiny by the Holy Spirit but the leadership does not cooperate with Him, then we create double vision or di-vision. Many church splits have occurred over the issue of disagreement in vision. If people cannot see where their own calling fits in with the corporate concepts, they will be insecure.
It needs high levels of love and commitment to negotiate this particular situation. Neither side can hold the other to ransom. Both must be willing to believe the best of one another. Clearly some negotiation will take place. Neither side will be 100 percent right. Leadership may be too set in their ways. The individual may have delusions of grandeur about his or her role and function. Agreement will release covenant. If both sides are willing to die to self, the cross will make brothers of us all.
Individuals cannot insist on their rights. Leaders must become aware that members of the body are not present merely to serve the vision of the leadership.
Leaders model how a servant spirit should behave. Members follow that example. The result will be a partnership that enables us to look forward together, a partnership where leaders understand personal vision and where it fits in to the work of the church. The individual understands the corporate vision and knows where he can fit in to serve the church. In a true partnership, both serve one another.
Division occurs because we don’t actually take into account God’s call on the individual. The corporate vision may be too inflexible to allow individuals to shape it effectively. People become disillusioned and disempowered by such high-handedness. We cannot put people into a mold that we have created; otherwise, they may legitimately look elsewhere to fulfill God’s call upon their life.
When we begin a new work, we receive a pioneering vision. A work can begin in the heart of a single individual who acts as a catalyst to launch into a new area of activity. His or her foresight, planning, focus, determination, and faithfulness make the vision a reality.
At this stage, the whole vision may be bound up in the life of this individual. The person sacrifices, works, sheds tears, and is misunderstood and written off by some as he or she faithfully pursues the call. Vision at this gut level is highly personal. As the work grows, other people come into it who did not pay the price of those early years. We have to own the vision in order to make it a reality. However, we also can embrace it so fully that we cannot give it up, not even to the Lord.
The vision we start with is never the vision with which we finish. Most vision only lasts approximately seven years before it goes through a cycle of necessary change. Pioneering vision must give way to empowering vision. The Lord never gives us the whole vision at the beginning. Part of His vision for our work is that there will be people He will give us who He wants to influence the ministry. God tells us enough to get us started and to keep moving. He does not give large visions at the beginning of new enterprises. Vision grows with the work. It is complemented and added to by the commitment and faithfulness of those whom God joins to the work.
The Lord always seeks to enfranchise His people within the work of the ministry. Vision must flow out of relationships with a common agenda and purpose. Vision that is set in concrete from the beginning will break people’s hearts by its unworkable nature. One man’s vision must be released into the core vision of the team that grows up within it. All vision changes in some way.
As the vision touches, releases, and builds people up in Christ, He will release vision within them that is real and personal. We do not need the clash between corporate vision and personal destiny. People must not be forced to choose. Corporate vision must breathe and be flexible enough to be inclusive, not exclusive, of people’s calls. This means that reasonable dialogue regarding the individual destiny and calling of people and the corporate vision of the work must occur at regular intervals in the calendar of the ministry.
If the church is running on one man’s vision, we are going to have real problems with divisiveness. If people have to leave the ministry on a regular basis, it is probably because the vision of the founder is consistently disenfranchising their lives. This is the dilemma for founding visionaries. In order to beat the odds, fight the circumstances, and press in God’s purpose, we had to own the vision with the Lord.
Later on, though, the Lord will bring in people who also must own the vision with Him. At this point, the main blockage is usually the founder of the ministry. We must pass from ownership with God personally to stewardship with other people corporately. If we fail this subtle and elegant test, we will insist that people are present to serve our vision. Yet, vision is given by the Lord. Ownership rests entirely with Him. He has enfranchised us with His vision and now He seeks to include others in the same arrangement. This is where vision must change.
The whole nature of the ongoing vision within the work must rest on the fact that sooner or later we have to find out what God is doing in the lives of people He has brought into the work. Leadership is really about facilitating the development of people whom God has given us. Understanding and cultivating their personal destiny is a core aspect of the growth and fulfillment of the wider vision.
As personal vision grows, God adds people to it. This causes an expansion of the work. In the process of that expansion, the vision changes from the personal foresight of one individual to the corporate activity of a group whom God has brought together.
Corporate vision cannot be founded on one man’s destiny. To develop corporate vision the founder must die to personal ownership and become a steward for a loving God who seeks to include others. This does not happen overnight. There is a process to follow. We must make time to talk with members of the church to begin to discover their identity in the Lord. What do they feel strongly about? What is the burden on their heart? What are they praying for in terms of working with the Lord?
Our role as leaders is to understand the vision that the Lord is actually building into the lives of individuals, and then make room to see that vision flourish. Individual vision must be heard, understood, and accepted by the leadership of the church. We need to enable people to actually understand where their personal identity can fit in and complement the corporate vision of the church. The corporate vision will be expanded by various contributions. The detail of the vision will grow and be enhanced by the additions.
If people are being anointed with a personal call and destiny by the Holy Spirit but the leadership does not cooperate with Him, then we create double vision or di-vision. Many church splits have occurred over the issue of disagreement in vision. If people cannot see where their own calling fits in with the corporate concepts, they will be insecure.
It needs high levels of love and commitment to negotiate this particular situation. Neither side can hold the other to ransom. Both must be willing to believe the best of one another. Clearly some negotiation will take place. Neither side will be 100 percent right. Leadership may be too set in their ways. The individual may have delusions of grandeur about his or her role and function. Agreement will release covenant. If both sides are willing to die to self, the cross will make brothers of us all.
Individuals cannot insist on their rights. Leaders must become aware that members of the body are not present merely to serve the vision of the leadership.
Leaders model how a servant spirit should behave. Members follow that example. The result will be a partnership that enables us to look forward together, a partnership where leaders understand personal vision and where it fits in to the work of the church. The individual understands the corporate vision and knows where he can fit in to serve the church. In a true partnership, both serve one another.
Division occurs because we don’t actually take into account God’s call on the individual. The corporate vision may be too inflexible to allow individuals to shape it effectively. People become disillusioned and disempowered by such high-handedness. We cannot put people into a mold that we have created; otherwise, they may legitimately look elsewhere to fulfill God’s call upon their life.
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