7. The Gift of Limits — Casting Vision.
The issue of limits touches the core of our tendency to do our will, not God’s, to rebel rather than submit, to grasp rather than surrender.
Adam and Eve violated God’s limits. Jesus submitted to the Father’s in the wilderness.
We are called to lead our people into God’s future. We carry the tension, however, that we easily can take over Gods’ work for Him, violate His protective gift of limits, and unleash chaos into our churches.
Remember: “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven” John 3:27.
8. Listening to God in Our Losses — Leading by Faith.
In every church, relationships end, ministries die, dreams dissipate and leaders move on. Jeremiah, Jesus, Job and David had a full-orbed theology for the disorientation that comes with loss and grieving.
Integrating this into our Western church culture of leadership that is always growing and expanding to take the next hill is problematic. We are called to lead our people forward. The discernment question is whether or not that means leading them to listen to God internally first before moving into the next new initiative.
What might be other tensions that you would add to this list?
