I talk with ministry leaders all the time. More often than not, leaders say something to the effect of “they’re just not getting the vision.” When we start discussing why this is happening, it’s apparent that most of the leader’s energy is being poured into the day-to-day operations necessary to make Sunday happen week after week.
I get that. I really do. When I was a full-time kid’s pastor, that was my biggest complaint. I felt as though I never had enough time to cast and reinforce vision. But that excuse didn’t hold up. People need clarity of vision. We can’t expect people to win if we’re only worried about giving them what they need for the here and now. We need to focus on supplying people with what they need for the future and what could be.
On Saturday, I heard my son’s soccer coach sum it up well. He was talking to someone throwing in the ball:
“If you want them to score, you can’t throw to where they are. You need to throw to where they should be.”
Get it? Make it easy for people to succeed.
If we want people to understand what we do and why we do it to replicate it every week, we need to throw to “where they should be” and lead them to the right location where they can win.
The specifics of this will change depending on their role:
Do people care for your small group leaders like you want them to care for their kids?
Do you provide stationery for small group leaders to send notes to their kids?
Do you meet parents with the way they communicate, or do you communicate in a way that’s easy for you?
Do you give storytellers and hosts someone to model and the right props to help their story to come alive?
Do you model rest and self-improvement to your staff?
As you evaluate what “should be” looks like for each group of people in your ministry, ask yourself if what you offer and how you communicate reinforces your vision for ministry.
If it does, chances are your volunteers and parents know more than you think they do. Set up some intentional conversations where you can find out.
If it doesn’t, you’re probably only a few steps away from reinforcing vision. Take a moment and write down three things you can do this week to help further vision in your volunteers, staff, and families.
How do you keep vision in front of others? Did you do this activity? Share your three next steps in the comments.
