Principles of Leadership – Share the Vision, part 2

 

This is Chuck Rapp with Multiply, a podcast to provide a word of encouragement for village church planters.

During 2022, I will be sharing my Ten Principles of Leadership. 

We began with Share the Vision.  In my previous message, I mentioned how leaders both instruct and inspire those who follow them.  “Instruct” deals with imparting knowledge about the vision.  “Inspire” motivates others emotionally to join the cause and to commit themselves to it. 

Nehemiah is one of my favorite leaders in the Bible.  He was gifted to lead the Israelites in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.  We read in chapter 2, verses 17-18.  Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” … They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So, they began this good work.

Nehemiah was certainly able to instruct the people.  The “what” was “let’s rebuild the walls”.  He also spoke to “why”.  “So, we will no longer be in disgrace.”  This was an emotionally driven motivation.  The result is that the people got to work, and 52 days later, they were finished. 

I would suggest that a major reason they were able to finish the work so quickly is that they were focused.  In chapters 4 and 6 we read about the opposition by Sanballat, Tobiah and others to the wall-building project.  I love Nehemiah’s response in 6:3.  “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down.”  Nehemiah’s focus upon the vision, or the project, caused him to prioritize his time and activities.  It helped him understand not only what he should do, it informed him of what he should not do.

This principle applies to us as well.  Vision acts as a “filter”.  In other words, when other opportunities – even good things, sometimes – come our way, godly leaders evaluate those opportunities in light of whether they align (or not) with our ultimate vision or goal.  Vision allows us to say “no” to that which is not most important.

I once worked with a missionary who believed that he was obligated to respond to every open door and every opportunity.  My observation was that as a result he lacked focus, he became spread too thinly, and that often there were long delays in completing tasks.  That’s not the example we want to follow.

Rather, godly leaders share the vision and utilize it – for both themselves and their followers – as a filter to prioritize the things that they do.    

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.