Leadership shouldn’t be a pied-piper endeavor. I have seen people follow leaders because they were in a “trance” created by the dynamics of the leader. Some churches grow because of the personality of the leader, but some churches also decline for the same reasons. Either way, it is a losing endeavor. People have to follow a leader because it is God-ordained. And as leaders we must be willing to share the “why” of what we do. What’s another word for “why”? VISION. Multiple leaders have said that vision leaks. People get busy with their lives and the vision slowly (or sometimes like a river) leaks out. The why becomes lost in the when and how. Whey we get busy doing the when and how without the why, ministry becomes a task. Volunteers burn out, pastors fade, leadership slowly dies.

Easter weekend Katie and I were taking our kids to spend the week with their grandparents in Illinois. Even though we had to be back for the weekend activities here, we chose to stay down there long enough to attend the Saturday evening service at our home church. The church has had some positive leadership changes in the last year and I haven’t been available to head down there. It was the best service I have EVER been to at that church and that is saying a lot considering I spent the first 18 years of my life there. The thing that caught me was how the VISION was refilled in that service. Greg Sexton, the Senior Minister said this, “Broadway Christian Church is about three things: Bringing others to Christ, Communicating God’s truth, and Caring for people.” Greg reminded the people of “Why” they do what they do. He reminded them of what is important. Sharing the “why” is imperative to the success of the Church. Without constant reminding of the real why, our people will arbitrarily replace the real why with one of their choosing. When the God’s agenda is replaced with 250 or 500 or 2000 separate agendas, the mission of Christ is not fulfilled.

How are you refilling your people with God’s why? Let’s get a dialog going!