“do you have to have a vision for everything?”
(thinks for a moment)… “yes.”
This is me, telling my trainer that I wanted to come up with a vision for my trip to Charleston, something that would make the 14 hrs in the car and 4 days there feel like they are serving a great purpose in my life– mostly I think the “great purpose” is caring for others, but it could be other things that fit somewhere under “the kingdom of God is like…“
So, vision.
What is it that is so captivating about a clearly articulated vision? Is it only appealing to those “NF” personalities like myself? I see an overarching vision as being big enough, broad enough to create a big umbrella over your goals and actions… Or maybe it’s like a giant pillow you can jump around in, and outside the pillow is like a hardwood floor. I feel safe with a little bit of structure, boundary, parameters, within which to function. A vision statement in particular helps me to judge whether or not my actions and goals are serving the greater purpose. Might others feel stifled by that? I am open to consider others might feel stifled by a phrase that they “need to serve” but to them I submit that they recognize a good vision is one that is bigger than humanly possible, yet adaptable to the reality of experience. And those are the vision statements worth serving.
May I submit that our IV chapter is one whose vision is to be
a missional community offering authentic relationships centered on the life-changing reality of Jesus.
If so… what does that open up for us as we dream of starting a “Party Planning Committee” (for outreach through social events/ service opportunities/ publicity), or as we plan what goes on each week at Crash? Are we fully there yet? How can we journey towards being a truly missional community, towards authenticity, and in line with the true and full gospel?
These are questions worth answering. Which is precisely what I get to with student leaders at C-team meetings!
