You spend some great time with God. You really feel you know what the next step of kingdom growth for your church should look like.
You begin to move in that direction and earnestly try and get buy-in, just to be met with disappointment and frustration. This happens all too often when a leader fails to establish a “vision protection team.”
Think back to Jesus’ day. He had a vision protection team. It had three parts:
1. John (the 1). This is a very influential person in the church. They have a lot of maturity and pull with those in authority. This is like the first person you help see the next step. Answer all the questions and cast the vision for kingdom fruit, not just programs or process.
2. Peter, James and John (the 3). These are like your “mighty men” who guard and help push the vision with understanding and conviction. They should not only be people that are influential but close to you as a leader.
3. Your circle of “followers” (the 12). This is your team of front-line leaders. They could be key staff and leaders, small group leaders, deacons or just key volunteers. This team needs to be definitive and communicated to with great passion and detail.
This group will field most of the questions and concerns that don’t come to the first-chair leader. So they need to be fully informed and understand the next steps and know why they are important. They need to be sold out and speak positively about the vision.
Artie Davis wears a lot of hats and leads a lot of people. He’s a pastor at Cornerstone Community Church in Orangeburg, S.C. He heads the Comb Network and the Sticks Conference. He speaks and writes about leadership, ministry, church planting and cultural diversity in the church. You can find his blog at ArtieDavis.com or catch him on Twitter @artiedavis.
For the original article, visit artiedavis.com.
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