Leaders Love the Front Seat, Not the Back Window

Nothing compares to the moment a hearty laugh with a church team immediately shifts into a deeply poignant moment of congregational insight.

For one team, this happened in the midst of a common exercise on the front end of Auxano’s Vision Framing process. A connecting exercise that begins with a simple, yet insightful question…  If our church was a car, what make and model would we be?

Of course, the only appropriate follow-up question, if the answer has not already been revealed, is “Why?”

In this instance, the Pastor began to describe an older model Station Wagon. The team then developed the rest of this polariod-era picture, complete with plastic decal “wood” paneling, a black-cloud emitting diesel engine, and stick to your bare summer legs vinyl seat covers. For every leader in the room of appropriate age, the third row back seat evoked knowing smiles of michevious childhoods. Who didn’t love that rear-facing view as a kid?

As the laughter waned, the Pastor then went on with his “Why” explanation.

“Many of our leaders would rather be more focused on where we have been. And if we were honest, many really enjoy harassing others who moving faster than us down the road ahead… There are days when I feel like very few of us are facing the same direction looking forward.”

It is not scriptural, but still accurate to say that “where there is no vision, the people cherish.”

  • They cherish the past, because they do not have a clear picture of the future.
  • They cherish where we have been, without a vision of where God leads ahead.
  • They cherish the comfort of the known, without hope that transcends the unknown.
  • They cherish the tools and resources provided to accomplish our calling, rather than the actual calling.

The magnetic attraction of a living and active vision of the future, much more than just a one-liner vision statement, becomes instantaneously clear.

Calling leaders to face forward through the windshield toward the horizons of God’s preferred future, is not easy. Getting a fast-moving team to slow-down and think long feels impossible.

After all, looking backward from the third row was pretty fun… but leaders look forward.


Let us help you look forward – connect with an Auxano Navigator today.


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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bryan Rose

Bryan Rose

As Lead Navigator for Auxano, Bryan Rose has a strong bias toward merging strategy and creativity within the vision of the local church and has had a diversity of experience in just about every ministry discipline over the last 12 years. With his experience as a multi-site strategist and campus pastor at a 3500 member multi-campus church in the Houston Metro area, Bryan has a passion to see “launch clarity” define the unique Great Commission call of developing church plants and campus, while at the same time serving established churches as they seek to clarify their individual ministry calling. Bryan has demonstrated achievement as a strategic thinker with a unique ability to infuse creativity into the visioning process while bringing a group of people to a deep sense of personal ownership and passion.

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COMMENTS

What say you? Leave a comment!

Terri — 05/11/16 5:42 pm

While I understand the title after reading the article, my first thought upon seeing the image and title was "No. Leaders should be letting the Holy Spirit drive, instead of going where they think God wants them to go." And while we may not need any "backseat driver" leaders, what if we did let the Holy Spirit take the wheel?

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comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you Ed for sharing your insights into the Church Growth Movement. I have my reservations with Church Growth models because it has done more damage than good in the Body of Christ. Over the years, western churches are more focused on results, formulas and processes with little or no emphasis on membership and church discipline. Pastors and vocational leaders are burnt out because they're overworked. I do believe that the Church Growth model is a catalyst to two destructive groups: The New Apostolic Reformation and the Emerging Church. Both groups overlap and have a very loose definition. They're both focus on contemporary worship, expansion of church brand (franchising), and mobilizing volunteering members as 'leaders' to grow their ministry. Little focus on biblical study, apologetics and genuine missional work with no agenda besides preaching of the gospel.
 
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comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you for sharing such a good article. It is a great lesson I learned from this article. I am one of the leaders in Emmanuel united church of Ethiopia (A denomination with more-than 780 local churches through out the country). I am preparing a presentation on succession planning for local church leaders. It will help me for preparation If you send me more resources and recommend me books to read on the topic. I hope we may collaborate in advancing leadership capacity of our church. God Bless You and Your Ministry.
 
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