Where There IS Vision...

In the King James Version of the Bible, Prov. 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish..." It's an often-quoted axiom that is so undeniably true. Absent a God-given, God-honoring vision, dream, revelation of what might be, people die a little on the inside every day.

But, the flip side of that axiom is equally true and infinitely more powerful: Where there IS vision, the people flourish. Lock eyes with someone who's chasing a God-sized vision or calling, and you lock eyes with passion, joy, peace, determination, loyalty, clarity, and the power to bounce back from setback. (For another take on this see Mike Hyatt's post--very good stuff).

What's interesting about this is that the word vision chosen by the King James translators is more accurately rendered in our day revelation, as in the Word of God revealed in Scripture. With no vision, no revelation from God, people perish--they cast off restraint. REAL vision begins with what God has supernaturally given to people in the Bible. He gives us his Word in divine communication, protects it through human translation, and reveals its power through faithful application.

What's your dream?

###

South Texas and the Call of God

A good friend recently invited me to hunt with him in south Texas. It's a part of the world that really recharges and refreshes me every time I'm there. It is rough country, but it has a beauty that is raw and rugged. They say that down there if it doesn't bite you or have thorns, it's a rock. And that's pretty accurate.

I've wondered a couple of times what it would be like to earn a living as a writer living on a ranch in south Texas. It wouldn't be any easier than what I get to do now, but it would certainly be less complicated. Get up early, write until mid-morning or noon, and then spend the rest of the day managing the ranch for maximum deer growth, quail habitat and whatever else came to mind.

Whenever I have those thoughts, God reminds me that I'm right in the middle of what I was created for. To be Julie's husband, Emily & Joseph's dad, and pastor of LHC is as full a life as I can even imagine. I would so miss the communities that our family gets to be a part of, that we're strengthened by. I'd miss the beauty of Christ's Bride as she lives out through the people of LHC. I would miss the leadership opportunities to see and sometimes facilitate an intersection between people's gifts and passions and the needs and opportunities of the church.

Author Seth Godin relates a telling story that I think captures this idea:

It's four a.m. and I can't sleep. So I'm sitting in the lobby of a hotel in Jamaica, checking my e-mail.

A couple walks by, obviously on their way to bed, having pushed the idea of vacation a little too hard. The woman looks over to me and, in a harsh whisper a little quieter than a yell, says to her friend, "Isn't that sad? That guy comes here on vacation and he's stuck checking his e-mail. He can't even enjoy his two weeks off."

I think the real question--the one they probably wouldn't want to answer--was, "Isn't it sad that we have a job where we spend two weeks avoiding the stuff we have to do fifty weeks a year?"

Hit the COMMENTS button below and let me know what you love about what you get to do every day.

Passion as Compass

A few years ago, I sat down with the CEO of a publicly traded corporation and asked this question: Is what you do more art or science?

His kneejerk reaction was a big, ear-to-ear grin that told me where his answer was going. He said, "It's not even close--it's much more about art than science. I know the numbers, and we definitely measure the things that matter. But the decisions I make definitely come more from an intuitive feel than statistical or numerical analysis."

Then, he hit me with the Bat Spray so I wouldn't ever be able to share his candid answer with anyone on his board of directors.

His answer has been echoed in the years since in numerous other Q&A's with leaders and pastors from a broad range of experiences and backgrounds, educations, and perspectives. The overwhelming majority provide the same insight, usually while invoking the same veil of anonymity: Go with your gut. Your heart. Your passion. The Holy Spirit.

A God-given passion will not only fuel you when nothing else can, it will many times serve as a compass--moral and strategic--long after the numbers and statistics have folded under the weight of conflicting ideas, interests, agendas, and information.

We who lead in the church (or anywhere from a Christ-centered perspective) have to remember that while the Holy Spirit is infallible, our understanding is not. So, we have to lead from the heart, from our God-given passions, while always bringing every thought captive to Christ and measuring them against the standard of Scripture.

With that critical caveat in mind, our passions can and should lead us directionally, strategically, and relationally. If we're considering a life-altering or paradigm-shifting decision, a strategic course of action, or our personal investment in a relationship and we've considered all the facts and figures and examined the spiritual implications, then lead from the heart. Go with your gut and go hard.

Passion as HR

Passion provides incredible clues to your organization's Human Resources needs.

The things that I'm passionate about, those things for which God has given me a yearning, burning burden are the things that I'm going to pour myself into. But no one has the bandwidth to cover all the bases of a growing, dynamic, complex team, church, business, or government agency. So, your passion--my passion--points us toward the people and the talent and the skills and passions we should be looking for to complement our own.

Human Resources means so much more than compensation and benefits, compliance and buildings. Just like financial resources or time, human resources are a gift from God that carries even greater responsibility and accountability to those of us who lead.

A good friend of mine leads a large human resources department for a public corporation. I've learned by watching him and picking his brain that his greatest task is putting the right people with the right passions in the right position to accomplish the right purposes.

My passions should rarely if ever be duplicated. They should be complemented, supported , and amplified--but never replicated exactly. If you're in a position of leadership or influence, use your passions to direct your leadership and to feed the fire of passion in those you lead.

Passion

I love my job. Matter of fact, job doesn't even come close to how I feel about what I get to do every day. Like everyone, there are parts of what I do that play more to my weaknesses than my strengths, but even those things feel like just a small price to pay to get to do what I get to do.

Earlier this week, I got to sit down with a wide range of leaders from multiple fields in Houston. I was there to shoot video and pick their brains and steal ideas from them for a new message series and ministry that we're launching in a few weeks.

One of those leaders is Dr. Ed Young who pastors the church where I grew up, 2nd Baptist Church. Among all the things God has given me through Dr. Young and 2nd Baptist, his passion might just be the greatest. At a time when most people are angling toward retirement--or just plain angling--Dr. Young is still driven by his passion for the Lord, for people far from God, and for the Church.

I think God-honoring passion is one of the key elements that God uses to shape us and direct us. You can't fake genuine passion. It's either there or it's not. If it's not, then often it's because I'm not pursuing God's purpose and will for me. Over the next few posts, I'm going to bring some wood to the passion fire.