Bold and Important Vision

 

 

"Please - no more Walter Middy types..."

I have always been attracted to bold and important vision. This is either a plus or a minus for me - I don't know which. I have also been able to discern the difference between dreamers and visionaries. To me, dreamers are like Walter Middy. As much as I am attracted to boldness, I shy away from dreamers.  Many are all show and no go. Visionaries are like President Kennedy, when in the early sixties he told the nation we would be on the moon by the end of the decade. No idea how it was going to happen, but through collective vision, we did it.

We joined a new church years ago due to many different reasons. However, the main reason was boldness of vision. The Senior Pastor had a boldness such that I had never seen. It was an important time in our faith life, as both my wife and I went from being church spectators to team players. In other words, the boldness of the church allowed us to really find our faith.

Over the years, life was good and our faith grew. Then as suddenly as it started, the Senior Pastor resigned to pursue other ventures. The vision of the church changed. A schism developed, and soon our church split into two separate churches. Hurtful things were said by people who had been trained in grace and mercy. It was a dark time in our lives. We left the church, disillusioned and hurt. We went into an extended "quieting period".

Part of my mourning was thinking back on the visionary Senior Pastor who was no longer there. I was grateful that we had the opportunity to be in his congregation so we could see how exciting and relevant church could be. However, I was saddened to think it might have had a once in a lifetime event.

This fall, after invitations from a friend my wife taught with, we tried a different church. It is a very large church with (at that time) five different campus locations, mostly in the Northeast part of the cities. From the first time I heard this new Senior Pastor talk, I was once again hooked. His vision was even bolder than our former Senior Pastor. The boldness of this church allowed them to grow from a congregation of 350 to over 18,000 in less than 30 years. And we found out, that was only the beginning.

The church is committed to have a campus location in the Twin Cities that is no more than 20 minutes away from any resident. And they want that to happen in ten years or less. They are just finishing a huge campus in Woodbury and have just started a temporary location in Coon Rapids. Everything this church does, it does with purpose, vision and excellence. It really knows how to "do church" the right way. Thousands of lost or broken people from broken lives have walked through the doors of one of the campus locations and found God. People who have tried church before and disliked it, have found a real and relevant worship experience which really matters.

I don't know where this will end up. All I know is this - it is going to be quite a ride. And we are going to be on it. We have signed up to be a part of this "crew" - a part of this vision. It is exciting. It is exciting to look forward to Sunday morning worship once again. It is exciting knowing that we are once again part of Kingdom building, both near and afar.

So on this Thanksgiving weekend, the thing that I am the most thankful for is this - God led us to this church on that day in early fall. We were led there for a reason, for a purpose. It got us reconnected and re-energized once again. It is time to get back in the game again. The stakes could not be higher, and my period of slumber is over.