Beware the vision vacuum
by Steve Cordle
Pastors who are considering cell ministry sometimes express concern over the possibility of divison. What if a cell leader takes off on their own band wagon and pulls their people away from the church?
Some of that concern can be attributed to unnecessary insecurity and lack of trust. But some of it can be traced to experience! They have seen rogue leaders make their group a personal fiefdom, and they don’t want to sign up for that.
In all honesty, over the years I have to admit I’ve seen a couple of disaffected leaders influence their groups away from our church. So why do I keep equipping and releasing leaders? Mostly because I have seen the awesome minstry that results, which far outweighs the occassional heartache.
I am also learning to recognize the conditions which make leader open to drift: the vision vacuum. When leaders are connecting with their coaches and attending our monthly leadership gathering, they virtually never drift. That is because they have a steady infusion of vision that shapes the way they look at their groups, their ministry, and the mission of the church. If a leader is not willingly connecting in those ways, they lose their focus and become susceptible to other visions and agendas because they don’t have a vision directing them. Nature may abhor a vacuum, but so does cell leadership.
Fill the vacuum with your vision, or something else will!
Randall said,
August 24, 2007 @ 8:00 am
I hear this comment from pastors as well, and would heartily agree that it’s justified. However, I too feel there’s no reason it cannot be completely eliminated by growing one’s cell groups through organic relationships. A person will rarely become a rogue group leader if he was relationally mentored into his position and was thoroughly tested through experiencial development before he was given the role of cell leader.
Take out the relational aspect of healthy cell leadership development and start appointing people to lead groups, and a pastor will find himself with numerous leaders with a spirit of independence instead of interdependence.
In my coaching cluster, I am working hard to cast the overall vision of our local Vineyard church and asking each of my cells to pray and move in the missional direciton God has called them to as it pertains to our church’s vision. Under that cloud, they will find direction, shade, provision, and will move at the right speed, just like God provided for Israel.
Randall said,
August 24, 2007 @ 8:02 am
ooops! I forgot to add that Scott Boren has written a very good book on this very topic… Relationship-driven ministry. Check out The Relational Way.