In the quest to understand what’s next for our congregations, we might be inclined to take a Moses approach. Moses ascended Mount Sinai, where he received a revelation from the Lord. The Lord spoke directly to Moses and sent him back to the people with the newly minted Ten Commandments. You might call this vision ex nihilo. Moses had nothing. The Lord told him everything.
You may have had a Mount Sinai moment or two in your ministry. You were driving in your car, tending your garden, taking a walk or pushing through your workout and suddenly you received a flash of inspiration. Perhaps you had to flesh out the idea more fully with the help of others in your circle, but you knew exactly what you needed to do.
Waiting on a Mount Sinai experience, however, might not be the best approach. As leaders, what can we do to better understand where God might be guiding us?
For starters, we can pay attention to problems: not to dwell on them, but to learn something from them.
It’s easy to think of problems as distractions from our “real work,” but what if problems are guideposts that point the way to real work? In Acts 6, the vision that led to the formation of the office of deacon resulted from the apostles’ response to a problem. Greek-speaking widows felt neglected in the daily distribution of food, so the apostles found seven faithful disciples to step into a new role to serve the community.
If you’re wondering about your congregation’s vision, bring a team together to prayerfully reflect on problems that matter and what you can do to solve them.
