CHAPTER 18
VISION
Leadership by definition means giving direction to others, to go out and show the way and to be able to do that requires that you know where you are going. In other words, you have a goal, a destination, you know what you are trying to achieve and by definition of leadership you bring others along with you. The goals you have are part of your vision, and others follow you willingly to help you achieve your vision:
Where there is no vision, the people perish:…(Prov. 29:18)
Without vision there is no reason to be going anywhere, like the Israelites in the wilderness, circling the mountain, round and round they went and got nowhere(Deut.2:3). Without direction there will only be confusion. Where there is no reason to do, where confusion prevails, people become nothing more than automatons, dead to any purpose. Another translation of the original says ‘the people are naked’, in other words, they are exposed, left vulnerable to all sorts of things that can and will side-track them. Your work as a leader is to keep them focused, to keep them going in the right direction, and it will not always be easy. There will be times when you as leader will have to get behind your team and push them in the necessary direction, at other times it may be necessary to nurture and nudge, and then again it may be necessary, on occasion, to drag them forward, always keeping the team headed on the correct course.
For most leaders the destination or goal is visible, a tangible reward which could be anything from a sales target to educational accolades or a sporting victory. But there are times when the goal may be intangible, difficult to envision or it may even seem impossible.
The life of Abram is a good example – his goal was to become a father, to be able to leave his fortune to a direct descendant, but his age was against him and time was running out. Abram’s greatest fear was that his servant would inherit all. He needed an heir – but Sarai his wife was old and unable to conceive. At seventy five years of age he left his father’s house with only a promise to cling to, but it was a promise that became his ambition, his vision. God had placed in him a vision far greater than his wildest dreams.
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
(Gen. 12:2)
To that end, God insisted on changing Abram’s name to Abraham – the former meant ‘high father’ and the latter ‘father of many nations’.
Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
(Rom. 4:16-20)
For Abraham, it was necessary to express his goal, his vision, every single day. Everyday his wife and his friends would call him by his new name reminding him what his vision was, what he was hoping for. Everyday the old man would have it repeated over and over again, until it became a reality, until the invisible became visible and the impossible became possible.
But Abraham’s vision did not end there –
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
(Hebr. 11:8-10)
Abraham’s first goal was personal – to have an heir, someone to continue the family name. His second goal was, at first sight, materialistic in nature. He knew from the day he left his father’s house that he was headed to a land set aside for him and his descendants by God, but there was a greater promise which he also pursued. Yes, the promised land of Canaan was there, but it was only a type for something far greater, his vision saw beyond the goats and camels that needed to be watered and fed, his eyes were set on something longer lasting than the present, more than the here and the now, he saw beyond a sparsely populated land of dusty mountains. He saw a land filled with his progeny, he saw a land of milk and honey, yes, but beyond that he saw a celestial city built by God Himself.
Lot, his nephew who followed him to Canaan, did not share his vision which made it easy for the two to part ways when the time came. One day the herders of Abraham and Lot argued about water prompting Abraham to take Lot one side and show him all the surrounding land. The leader had decided to give his disciple a chance to choose for himself and Lot chose the plains surrounding the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Talk about short-sightedness. In time Abraham would come to regret his decision to let Lot go his own way, because it was not long after the two parted that Abraham had to raise an army to rescue his protégé. It is for each leader to set goals, to develop a vision of where he is headed, even if it may seem impossible, even if at first it is out of reach and invisible. If you know where you are going, it is easier to take others along with you, to nudge and push and nurture others along the road. At first Lot must have been incredibly happy about his new found freedom, but once the fire of heaven started to fall, I am sure he wished he was back with Abraham.
The same vision that He gave to Abraham, God gave to Abraham’s descendants, Isaac and then Jacob, which ensured continuity. It was a vision almost lost while the Israelites were in captivity in Egypt, but through Moses, God restored direction and purpose. Time could not destroy the vision.
As leader you may want to set time constraints on such issues as sales or production targets as a way of motivating those in your team, but there should always be something greater to aim at than the day to day grind. Vision is not a short term ideal, it is the ultimate goal, and requires a long term strategy. Abraham waited 25 years for Isaac to be born, Moses roamed the wilderness for forty years with the Israelites before they could enter the Promised Land, and Noah took one hundred and twenty years to build the ark before the flood came.
Committing to a time scale, and placing all your efforts thereon, might destroy the dream before it even begins, especially if you are one who must get what he wants. We have to remember that, in most cases, time should not be part of the vision, it is a tool to be used to achieve the vision, much like money and knowledge, and much like money and knowledge, it is insufficient on its own, it is not enough and it may, if used unwisely, just destroy the vision.
Like Abraham we need to be reminded of our dreams of where we are going, of what we want to achieve, of you we want to achieve them with. For this the words of Habakkuk are good advice:
And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
(Hab. 2:2-3)
Write it down, remind yourself thereof, do not constrain yourself with unnecessary limitations. Yes, it might take longer than you hoped; it might be more difficult than you thought as you may come across unexpected obstacles, but like Abraham it is important that you believe in what you are trying to achieve, that you believe that you (I emphasize you) can achieve it. It is important that you believe in the vision (the emphasis also being on the vision). You and the vision must become synonymous with each other, become one, and those who are following you must be made to see and believe as you do.
That is the difference between ordinary leadership and great leadership. The great leader gets his followers to see what he sees, he gets the team to go where he is going, and he instils in them the vision he has.
There are times when that which we at first set out to do may be altered by circumstances, and we may be forced to make a detour on our way to achieving that which we set out to do as happened to Paul:
Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,
After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.
And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas.
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.
And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. (Acts 16:6-10)
Paul was headed in one direction, but the needs of others compelled him to move somewhere else. Paul’s vision was for Christian churches to be planted throughout the Mediterranean basin, but how that was achieved was not set in stone and the method was adaptable and changed to fit the prevailing circumstances. Paul never allowed himself to be constrained by time or logistics.
Abraham, too, had on occasion to move out of the Promised Land and go to Egypt because of famine, he had to place himself under the authority of foreign kings, but the vision, even under such circumstances did not change.
Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and a journey that should have lasted a short while turned into an ordeal of 40 years, but the ordeal did not overshadow the ideal; and the vision, although it tarried, did come.
As a leader, it is important to remember that those under your authority also have dreams, also have goals and visions. Their vision may not be as big as yours, but then again, they may be reaching for something greater, and it is vital for you not to quench those goals. You may just destroy the visionary – someone who could be important to you.
So often, we see that happening in the Bible with disastrous consequences. Within David’s court was the young Absalom:
But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. (2Sam. 14:25)
But behind the good looks lurked a heart determined to get what it wanted by whatever means necessary, even if it meant killing his own father. The twenty-four year old Absalom believed that he would be a better ruler than David, but David being in his fifties still had many years ahead as king, and to the impatient Absalom this was a problem.
For two years he was kept under house arrest for murdering his half-brother Amnon, which only added to a frustration that would later boil over into a full blown rebellion and war, forcing David to flee his beloved Jerusalem. The rebellion was, however, short-lived and David could return to his throne in Jerusalem, but the whole affair cost the life of Absalom, David’s heir-apparent and broke the king’s heart.
If Absalom had waited on his vision it would undoubtedly have come, if David had taken the ambitions of the young man into consideration the whole tragic affair might have been avoided.
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Prov. 22:6)
Look to those under you, care for them, nurture them, let them express themselves, let them grow, let the vision grow within them.
Absalom’s vision was power, not the well-being of Israel, the same thoughts might be lurking behind the eyes of those looking at you – be aware that there are those who feel they can do better than you. Remember, they have talents that you do not have, let their talents be put to use for the advancement of the vision, do not frustrate them with your dominance.
For the leader, the vision is the thing, the ultimate goal, use the talents and abilities available to you, and grow together towards the goal.