The Power of Vision

In early 2021, I thought I had a pretty solid plan: (1) be a good husband and father, (2) preach good sermons at The Story, (3) write good books for the United Methodist Publishing House, and (4) be a force for good at St. Luke’s UMC and in the United Methodist denomination.

But in May of that year, I got punched in the mouth. Not literally, of course (that might’ve been easier to take!) – but when I was told that my time at St. Luke’s was over and that The Story’s future was in doubt, it landed like one of Iron Mike’s violent flurries. In the days that followed, Geo and I felt overwhelmed by a relentless battery of questions:

Why is God allowing this to happen to The Story?
How will our community survive this?
Where will we go, and how will we pay for it?
What if our church can’t pay its bills and we have to lay off our staff?
What if our family can’t pay our bills and we have to sell our home?

Our emotions remained high as we began sharing this news with our congregation. We openly wept and grieved the deep loss of “what might have been” at our mother church, and too often, our pain gave way to anger and resentment. There’s nothing wrong with leaders who wear their hearts on their sleeves, but at that point in time, our emotions were threatening to cloud our sense of judgment.

Mercifully, God put some trustworthy people in my path who helped me “right the ship” as a leader before it was too late. I remember one man in particular who, after an especially emotional Town Hall gathering at The Story, pulled me aside and said, “For six years, you’ve told us every Sunday to trust the Lord no matter what. It’s time to practice what you preach.”

A few days later, a woman emailed me to say, “We believe in what the Lord is doing at The Story, but right now it’s hard to see where you’re taking us.”

No kidding, I thought to myself. We might be homeless in a few months!  

But deep down, I knew that my sister in Christ wasn’t talking about The Story’s next address; she was concerned about our church’s vision. In the fog of fighting for The Story’s life, we were losing sight of what mattered most.

If I was going to lead our church through the storms of change, I would have to cast a clear and consistent vision. Vision-casting isn’t complicated; a vision is simply a mental image of your preferred future. Instead of dwelling on what had happened to us, whining about our lot in life, and pointing fingers at the people I wanted to blame, it was my responsibility to convey to our congregation a compelling mental image of our church’s preferred future.

Where anxious leaders see scarcity, faithful leaders see opportunities to grow. 

The same principle applies to your life and the people you are leading: your family and friends, coworkers and colleagues, or your brothers and sisters in Christ. When tensions run high and change is imminent, leading with your emotions and resentments will only serve to confuse and discourage the people you’re leading. But leaders who regulate their feelings are able to calmly reassure their people that, even when our circumstances change, our vision remains the same.

In other words, instead of continuing to say things like, “This is what happened, and this is who to blame,” I had to make the conscious decision to pivot and say, “We’re grateful for the past, and excited about the future.”

Instead of saying, “I have no idea what’s going to happen or where we’re going to go,” I started to say, “God has always taken care of us, and He’s taking care of us now. And wherever God takes us, our mission of inspiring non-religious people to follow Jesus will be the same!”

Instead of, “It’s awful to see the Church of Jesus Christ being divided,” I said, “Isn’t it amazing to see the Church of Jesus Christ multiplying!?”

And instead of, “Things will never be the same, I’m sorry,” I said, “Things will never be the same, but our God never changes!”

As I and other church leaders changed our outlook, our entire congregation began to turn the corner from a victimhood narrative toward a victorious story. And after leaving our original home in December of 2021 and renting an old Christian Science facility on Montrose for two years, The Story received an unimaginable blessing from God: a wonderful new home at 3223 Westheimer!

This Sunday’s Grand Opening will be the end of one great chapter in our church’s story – and the beginning of an even greater one. Looking back on the journey that brought us here, I am filled with gratitude for the leadership lessons that the Lord taught me along the way.

You may not think of yourself as a “leader”, but I assure you that you are one because leadership is simply defined as “influence with people”. Day in and day out, you are influencing people in your home, as well as at work, school, and church. Whenever adversity and life’s unpleasant surprises throw you and those you’re leading for a loop, how do you typically respond? Do you tend to get swept up in the emotions and anxiety of the moment? Or are you able to regulate your emotions and to reassure others by keeping your own feelings in check?

If leading through chaos is a struggle for you, I encourage you to take it to the Lord in prayer! Don’t wait for the next round of storms to strike – be proactive and ask the Holy Spirit to cultivate the fruit of peace, patience, and self-control in your life.