Axiom Chapter 13

Vision Leaks

Nehemiah teaches us that vision should be re-visited every 25 days or so. If not, we get vision drift—thinking we are on target while we are actually moving further away from it. It is so important to know where we are going, in our marriage, our money, our business, and our ministry. The Word teaches us that we perish for a lack of knowledge. The word perish means several things in this application—languish, wander, flounder, or die—none of them good! Vision is knowledge, it is the defining of where we are going, the target, the goal. It starts with first steps—what we can see—and enlarges as we move forward. That is why it must be continually and consistently revisited and updated—it grows as we move toward it. If our vision is not growing, and does not require me to connect with others to accomplish it, then it is not a God vision. We keep ourselves, and those we are leading, from wandering when we make sure the vision is clear, consistent, and constantly updated.

I love the questions Hybels gives us in the last paragraph. What a powerful tool for leading in vision!
How full is your vision bucket these days?
Do you sense progress around here toward our vision?
Which part of our church’s vision is most meaningful to you?

Use these with yourself and your team and we will always be moving forward and defining new opportunities in our vision.

Axiom-Take a Flyer

Tony and Sheryll: Some of the best results we have ever gotten in ministry happened when we “took a flyer.” The Revolve Campus is a great example—we didn’t bet the bank, but we took a chance that it would work and the result is teenagers giving their lives to Jesus and taking ownership of the church. Churches, businesses, and our lives stagnate, get in a rut, when we move into “maintenance mode”-maintaining what we are doing instead of looking for new opportunities. It is an easy trap because we find ourselves doing something well and getting results, so we spend our time, talent and resources on that instead of seeking God and sensing His Spirit for new opportunities. The result is a rut—we, and those we lead, lose focus, energy wanes and, instead of maintaining the level, we actually begin to fade.

Make it a leadership lifestyle to be continually seeking God for His ideas on new opportunities. Encourage those you lead to join you and make leading an adventure. God promised us he would lead us in finding creative ideas and witty inventions. (Proverbs 8:12) He says about himself, “Look, I am doing a new thing.” Let’s follow his example and take a flyer.

Here’s a couple of tips on making sure you are taking a flyer and not betting the farm. Make new ideas something you are trying for a short period. If it works, you just make it part of what you do. If not, it was something you were just trying and people don’t view it as a failure. Make sure it does not compromise the current level of ministry. For instance, trying Revolve did not lower the level of ministry at Pavilion. It was not an increase in cost because we were already paying for the property. If it failed, our members would have still thought it was cool that we tried to do something extra special for our students. It would not have been a failure, it would have been an idea that didn’t work.

Axiom Boiler Fund

Tony and Sheryll: This is an area too many people dismiss when thinking about ministry and life. If we don't handle the money part well, we won't get to do the other parts. Jesus taught the way you handle money is one of the determining factors in what else in His Kingdom you will get to handle. Handle the money well and we get more and more chances to handle the important things (people) well. This is not a side issue, it is at the heart of Kingdom business. Jesus said you can determine where someone's heart is by looking at their checkbook. As ministries, and as individuals, we must place a high priority on handling the money. Hybels is teaching a principle in this chapter that Chris Hodges has become famous for teaching--learn to live on margin. If you think about it, the whole tithing principle is one of the ways God teaches us a healthy, peaceful way to live--learn to live on less than you bring in. Too many of us see our income as what we have to live on and if it is not enough we seek raises, promotions, another job, more hours, side jobs, etc. Instead of looking for ways to live within a margin of what we make, say 80 to 85%, we are always looking for increase and always increasing the pressure and demands on our time and peace. Our goal is to see CAML live on less than 80% of what comes in. Think about the peace and the flexibility. Think about the peace, flexibility and giving power of a whole church living on less than 80% of what comes in to our personal homes. Now there is a worthwhile goal.