Dream Big

I'm in the process of reading Ultimately Responsibility by Sue Nilson Kibbey, who's one of the pastors at Ginghamsburg UMC.  In her chapter on "Leading a Team," she quotes Peter M. Senge.

In the absence of a great dream, pettiness prevails.

How often have I seen the truth of that statement!  When there is no great dream to bind people together or to give them a common purpose, pettiness rules the day.  As Kibbey notes this becomes evident,

in committees that exist to spend their meeting time debating the flavor of cookies to have at the next event, the color of paper onto which the worship bulletin should be copied, and whether Sunday morning coffee drinkers should be allowed to bring their cups into the sanctuary.  In the absence of vision, teams forget why they were created in the first place, and small-mindedness takes over.

Consider the contrast between Joseph and his 10 older brothers.  Joseph had big dreams, impossible dreams.  He dreamed that one day his family would look to him as someone who was due great respect.  He dreamed of being in a position of ultimate responsibility, a position of influence and authority.  His brothers got hung up on the fact that Joseph dressed in nicer clothes than they did.  Now that's certainly a oversimplification of the family dynamics, but the differences between Joseph with his dream and his brothers with their small thinking become abundantly apparent as the years went by.  Joseph ascended to a place of power and his brothers were reduced to begging him for help.  (See Genesis 37-47)

What great dream do you have for your life or for your church?  Go ahead and tell about it here.

Comments

[Greg Hazelrig]

I am beginning my first small group in May and leading a class on Servant Evangelism. I plan to get my church out of the building and onto the streets. And in September I plan to begin a new worship service at 9am with us playing Contemporary music heard on the radio.

My dream is to bring in those who have no church and those who have gotten tired of church buy showing them that we can do church in fresh new ways and by serving people as Jesus served us...feeding them body and spirit.

That's my dream for my church...Gibson Memorial UMC.

Thanks for allowing me to share.