VISION Update: Evangelist's Perspective

Seeing the 'Big Picture'

Updating our Vision from the Evangelist's Persepctive

AT Arneson In a recent leadership meeting in the North, a number of the brothers and sisters gathered to talk about continuing on with a vision for how we are building God's church. We did a little exercise that revealed a great deal about the importance of ‘seeing the big picture'.

We had the leaders break into three separate groups. Each of the groups now represented a new ‘congregation' trying to build in accordance with the will of God. Each ‘congregation' was given a jigsaw puzzle to work on for just 20 minutes. In one of the congregations the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle were simply poured out in front of them. They had no designated leader and they had no picture of what they were trying to build; they simply had a pile of colored pieces to work with. (You should have seen the look in their eyes at the work before them!) In another group, the pieces of the puzzle were poured out before them, but this time only a designated leader was allowed to see the picture they were building toward. The rest of the group was only allowed build according to the picture as seen by the leader. Finally, in the third group, the pieces were poured out, the big picture was seen by all and each person knew exactly what they were trying to build toward. The results of this exercise were amazing! Here's what happened:

Group #1—No picture/No Leader: For the first couple of moments they simply sat there overwhelmed at the prospect of putting a puzzle together without knowing what the ‘big picture' looked like. After the initial shock they began to sift through the pieces with their fingers only to begin complaining at the impossibility of actually getting anything done. After about ten minutes of ‘sifting' they began to really lose focus; one person began to toss pieces of the puzzle in the air. They began to complain about how long the task was lasting saying; comments were made, such as "How much longer?" or "This is dumb," and even, "Can we just watch the other groups?" At the peak of the breakdown the group began to jokingly criticize me (the leader and overseer of the process) saying, "Look at you standing over us like God or something..." One brother from their group even stood up and (again jokingly) said, "I am leaving my group and joining a group that has a vision"! Imagine, all of this happened in less than 20 minutes! Later, I asked the group what would have happened if the exercise were to have lasted 4 hours. Just the thought alone was exasperating, but the consensus was that there would have been great frustration. In the end the group clicked together 4 of the 1000 pieces of the puzzle. As you can imagine, they were extremely fired up to have accomplished even that!

"Where there is no revelation the people cast off restraint..."
Proverbs 29:18

What did we learn?:

When people can't see the vision they are building toward, they will quickly lose heart and head in the direction they deem best for themselves or the group.
It can be quickly frustrating to build without a vision. If a group cannot see the ‘big picture' they will lose heart. They might even become critical in the process.
A group without a goal and vision will be easily satisfied with very small results. If a group of people has no target to hit then whatever is hit becomes acceptable. In a group such as this things are said like, "Well at least we completed the exercise." Or "At least we managed to get two pieces together." And even, "How could we have done more with what we were given?"
Breakdown comes quickly in a group without a vision. People will eventually lose heart and find a place to participate that does have a vision. Where there is no vision criticalness creeps in. Also, priorities get messed up in a group absent of the ‘big picture'. In our little experiment many complaints arose; "The floor is cold." "How did I end up in this group?" "Why did ‘they' get to see a picture?" "This is a waste of time."

Group #2—Designated Leader only had the ‘Big Picture': This group worked pretty well together. Interestingly, once a leader was designated everyone quickly decided to submit to his direction. They knew their goal and intently listened as the leader began to describe the picture in great detail. The leader of this group was organized and communicated clearly. However, it became immediately apparent that all of the work would flow through the leader. As their pieces of the puzzle began to come together, it was the leader who was getting all of the work done. He would have the others in the group categorize the pieces according to color and then pass them to him so he could assemble. The group was extremely task oriented and as the leader would click pieces together there really wasn't a spirit of rejoicing or accomplishment but rather a continued systematic working according toward the direction of the leader's vision. Also of note, this group kept asking how much time was left as it pertained to trying to get as much done as possible. In the end this group managed to put together 75 pieces of the 1000 in the puzzle.

"When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves—
Praise the Lord!" Judges 5:2

What did we learn?:

There is a significant increase in productivity and efficiency in building when, at least, a designated leader has a vision in mind.
The inefficiency of a group that can't see the vision of the leader lies in the fact that everything must ‘flow' through the leader. He or she appears to be the only one capable of really being productive. The rest of the group has to wait until they are given specific instruction before they can really make a productive move. Even then, the group is not able to see how their actions fit into the bigger scheme. I would imagine that this type of activity would only be rewarding for a limited time.
The enthusiasm of the group was completely based on the leader's feedback. As long as the leader continued to be ‘high energy' - giving instructions, compliments, feedback to productivity etc - then the group pressed on. If the leader would have let down at all, the productivity of the group would have ceased immediately.
The group longed to see what they were building toward. They kept pressing the leader for more detail. When the exercise ended and the picture was revealed there was a lot of wide-eyed ‘oohing' and ‘ahhing' at what they had been building toward.

Group #3—Leadership and ‘Big Picture' seen by all: This was the perfect scenario for building. In this group the leader immediately laid the ‘big picture' before the whole group. Almost immediately individuals stepped forward to claim the piece of the puzzle they would like to work on. A fairly organized, systematic plan was developed as the whole team began to distribute the pieces that fit the color scheme of each claimed part of the puzzle. As the pieces were distributed each part set about doing the work of putting their part of the puzzle together. One brother continued ‘feeding' parts of the puzzle to each person and the puzzle began to come together in accordance with the vision. Interestingly, in this group everyone felt like a contributing part and as they clicked piece after piece together, there was a sense of involvement and personal satisfaction. I also noticed that in this group the work continued even while casual conversation/fellowship was going on. Each person seemed to fall into working on their part and yet giving encouragement to those around them. In the end this group managed to click together about 200-250 pieces of the puzzle in the 20 minutes of work.

"From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament,
grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." Ephesians 4:16

What Did We Learn?:

It is remarkably productive for a group to be unified with a vision for what they are building toward.
When a group can ‘see' the big picture, the individuals in that group can express a passion and desire for how they can contribute to that vision.
Once a group has a vision for what they are building toward, they can go about their work while carrying on with fellowship and the encouragement of the group.
In a group where ‘each part does its work', the individuals feel a sense of personal investment and satisfaction with regard to their contribution to building toward the vision of the group.
A group with a collective vision is an attractive group for those who do not have a vision. People want to be a part of a group where they can feel valued and vested in the vision of the group.

And Finally-The Take-Aways: We learned much from the exercise! As we completed our 20-minutes of work, we sat down and had a great talk about which group we most fit into in the North. We decided that we were somewhere between the ‘Leader Only' group and the group where all had the big picture. This was good news. We acknowledged that we have to make sure that all of the brothers and sisters are continually given a vision of the ‘Big Picture'.

In the Chicago Church, we continue forward with our 10-Year Vision. We are approaching the 2-year anniversary of the original Vision presentation, and continue to see the Vision unfold in a very powerful way. In the last year we have seen new Ministry Center leaders raised up, we have seen elders appointed, we have begun a 5-year teaching curriculum for the staff, our Youth and Family ministry is converting our children to be faithful disciples of Jesus and a renewed vision in our campus ministries is sparking young people to devote themselves with a vision for the full-time ministry. In addition to all of this, we have seen more and more people being added to our numbers as baptisms and restorations continue to grow. God is truly moving.

The Vision to take the gospel to the millions and millions in the Chicagoland area is certainly not without challenges. We must make sure that every disciple in the Chicago Church sees the ‘Big Picture' of the 10-Year Vision. We must continue to make sure that every part is engaged in actively using their gifts and talents in honoring God. It is specifically the role of the evangelists to passionately preach the gospel and inspire every disciple with God's vision for the church through God's Word. As the 10-year vision continues to unfold it will be the charge of this group to carry out this charge in a powerful and effective way. I believe we are up for the challenge. The evangelists are visionary men who long to build the Chicago Church in such a way as to honor God.

We ask of every member two things: that you embrace God's vision for the church, and that you put your individual gifts to work in helping to realize that vision. The body grows and builds itself up as EACH PART does its work!

AT Arneson
For the Evangelists