Are CAVE Dwellers Holding Back Your Vision?
C.A.V.E. dwellers are people Consistently Against Virtually Everything and they are alive and well in most churches. In fact a recent study by a Gallop guy named Albert Winseman says that 17% of the average church is made up of these "actively disengaged" people.
The troubling observation for me is that church leaders get so accustomed to these people, they take them for granted and live with toxin in culture rather than dealing with it. I am often asked to advise on tactics- worship or small group or technology best practices. Leaders look for right answers to advance their vision. The newsflash is: If you don't know how to deal with CAVE dwellers it doesn't matter how good your tactics might be, because there will always be an enthusiasm drag and energy drain holding the vision back.
Winseman in his book, Growing an Engaged Church, advises. "Your job as a leader is not to placate the actively disengaged. It is to create and grow disciples." His answer is to focus on the engaged- don't get distracted trying to please the squeaky wheels!
But ignoring these negative folks is not enough. Great leaders know how to dialogue with wisdom and grace until one of two things occur. Either disengaged people must convert and eventually become contributors or they must leave (in an effort to find somewhere else they CAN engage.)
It's the leaders choice to let people sing off key, or to bring beautiful harmony into the world.
Profound Partial Truths: Your Vision is Outdated Part 4
Two quotes related to vision have trafficked through the social media space in the last six months. These quotes support the position that vision is outdated.
The first quote came from Sam Chand and picked up speed at Leadership Network’s i3 conference in Dallas. The quote is “Toxic Culture Trumps Vision” Listen to Sam’s fantastic podcast related to the subject here.
The second quote is from Dave Gibbons who spoke at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. His quote is “We need more relationaries not visionaries.”
Both of these quotes are profound partial truths. In their context, these statements bring helpful insight. For example, Gibbons is really against the role of a visionary who is disconnected and out of touch with their followers. He is not against being visionary.
But as stand alone statements they reveal a subtle but powerful dynamic in church leadership circles today: Our concept of vision is so weak and outdated we tend undermine and downplay it because all we have left is a “strawman.” Instead of living with a weak and outdated vision, I suggest that we need to define vision correctly.
Fixing Quote #1
The problem with Sam’s quote is that we are left asking, “How do you fix a toxic culture?” Ironically, the answer has to start with vision! Therefore it is more accurate to say real vision shapes culture. And what Sam should have said is “Toxic culture trumps the results of our poorly conceptualized visioning processes” (Like borrowing a mission statement from North Point, or doing an old-school strategic planning process.)
Fixing Quote #2
Again, Dave’s statement that we need relationaries not visionaries is itself a statement of vision (ironically). Imagine for a moment where the church would be if we had all relationaries and no visionaries. Now, I do get Dave’s point as stated earlier. But why not statement the real truth: We need visionaries who are strong relationaries. The first person who comes to mind now is Jesus not Mister Rogers- imagine that!
Change has Changed: Your Vision is Outdated Part 3
A pastor left a message on my 800 line yesterday and on my cell phone today (he was referred from a friend who used Auxano). Interestingly, he used a long string of different terms to describe what he is looking for in his two different voice messages:
- developing a long range plan
- a strategic planning process
- visioning
- strategizing
- helping us think through the future
- defining our DNA
Its noteworthy that there are many ways of trying to articulate the very process at arriving at vision today. The way we think about vision is
being challenged, pushed and stretched to adapt to new sets of problems and
opportunities.
- Conferences (event-based inspiration) have become the primary tool for thinking about the future
- Church growth methodology that peaked in the 70's and 80's was based on cultural assumptions that have changed
- Traditional strategic planning (and the resulting notebook from the process) is more of a hindrance than a help in energizing a church's future.
What's the bottom line? We need new words, new tools, and new processes today to help us with vision. (This need is the holy discontent behind the book Church Unique.) Until we regain an adequate model for visioning in this context of rapid change, the effectiveness of every other decision in the church will decrease.
Guiding Principles and Yogi Church
I have been transitioning from coffee to tea. Today the family was comparing two brands of green tea- Tazo and Yogi. The clear winner for us is Yogi. I always enjoy reading the story and vision behind a product I like. In this case I found the Yogi Principles an interesting example of a defining core.
- Tasting great is essential but not enough
- We think before we blend
- Health is found in nature
- Creative combinations can optimize what nature has to offer
- Whenever possible we work with wholes not parts
Yogi Church
- Great worship is essential but not enough
- We think before we program
- Health is found in community
- Creativity and innovation can optimize what church has to offer
- Whenever possible we lead the whole church body not just parts
Why Great Vision + Wrong Media = Less Influence
I was just coming off a study break with lots of stuff ready to post, when a new friend named Gordon Marcy sent me a link to this article. Gordon is a guy dedicated to building media platforms for kingdom impact (and will hopefully be joining us for the Houston Vision co::Lab starting in Sept.)
