Vision is important and if you have been around those in church leadership you may have gotten the impression that vision is the panacea to all that ails the church. It is important that your leader understands where you are headed, but if vision is not coupled with engagement it quickly spirals down into cynicism.
The local church is one of the easiest entities to criticize (up there with the government, the “other”, and the New England Patriots). Very few nebulous groups at their best readily admit their mistakes and at their worst tell others how wrong they are, the local church never fails in giving the cynic material. To their credit these cynics have vision. They are able to see fault and occasionally propose something different that the local church hasn’t thought of or been able to actualize. These cynics, along with anyone else who only has vision, are lazy.
In the local church younger people who resist the cynicism, but still have critical opinions are often looked to as cultural forerunners by other leaders in the church. This is a dangerous offer. I have been known to (and will be known to) give critique without having any attention of becoming an active part of the solution I am offering. When the opinions of the young are heard the hand of invitation should quickly follow, because it is only through a spirit of engagement that the visionary cynic becomes a disciple.
It is easy to become a cynic by taking a posture of critique, instead of doing the hard work of taking a posture of engagment. Engagement brings one close, and when we become close to the thing we criticize it functions as a mirror.
It is easy to be critical
It is easy to have vision
It is hard to engage
It is hard to lead
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