Answer:
Answered by Little Falls Christian Centre
There are a number of ways to look at this commonplace problem in most Churches that are transitioning. A good strategy for addressing this problem in a logical fashion is to break down the issue into components that you can actually work with. How? By asking a simple question, WHAT PROOF DO I HAVE THAT THE NEXT GENERATION OF CELL LEADERS HAVE NOT CAUGHT THE VISION?
You are not interested in your perception here, you are interested in facts. For example you may discover that the reason why they appear to not have caught the vision is one of the following reasons:
- They have not been adequately trained
- The leaders in your prototype Cell have not communicated the vision properly
- The problem may be not so much as not catching or understanding the vision, they have hidden opposition to the vision
- Your leaders in your prototype Cell appear to be vision supportive, but in reality they are not
- The Prototype Cell has not had enough time to adequately carry the vision over
- The standards that you as senior man might be setting is to high, or you perhaps assumed that your leadership are at a level that they are not
Do you understand how this process of dealing with problems works, you are trying to break down the problem into something that you can work with. All of the abovementioned issues can be dealt with practically, but you need to know what you are up against. There might be a combination of problems, put them in order of priority and deal with them accordingly. Dont allow yourself to be sidetracked. Problems are healthy.
Secondly, the next best way that you can deal with this issue is to approach it in a total different way. It is critical that your supporting leadership communicates the vision enthusiastically as this is going to determine the eventual success of your Cell Church. These leaders are critical to your success. In a lot of Churches however, due to severe political influence, most leaders only listen to the Senior Man. The most powerful vision motivator is going to be yourself. At the start of any Cell Church the Senior Pastors work is very intensive, once the Church is running however, the foot can be eased off the pedal a little and more responsibility can be given to those under you so that they can in turn develop their potential.
Get the next level of leadership into another prototype Cell with you, impart the vision to them from your level. Flatten your leadership structure at first, so that you can meet with them without going through another leadership level. Identify the key players and meet with them socially. Preach Cell related sermons from the platform, or other sermons incorporating Cell body life. Ask your prototype Cell what are the reasons why they think the vision is being diluted. All of these aspects are dealt with extensively in the ACT seminar.
Lastly, and the most important way of ensuring success is based on Gods Word that says, unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain. Psalm 127:1. If you had to ask our Senior Pastor if there was one single reason why we are succeeding, he would without hesitation answer "it is because we pray". God has protected and led us because of the amount of prayer. We have dodged many issues, won many hearts and minds etc, because of praying for Gods help. There are no short cuts, prayer is vital for a Church. Uncle Ralph W Neighbour said that he prayed twice as much as what he spent actually doing things in the Church, when he was transitioning. Your battle is in the Spirit. As a rule when Ps Harold our Senior Pastor shares any changes with the leadership of our Church, he always has them spend an extended time in prayer and praise and worship. When people still have their carnal perception intact, they will not receive the things of the Spirit, they are far more open when they are in the Spirit. All of the leaders without exception are spending an hour or more in prayer everyday (we know its not the time it is the quality, but just to demonstrate the point). We want the Lord to build the house, cause then we know that it will stand.
In connection with vision, a senior Pastor is someone who sees the whole forest, while the bulk of the members only see the tree in front of them. Why? God anoints the visionary to see into the future. The average member will get extremely frightened if they see the full picture that the visionary sees. It is good to be transparent but with a lot of wisdom, what the average leader in your Church wants is not the full picture, they want the immediate goals and the strategy to achieve these goals. A good way for the next generation of leaders to get closer to understanding the vision, is to simplify what you are communicating with them. Tell them what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, how it needs to be done and why they would want to do it. You will motivate them soon enough. Your true sons will eventually start catching the vision and want to find out about the bigger picture.
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