The Holy Spirit knows what He is doing and He will lead us if we will stay humble, courageous and gracious toward each other….
The times we are living in, according to Bob Johansen of “Institute for the Future” (author of “Leaders Make the Future“), have produced a VUCA world… full of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. He goes on to predict that the next ten years are going to be an incredibly difficult and challenging time for leaders.
How should we as Jesus followers respond to the world culture where we exist every day? Will our churches serve as a hiding place where people can escape from a VUCA world, or can we be a place of empowering for people to turn and lead movements of change and promise as they are drawn to embrace Jesus and His teachings?
These are times of wide-sweeping and fast paced change. I am concerned that many in the church are resisting the idea that the changes have begun and our world will never be the same. While we enjoy the benefits of having peace with God through Jesus and the closeness of our church family and the security of our religious traditions, there is a world all around us full of people who are uncertain and some even terrified about the future.
What are we doing to position ourselves to communicate the hope we have for stability in our VUCA world?
The hope we have is in the kingdom of God. You and I will not capture the attention of our world around us if we don’t seek God for wisdom and a plan that will provide hope and leadership to a culture that Jesus sees as sheep, helplessly wandering around in search of a shepherd.
I hope you are investing time in God’s word with new eyes searching out the principles of Jesus kingdom and his ways of living life and serving people. I am completely convinced that we need new methods, ideas, new revolutionary approaches to expressing the presence of God in our homes, friendships, businesses and culture. It is our world’s only hope.
There is a movement of people right now who are seeking God’s help as they deconstruct what they have become so accustomed to as “church life“. By His grace they are rebuilding lives and church families that are ready to lead in a revolution of love and service in Jesus’ name, in whatever community in which they live every day.
Changes are here and they won’t be easy. But the Holy Spirit knows what He is doing and He will lead us if we will stay humble, courageous and gracious toward each other.
Jesus uses two images here to describe what He sees… the first is a massive gathering of sheep without a shepherd… the second is a harvest that is waiting to be gathered in. We can’t help a culture of people who are looking for a shepherd unless we own our responsibility to be leaders. Neither can we fulfill our life mission unless we search for it in the context of gathering in God’s harvest… connecting people with faith in Jesus Christ.