[Blog] Do you fear chaos?

A bold vision inevitably creates chaos. If you think your people are “a bit slow on the uptake” when you communicate your vision, you’re in good company. Immediately after Jesus fed the four thousand, He and His disciples got in a boat to cross to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. On the way, the men looked into their lunch sack and realized they had only one loaf of bread. They were worried about going hungry! Jesus asked them,

“Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

“Twelve,” they replied.

“And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

They answered, “Seven.”

He said to them, “Do you still not understand?” —Mark 8:17-21

When Jesus fed the crowd just before this scene, it wasn’t like the disciples were asleep or were merely bystanders. They gave out the fish and bread with their own hands. If anybody should have had an idea of what had happened, they should have! But they still didn’t get it. My point is that leaders shouldn’t get too exasperated when their people are slow to get on board with a new vision and strategy. In fact, if they get on too easily, it may be a sign that the vision isn’t big enough.

Many people in our churches (and on our Leadership Teams) try to avoid chaos at all costs, and they feel confused (and maybe betrayed) when we lead in a way that shakes things up and makes them feel uncomfortable. They want to manage their slice of the organization and tie up all the loose ends, but leaders have a very different agenda: moving the church into the unknown to accomplish a far bigger purpose—and that purpose is more important than maintaining comfort and certainty.

This blog was extracted from Sam Chand’s new leadership resource How Leaders Create Chaos: And why they should! get your copy and grow as a leader this year by going to SamChandBook.com.