Vision Is the Leader's Greatest Commodity

Vision is the leader's greatest commodity. The work isn't just having it, but articulating it in a way that makes people want to be part of it. That same ability is one of the keys to year-end giving, because people give to vision they can see and feel, not just to projects.

Pastor Chris shared candidly that much of Highlands' early "stewardship" actually came from fear, a scarcity mindset he had labeled as stewardship. His challenge: the thing killing your dream usually isn't your budget, your people, your city, or your team. In most cases, it's your mind.

Scarcity disguises itself in familiar phrases:

• "I don't have enough" (leaders, chairs, money, etc.)
• "Our people won't do that."
• "Our city is different."

These start to sound like wisdom but become excuses to stay smaller than necessary. Even when they're true, they aren't helpful and aren't biblical.

Three truths anchor a different way of seeing:

• There is no shortage. Roughly $70 trillion is currently changing hands through foundations and trusts, most of it headed to causes. For scale: a million seconds is 11 days, a trillion seconds is 35,000 years, and there are 70 of those. Shortage isn't the issue. We've lost the art of asking big.
• God doesn't downsize His vision. In Luke 10:2 the harvest is plentiful and the workers are few, but the very next word is "ask." Ephesians 3:20 says God does exceedingly abundantly above what we ask or think. The ceiling is what we ask and dream for, not what God is willing to do.
• Keep vision shovel-ready. Pastor Chris keeps concrete design concepts on his desk for years before funding exists. Making vision tangible is how you shed the scarcity mindset and help others see what you see. Don't just think it, ink it.

Five takeaways:

• Make room to dream. Set aside time to get away, pray, and ask God what He wants for your church, city, and region.
• Connect to what you see. Write out the church you actually see. Nearly everything significant at Highlands traces back to something that moved Pastor Chris personally.
• Write it down. Pastor Chris keeps a 103-item bucket list spanning fun, personal, and kingdom goals, including raising up 30,000 new Christian leaders over 20 years. Writing it down is what makes it motivate you.
• Ask big. If handed a million dollars for your church, city, or the world, would you have an immediate answer? If not, you may be undervisioning yourself (Habakkuk 2: make it plain on tablets).
• Don't give up on it. Perseverance is the most important part of dreaming.