Do you remember the old slide projectors? They basically have light that shines through a negative, that gets focused by a lens that projects onto a screen.

If you lead an organization or want to lead an organization you must not only be the lens. Because people will want to you to focus their picture of what the organization should look like. They have the light (their motivation) and the negative (their picture of what the organization should be), but the leader has to bring their picture into focus. But if you don’t bring their picture of the organization into focus, then great trouble ensues.

This has been happening in the church from the beginning. Many “insiders” in the new churches wanted people to believe in Jesus and also follow Jewish customs. But the Apostles went to great pains to squash this. Following Jesus didn’t mean trusting Christ and being Jewish. Following Jesus was trusting Christ, period.

Leaders are marked by God to give “the negative,” and the body of believers, with the leaders, act as the lens so the picture of God’s mission for the local church can be clearly seen. And the leaders must protect the local church from anyone changing “the negative.” If “the picture of what should be” is up for grabs then chaos and confusion reign.

This is not to say that changes can’t be made; if the picture is always blurry then the negative might be out of focus.  But if there is sharp focus at times, but not other times, then the processes and people needs to be refocused.  And a clear presentation from the local church is absolutely essential; because the two most precious things in all the world are at stake: the glory of God and eternal joy of humanity.