The prophet engages in future fantasy. The prophet does not ask if the vision can be implemented… The imagination must come before the implementation. Our culture is competent to implement almost anything and to imagine almost nothing… Every totalitarian regime is frightened of the artist. It is the vocation of the prophet to keep alive the ministry of imagination, to keep conjuring and proposing alternative futures.
Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination
A discussion of “vision” is usually involved in any definition of “leadership.” This is true in the business arena, just as well as it is with followers of Jesus. But what distinguishes between the two, if anything?
One factor that distinguishes the two is the idea of the “prophetic sermon.” Walter Brueggemann argues that at least for the Old Testament prophets, “future fantasy” is the means by which a message of God was communicated. The prophet served as an imaginative vision caster to God’s people of a future that could be if change and action became a reality.
For those called to lead followers of Jesus, this is a primary role of the sermon on Sunday. Leaders are to “cast vision” in order to capture the imagination of the people articulating a world that “could be.” But for the leader, these realities are not merely passing “word clouds”, to be forgotten at 12:05 over eating lunch at Red Lobster, but actual potentialities. The leader helps to promote “buy in” by demonstrating to his/her hearers what could be if he/she actual did what was asked.
But this may rub some hearers or other leaders the wrong way. If Jesus is indeed a model of leadership, as are the prophets, proposing actual alternative futures is bound to create controversy. Jesus presented his followers of the potential to be bearers of the “already and not yet” kingdom of God. This seemed to be the primary “future fantasy” of Jesus. Are we willing to continue the communication?
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Price makes some excellent comments about casting a vision through a sermon on Sunday. Vision is one of the top qualities listed on any list of qualifications for a leader. It is interesting to note that some leaders like Appel in his book, "How to Change the Church without Killing it," says that more than casting a vision to the crowd at church that a leader needs to first get his or her influencers on board. Some people are early adapters and accept ideas very quickly. A second group will accept the vision after time to process the idea. The second group takes a vision and makes it better. Usually when a vision is cast--the initial hearers are the leadership members of the church and the influencers. Most research will say that the crowd will follow if the top 3% lead a change. If the vision is cast to the core members of the church first then the vision can be refined to answer the frequently asked questions during the presentation. Many leaders recommend that the influencers be taken to a retreat or seminar away from the church to bond and to realize what a wonderful church they have.
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