The Vision

The Vision¹

By Pete Greig

The vision?
The vision is JESUS--obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus.
The vision is an army of young people. You see bones? I see an army.
And they are FREE from materialism.
They laugh at 9-5 little prisons.
They eat caviar on Monday and crusts on Tuesday.
They wouldn't even notice.
They know the meaning of the Matrix, the way the West was won.
They are mobile like the wind, they belong to the nations. They need no passport. People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence.
They are free yet they are slaves of the hurting and dirty and dying.

What is the vision?

The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes. It makes children laugh and adults angry. It gave up the game of minimum integrity long ago to reach for the stars. It scorns the good and strains for the best. It is dangerously pure.

Light flickers from every secret motive, every private conversation.
It loves people away from their suicide leaps, their Satan games.
This is an army that will lay down its life for the cause.
A million times a day its soldiers
choose to lose
that they might one day win
the great 'Well done' of faithful sons and daughters.
Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night.
They don't need fame from names. Instead they grin quietly upwards
and hear the crowds chanting again and again: "COME ON!"
And this is the sound of the underground
The whisper of history in the making
Foundations shaking
Revolutionaries dreaming once again
Mystery is scheming in whispers
Conspiracy is breathing...
This is the sound of the underground
And the army is discipl(in)ed.
Young people who beat their bodies into submission.
Every soldier would take a bullet for his comrade at arms.
The tattoo on their back boasts "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain."
Sacrifice fuels the fire of victory in their upward eyes.
Winners.
Martyrs.
Who can stop them?
Can hormones hold them back?
Can failure succeed?
Can fear scare them or death kill them?
And the generation prays
like a dying man
with groans beyond talking,
with warrior cries, sulphuric tears and
with great barrow loads of laughter!
Waiting. Watching: 24-7-365.
Whatever it takes they will give:
Breaking the rules.
Shaking mediocrity from its cozy little hide.
Laying down their rights and their precious little wrongs,
laughing at labels, fasting essentials.
The advertisers cannot mold them.
Hollywood cannot hold them.
Peer-pressure is powerless to shake their resolve at late night parties
before the cockerel cries.
They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive inside.
On the outside? They hardly care.
They wear clothes like costumes to communicate and celebrate but
never to hide.
Would they surrender their image or their popularity?
They would lay down their very lives--swap seats with the man on
death row--guilty as hell.
A throne for an electric chair.
With blood and sweat and many tears, with sleepless nights and
fruitless days, they pray as if it all depends on God and live
as if it all depends on them.
Their DNA chooses JESUS. (He breathes out, they breathe in.)
Their subconscious sings. They had a blood transfusion with Jesus.
Their words make demons scream in shopping centers.
Don't you hear them coming?
Herald the weirdos!
Summon the losers and the freaks.
Here come the frightened and forgotten with fire in their eyes.
They walk tall and trees applaud, skyscrapers bow, mountains are
dwarfed by these children of another dimension.
Their prayers summon the hounds of heaven and invoke the ancient
dream of Eden.
And this vision will be. It will come to pass; it will come easily; it
will come soon.
How do I know? Because this is the longing of creation itself, the
groaning of the Spirit, the very dream of God.
My tomorrow is his today.
My distant hope is his 3-D.
And my feeble, whispered, faithless prayer invokes a thunderous,
resounding, bone-shaking great "Amen!" from countless angels, from
heroes of the faith, from Christ himself. And He is the original dreamer,
the ultimate winner.
Guaranteed.

1. Taken from Red Moon Rising: How 24-7 Prayer is Awakening a Generation, by Pete Greig & Dave Roberts, pp. 119-122.
   

A Vision for Africa

One of my favorite things about working with J-Life is that this organization has a very clear-cut vision: They want to see the whole of Africa transformed with the gospel of Jesus Christ. After spending more than 7 months with this ministry, that goal is unmistakably clear. Their means for accomplishing such a goal is equally clear-cut: J-Life sees young people as the mode through which their simple (yet complex) mission--"Mobilizing Disciplemaking Movements"--will be accomplished. This ministry is definitely heading in the right direction, and God's hand is extremely evident in what they are doing. A relatively young ministry, founded in 2001, J-Life has multiplied exponentially over the past 8 years. The map above shows the 20 sub-Saharan African countries in which J-Life is currently working. The countries with yellow dots represent those in which an indigenous leader from that country is working full-time with J-Life to spark a movement of young disciples in that country. Those countries with pink dots represent countries in which J-Life has formally trained youth leaders in disciplemaking ministry, but no country leader has yet emerged. You can read a lot more about J-Life on their website here. But more than anything, please pray that God's hand would continue to bless the ministry of J-Life as they seek to expand His kingdom in Africa!

Book Review: Making Vision Stick

The other day I was home alone and bored, and like most people the first thought that went through my head was, "I think I'll turn on the TV." But recently I've been really trying to cut some of the unnecessary things out of my life like watching a bunch of TV, so instead of wasting away countless hours in mindless drivel in the form of sitcoms or analysis of the latest happenings in the sports world, I decided to read a book. I know, something is wrong with me, but I'm okay with that.

So, I sat down and did just that...I read a book...from cover to cover. Now, before you start getting too impressed, this book was only 74 pages long, and it began on page 11...just the way all books should be! It was obviously a quick read, but at the same time it was very concise, insightful, and powerful.  The book was Making Vision Stick, by Andy Stanley, Pastor of North Point Community Church, a megachurch on the outskirts of Atlanta, GA. Here is a quick review of the book.

Stanley opens the book by challenging the leader that it is their responsibility and no one else's when it comes to making vision stick. Once the leader has accepted this challenge, he provides the following 5 insights into "increasing the adhesiveness" of your vision:

1. State the Vision Simply--"...if your vision is going to stick in people's minds, it must be memorable" (p. 19).

2. Cast the Vision Convincingly--"...you must communicate [your vision] in a way that moves people to action" (p.24).

3. Repeat the Vision Regularly--"...you need to find ways to build vision casting into the rhythm of your organization" (pp. 33-34).

4. Celebrate the Vision Systematically--"...a leader needs to pause long enough to celebrate the wins along the way" (p.39).

5. Embrace the Vision Personally--"Living out the vision establishes credibility and makes you a leader worth following" (p.47).

Stanley concludes the book with some thoughts on what he calls "Vision Slippage Indicators." He also includes a personal testimony of how he has been able to live out his vision.

A quick read that packs some power with the punch.  Well worth the 45 minutes it will take to breeze through this book. As a piece of advice, though, don't get suckered into paying $9.00 for this book. Just sit down at your nearest Barnes and Noble and give it a quick read while sipping some Starbucks coffee (or if you're like me, peppermint hot chocolate!). Overall, I give this book an A+ for it's positive and challenging message from a proven leader and powerful communicator.