This will be my last blog for a week. Tomorrow morning, Trae and I will leave out of Little Rock for Tahoe and a week of spiritual feasting and memory-making. It's going to be awesome spending a week with my oldest daughter!
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I always get a kick out of your response to my blogs. Some like my blog for the Rangers information. Others see the Rangers information as wasted space and hurry right past to get to the Biblical commentary. Either way, I appreciate each of you who stop by and offer feedback on what you find here.
(By the way, if you don't like to read my Ranger stuff, today you must. The commentary that follows is a melding together of baseball and church).
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The Rangers are done. Finite. Finished.
Last night, Oakland came from behind to take a 6-4 win. The Angels, behind Vlad Guerrero's 7th inning grand slam, knocked off the Yankees in come from behind fashion, 6-5. The Rangers are now a full game-and-a-half behind the A's for second place in the AL West.
The distressing thing is this: Mark Teixeira and Michael Young have been clamoring for the front office to get them some help, i.e. another bat and some bullpen aid. The front office seems to be turning a deaf ear to the pleas of their players.
Watching the Ranger season unravel -- especially in the week since play resumed following the All-Star break -- has reminded me of the tension inherent in vision. The vision of the Rangers front office seems fixed on what is best for 2007, 2008 and beyond. The vision of the young corps of Ranger stars is focused on winning right now. Once can sense the rising tension through statements aired out in the media.
How best does leadership resolve vision tension? The Ranger story this year is a microcosm of what exists in any organization, including churches. It is always encumbant upon leadership to communicate vision, insuring everyone within the organization is on-board with that vision. Where there is confusion or conflict, it must be resolved through communication.
Too many leaders see their role as power, thus inflating rather than deflating the potential vision tension. In the church most especially, the genuine leader serves in the way of Jesus by guiding and nurturing the vision of God for the body.
