The North Star is probably the most recognized metaphor for anything that guides, sets direction, locates position, or provides context and reassurance.
In leadership the North Star is vision.
Vision is the clear picture of a desirable and necessary future that unites, directs, and motivates a group to struggle forward to that better future.
Leaders have long understood that a lack of vision leaves the group in the dark – walking backwards into the future rather than forward with eyes wide open.
The writer of Proverbs says something similar about the lack of guidance: “Where there is no vision, the people will perish.”
A vision that we have at Antioch is to own and operate a coffee house in Bend that will serve as a crossroads between church and culture – much like the ancient synagogue, marketplace or watering well served as a crossroads.
Like the North Star, vision is distant and far off. It guides our actions to a destination rather than dropping our wants and wishes into our laps like a genie.
If we want to take hold of a vision as large as the coffee house, we need to begin thinking, brainstorming and praying about it now.
We don’t have all the problems solved or questions answered, but it’s time to start walking forward…
