Mind the Gap - Part 1

By Bishop Charles Scott
Our friends in the United Kingdom have a courteous expression for passengers disembarking from a train, tube (subway train), bus, or car. Whenever you are stepping from the vehicular transport, you will hear these words, “Mind the gap.” It is the British way of saying, “Watch your step.” Generally, there is a space between where you are leaving and where you are going, thus the phrase, “Mind the gap.”

Leadership can be summarized as the assignment to mind the gap. In every leadership situation, there is a gap, a break, a space, a disparity, or an interval between where you are and where you are going. It is in the space between the start and the finish where real leadership occurs. Developing the vision or dream is not hard—everyone has a dream; not everyone knows how to mind the gap between the dream and the reality. Likewise, the same is true of vision and mission; vision and mission statements are hammered out with relative ease. It is the execution that calls for godly leadership.

Three things happen when you mind the gap between where you are and where you want to ultimately arrive. These three elements make or break a leader at any level of service. (This issue contains the first of these observations with more to come.)

1. You have to leave something behind. It sounds simple and easy. To depart means leaving something behind, but in real life it is very difficult. Israel prayed for deliverance for 400 years but still remembered the taste of fish, onions, leeks, and garlic while on the journey to the Promised Land. Leadership must be forthright and truthful with people: if we go there, we leave here. It is that simple. In today’s politically correct environment, we hear a message that we can “have it all.” No you can’t. In order to get there, we have to leave here. Leaders have to mind the gap of leaving something behind. Leaving means loss; loss breeds emotions; loss means sadness. Sadness means anger; anger means bitterness; and bitterness means rebellion.
   
   
   1. Leaders mind the gap of loss by reinforcing the vision. After taking the first step toward the future, people will forget the reasons why the journey began in the first place. “Remember the taskmasters who beat you? Remember being slaves for another man’s vision? Remember your children had no future? Remember how badly you wanted out of that situation? Remember how you prayed for change?” In the words of Douglas Reeves, “Nostalgia for what has been lost will pull mightily at the heart and the head, often causing people to look back instead of forward.”
      
      
   2. Leaders mind the gap of loss by reinvigorating the vision. When people are in the midst of the process, they need to be reminded of why they began the journey and where they are going. If you want to live in houses you didn’t build and eat from vineyards you didn’t plant, you have to remind yourself it will be worth the process when you reach the promise. People with a vision from God are no longer the same as they were before the vision, and they will never be the same after the vision. Just as education changes a person’s life forever, God’s visionary promise changes us. If we refuse to step over the gap and leave something behind, we live in rebellion. If we accept the vision and step over the gap, we have moved into a place of uncertainty and discomfort. Either way, nothing will ever be the same. The future belongs to people who are willing to give up the known for the unknown.
      
      
   3. Leaders mind the gap of loss by responding to the vision. Setting the example is the leader’s best work. Leadership calls for sacrificial action. The most-often-heard criticism shared with me about other leaders is, “They let everyone else do the work.” The most effective leaders do not merely give directions; they are willing and able to pick up some bags and move to the new destination. In an era of preachers who need someone to carry their Bible to the pulpit, this philosophy is archaic, but it is still right. Paul said it this way, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” Leaders who are in the headlines for abuse, moral failure, stewardship atrocities, and other character flaws may provide great intuitive insight, but people want to follow a leader who has the grit to carry a load, get their hands dirty, work up a sweat, and set the pace. The PCG needs leaders who serve; not leaders who merely label themselves with the latest fad titles. Preachers that do not pray should excuse themselves from the pulpit until they have “prayed through.” Preachers that do not tithe should repent and obey or leave the ministry. Preachers with little control of their fleshly temptations should seek counsel, find help, and deal with the issue, or find another vocation. God requires our very best.
      
      
   You have been called and anointed by God to lead people from here to there. They will not want to leave; they will get weary on the journey; they will be emotional. They will question your ability; they will doubt your decisions. They will be hard to deal with and have many problems.
   
   But they need you. Without you, they will fall through the gap. You must mind the gap.