Characteristics of a Vision 5
SPECIAL GOOD FRIDAY EDITION
The Good Friday conjures a feeling of sadness and pain. It is a day the wheel of the world’s progress should grind to a halt as we reminisce on one of the world’s most brutal days in history. True? False!
Welcome to Leading Right. I am Abiodun Fijabi.
One of the characteristics of a great vision is that its scope is greater than the personal needs of the visionary. It reaches far beyond the beneficial or parochial needs of the visionary. While lesser minds are consumed in the pursuit of their selfish ambitions, great leaders think beyond themselves to impact the larger society. If your vision answers to your needs alone, it is a small vision, incapable of engineering a remarkable change in the society. Only a selfless vision can safeguard the development of our society and guarantee our security.
Such was the vision that sent Jesus to the cross. Jesus had a vision that transcended his personal interests. He is God; yet he came down to the world in the form of a man. He was not a sinner, yet he reached out to sinners with an eternal salvation. He said so much about his vision in Luke 4:18, 19:
“God's Spirit is on me; he's chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor, Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, To set the burdened and battered free, to announce, "This is God's year to act!"
What a vision! Jesus tapped into the Spirit of God in him to impact humanity. Lesser men could have used the same Spirit to gain more popularity, amass wealth and rule over men’s lives with a rod of iron. Not Jesus. He never once lost his focus. Once he said, “The Son of man has come to seek and save all that are lost.” Another time he said, “I am the true shepherd. I am not a hired servant that runs when the wolves come. As a true shepherd, I am ready to lay down my life.”
The first Good Friday was therefore not an accident of history. It was the culmination of a selfless vision. Nothing could have stopped Jesus from dying. His vision was so selfless to be lost in the pursuit of a personal agenda to the detriment of bigger picture for the society.
That’s why Good Friday is a celebration and not a calamity. In the words of a song writer, “Crucified, laid behind the stone. He lived to die, rejected and alone. Like a rose trampled on the ground, Jesus took the fall and thought of me, above all.”
I have an advice. If you must be sober today; it should be because you are wondering if your vision transcends your selfish interests to impact on the larger society. Otherwise, let the songs of praise rend the air.
The Good Friday conjures a feeling of sadness and pain. It is a day the wheel of the world’s progress should grind to a halt as we reminisce on one of the world’s most brutal days in history. True? False!
Welcome to Leading Right. I am Abiodun Fijabi.
One of the characteristics of a great vision is that its scope is greater than the personal needs of the visionary. It reaches far beyond the beneficial or parochial needs of the visionary. While lesser minds are consumed in the pursuit of their selfish ambitions, great leaders think beyond themselves to impact the larger society. If your vision answers to your needs alone, it is a small vision, incapable of engineering a remarkable change in the society. Only a selfless vision can safeguard the development of our society and guarantee our security.
Such was the vision that sent Jesus to the cross. Jesus had a vision that transcended his personal interests. He is God; yet he came down to the world in the form of a man. He was not a sinner, yet he reached out to sinners with an eternal salvation. He said so much about his vision in Luke 4:18, 19:
“God's Spirit is on me; he's chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor, Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, To set the burdened and battered free, to announce, "This is God's year to act!"
What a vision! Jesus tapped into the Spirit of God in him to impact humanity. Lesser men could have used the same Spirit to gain more popularity, amass wealth and rule over men’s lives with a rod of iron. Not Jesus. He never once lost his focus. Once he said, “The Son of man has come to seek and save all that are lost.” Another time he said, “I am the true shepherd. I am not a hired servant that runs when the wolves come. As a true shepherd, I am ready to lay down my life.”
The first Good Friday was therefore not an accident of history. It was the culmination of a selfless vision. Nothing could have stopped Jesus from dying. His vision was so selfless to be lost in the pursuit of a personal agenda to the detriment of bigger picture for the society.
That’s why Good Friday is a celebration and not a calamity. In the words of a song writer, “Crucified, laid behind the stone. He lived to die, rejected and alone. Like a rose trampled on the ground, Jesus took the fall and thought of me, above all.”
I have an advice. If you must be sober today; it should be because you are wondering if your vision transcends your selfish interests to impact on the larger society. Otherwise, let the songs of praise rend the air.
posted by Abiodun Fijabi at 6:33 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home