I’ve worked as a lead pastor, church planter, campus pastor, and student pastor. I’ve sat on both sides of the leadership world, and what’s interesting is what people long for.

When you work for someone, you want many things, but one thing above all begins to rise to the top. When you attend a church, you want many things from its leaders, but one thing rises to the top.

This current world of covid, our political climate, the tensions around systemic racism has only heightened this desire from people.

What is it?

Clarity.

Clarity is one of the greatest gifts you can give your church.

The people who attend your church, the volunteers, the staff on your team, they want to know where they are going. They want to know where you are taking them. They want to see what you believe and why you believe it. When someone follows someone, they are putting their future hopes on the line with that person.

Why would that matter so much?

Clarity says this is where we are going. This is what is essential now. This is right; that is wrong. It helps everyone to know what they should or should not spend their time on, what the church should spend its money and resources on.

Years and years ago, Howard Hendricks said, “If it’s a mist in the pulpit, it’s a fog in the pew.”

That isn’t just about preaching, but so much more.

If a sermon isn’t clear, no one will get what you are talking about. If you don’t have a clear main point, application steps, people will feel lost.

But right now, it has become even more important for churches and leaders to be clear.

Are you having in-person worship gatherings? Why or why not? How long will you wait? What will make you return to in-person worship gatherings?

The reason this matters is it tells your teams what they should be working on. It also gives everyone a measuring stick that moves them out of their political opinions.

For example, many churches came out in March when they stopped meeting in person to say, “We aren’t doing any camps this summer.” That’s clear. It tells your church what you are focusing on. It shows your staff what they should or should not work on. Did those churches get angry emails? Yes. But they were clear.

Recently, Andy Stanley said that North Point wouldn’t have in-person worship gatherings until 2021. Right? Who knows. Clear? Yes.

One of the most deflating things that can happen on a team is for the leader to change the win mid-stream. It makes the team wonder, why did we work so hard if we aren’t going to go there? It also makes it difficult to know whether or not to throw everything behind a leader the next time he or she says, “This is the hill we’re climbing.” If your team has felt a lack of clarity in the past, they will wonder how much effort to give the next time you say something.

What keeps leaders from clarity?

For some, it is fear. It is easier to hedge your bets, wait to take a stand. But while you wait, you also miss opportunities. You also run the risk of your team, wasting effort on things that will never happen.

One thing that sneaks up on leaders is when it is clear to them, but no one else. Leaders must continuously ask their teams, “Is this clear?” That becomes monotonous to a leader, so they often don’t do it. They settle for the thinking, “Because it is clear in my head, it is clear to everyone,” and this is an invisible killer for leaders.