We’re considering the importance of sustained commitment; commitment to vision 
borne of God though impossible to be actualized in the here and now.
Our example is the Duomo di Firenze: an architect’s vision of a majestic cathedral with a dome so immense that it could not have been built when he conceived it.
At 142 feet it would be larger than the domes of the U.S. Capitol, St. Paul’s in London, the Pantheon in Rome, and St. Peters in Vatican City. When it was finally constructed, it remained the largest dome in the world for almost five hundred years!
More than eighty years after construction commenced, a goldsmith named Filippo Brunelleschi was born. In his 20’s he moved to Rome. For three years he studied architecture with a buddy named Donatello. If you watch the History Channel (I don’t) you’ll know that name. Brunelleschi studied the Pantheon, the largest dome then in existence. How it’d been built was an architectural and engineering conundrum.
Brunelleschi made several significant discoveries. 
Returning to Florence, he convinced the builders that he had a method to put di Cambio’s dome on the cathedral. This solution was ground-breaking on several fronts. The innovations Brunelleschi employed, however, are not our focus today. What is, is the commitment to the completion of this cathedral by generations of people who’d never see it with their own eyes.
Leaders are not those with the best ideas or superior methods. Leaders have developed the strengths of character and the capacity to self-management so that they sustain movement in pursuit of what God’s called them to without giving up.
And, they do it in a way that motivates and mobilizes others in the pursuit of that great vision.
More than 2,000 years ago Jesus did this too. He laid out a vision of the Kingdom of God in ways that people could grasp.
How?
Lots of ways.
In scores of demonstrations of God’s mercy, supernatural power, the stories he told and word pictures he used, and an occasional sermon. Most often, Jesus proclaimed the coming Kingdom by the way he lived and moved among the people.
This is our great and noble task today. To live in such a way that the Kingdom of God is demonstrated over and over in ways that people get.
And to pull it off, you’ll have to take many, many approaches and stay at it far longer than you dreamed you’d have to.
My invitation is to join with those who’ll do this to their last breath and will have prepared a couple generations who’ll follow just as passionately and powerfully for as long as they have breath.
Think of it as a cathedral of great, influential human lives.
Coaching distinctions #40.doc
Hi Kirk, great article. VERY encouraging for me. The article has helped me to persevere in the midst of a constant drip of criticism and ‘bad news’ (declining numbers and finances). You helped remind me that anxiety always looks for a quick fix, and that pressure can cause us to lose our long-term bearings instead of maintaining the course like Jesus (Hebrews 12:2) who ran the race set before him with perseverance. I think part of it may be due to our becoming accustomed to instant solutions with all our technology, that we expect the same from people and institutions like the church. I’m realizing what an important thing it is for me to ‘keep my cool’ in the midst of the anxiety and not give in to it. Thanks for these articles. Thanks for the stand you’re taking to strengthen pastors like me. It’s having a deep impact… more than you know.
Hi Kirk, great article. VERY encouraging for me. (Sorry I can’t post comments to your website due to a problem with the way my internet is configured.) The article has helped me to persevere in the midst of a constant drip of criticism and ‘bad news’ (declining numbers and finances). You helped remind me that anxiety always looks for a quick fix, and that pressure can cause us to lose our long-term bearings instead of maintaining the course like Jesus (Hebrews 12:2) who ran the race set before him with perseverance. I think part of it may be due to our becoming accustomed to instant solutions with all our technology, that we expect the same from people and institutions like the church. I’m realizing what an important thing it is for me to ‘keep my cool’ in the midst of the anxiety and not give in to it. Thanks for these articles. Thanks for the stand you’re taking to strengthen pastors like me. It’s having a deep impact… more than you know.
By the way, there’s a great series on Netflix called ‘The Medici’ that talks about the history of Florence…. fascinating.