Kent is no Moses, and he knows it.

Gifted as a pastor-teacher, he arrived at his mid-sized Midwestern church believing that God had called him to shepherd this congregation. The people were generally supportive. But Kent was staggering under "vision block." The elders were pushing him to "be more of a leader," "give us a vision," and "take charge."

Kent did not fit that model. He had a hard time generating visionary ideas. He had little difficulty, however, discerning whether visionary ideas others espoused were from God. He listened well to the leaders around him—particularly elders and staff—and was able to synthesize component pieces of God's vision for the church as shared by key players. He then put the pieces together and clearly communicated, biblically and sensitively, what God was doing in the congregation.

"Couldn't God speak through the body?" Kent asked.

But that wasn't the leadership model the elders assumed every church needed. And they told him so.