VISION = seeing it before you can see it

Yesterday was a VISION day for the church I that I am privileged to pastor. We talk a lot about VISION throughout the course of any given year but yesterday was special. In many ways, my whole first four years as Pastor of the Grand Family led up to yesterday. We will be undertaking a campus wide transformation that will cost several million dollars. It’s a big deal for our church. The kind of thing this church has not done in a generation.

So VISION was front and center at our church yesterday.

VISION is critical for any church or organization. VISION is the fuel that the Holy Spirit uses to make the church go.

You might be familiar with the great VISION verse from Proverbs:

Proverbs 29:18 (HCSB)

Without revelation (vision) people run wild, but one who listens to instruction will be happy.

I like this particular translation of the verse because it is accurate. When a church has no VISION, the people run wild, they do their own thing, they fight against each other, and the church ultimately dies. In fact, churches shut their doors and die all across America each year because they have no VISION.

My former pastor, Dr. Ronnie Floyd, once defined VISION as “seeing it before you can see it.” I have always loved that definition of VISION, and I “borrowed” this definition yesterday to share with our folks. Dr. Floyd also used to say that, “you have to believe that it is so, even when it’s not so, in order for it to be so.” I like that too.

So to boil it all down into a nutshell, VISION does the following for a church:

1. VISION gives the church a focus. A church needs something everyone can shoot for, a common goal. It ensures that everyone is on the same page.

2. VISION creates energy. People want to be excited. People are drawn to excitement. VISION definitely has an evangelistic component to it.

3. VISION breeds love. When we all are working toward a common goal, we will do whatever we can to make sure no one is left behind. We actually have some “where” to take people. A church with VISION rarely fights amongst each another.

4.VISION secures the future of a church for the next generation. VISION always leaves something behind. It becomes a testimony and a legacy for future generations to follow.

Does your church have VISION? Why or why not?

Blessings,

Jeff