Awhile back I was talking to a pastor friend who, besides leading a healthy, growing church here in the states, does a lot of ministering to pastors all over the world. He told me about a group of churches he was familiar with in a certain part of the world that had hit a plateau - each one had not grown for quite awhile.
A year later, all had grown at least 25% and had a lot of momentum. What made the difference? Just one thing - vision. None of the pastors of those churches had ever taken the time to clarify and communicate a vision for the church. Once they did - every church started growing.
It is hard to underestimate the importance of vision. Every book on leadership you will ever read will talk about it; every motivational speaker or leadership guru emphasizes it. Yet in my experience it is actually pretty rare. The majority of pastors I know do not have a clear vision for their churches; the majority of people I know do not have a clear vision for their lives. The results of that are predictable: no growth, personally or corporately.
What is vision, and why is vision so important, so powerful?
I like the definition Bill Hybels gives in his book, Courageous Leadership: Vision is a picture of the future that produces passion.
Vision is a picture of the future - of what could be. By definition it doesn't exist yet - but it could. And if it did, the world would be impacted. Vision can come in a lot of ways - sometimes as a sudden epiphany, sometimes as a gradual clarifying over time, sometimes as a result of frustration or discontent with the way things are. But once it comes, you can feel it. It begins to burn inside you, and somehow a shift from what could be to what should be happens in the heart of the leader. At that point you begin to own it - you become committed to it, and take responsibility for it - somehow, someway, you know it is your job to make it happen.
Once you have it, the benefits start to flow:
- Vision energizes you. Most of life, and much of ministry, is made up of mundane activities - planning, organizing, scheduling, dealing with problems, etc. It is easy to get lost in those kinds of activities. But I've found that when my vision is clear I have more energy for everything; the parts that get me excited, and the rest, because I can see why I am doing them. They aren't meaningless activities - they are important steps to getting where I want to go.
- Vision focuses you. When your vision is clear, it is much easier to evaluate all the different things you could do, and identify those you should do. Not everything will help you get where you want to go, but if you don't have a vision, you will generally respond to the loudest voice or most urgent demand. Having a vision enables you to focus your time, energy, and resources on the things that matter most, and enables you to say "no" to good things that aren't in line with the vision.
- Vision enables teamwork. Most real God-given visions are bigger than you are. To accomplish them will require the help and involvement of other people. No one has all the skills and resources they need by themselves, but a team can bring the whole enchilada to the table. Those people come because of vision - they hear it, see it, and it begins to burn in them as well. Without vision, people don’t sign up. People already are busy; they aren't going to add something to their plates just because it is a good idea or someone says they should. But when there is a vision they can commit to, they will let other things go in order to be involved.
- Vision gives meaning. Emerson once said "most people are living lives of quiet desperation." I think that is true - and part of the root of that is living without a sense of purpose. In order to do more than survive - in order to thrive - we need to have vision. We need to be going somewhere, to know that our life matters in order to fully live.
So how are you doing? Do you have a vision for your life or for your ministry? If not, here are some steps you can take to begin to develop one:
- Get alone with God. Ultimately, vision comes from above. We often are too busy to hear from him, so we are left making things up on our own, and those "visions" never last. Take time to pray, to listen, to clean up the "junk" in your life so that you can hear him. It may take time, but that's ok - there is no better way to spend it.
- Think back over your life. Make a list of the things that have impacted you, or motivated you in the past. What got you excited? What made you angry? (Often the seeds of vision can be found in our discontent)
- Dream. What would you do if you had no limits of time, energy, or resources? What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?
- Serve. "It's hard to steer a parked car." Vision is often born in the fires of experience. It isn't just a theory! The more you get involved in different areas, the more experience you get, and the more exposure you get to other people's visions. That can be an invaluable resource in clarifying your own.
One of the biggest reasons people don't have a vision for their life and ministry is they don't invest the time to develop it. It takes time to pray, time to think, time to dream, and time to serve. Taking the time to develop vision means that you will make the most of your time for the rest of your life. That is a good pay-off!
Dave Frederick is an experienced church planter and pastor with over 20 years experience in leading growing churches, and has been an effective coach for pastors who are interested in personal and church growth. Currently planting a church in the western suburbs of Chicago, he is also the founder of The Growing Leader, which provides book summaries of top leadership books for pastors and other Christian Leaders. Information on that service is at www.studyleadership.com. Dave can be contacted at davidjfred@gmail.com for coaching or consulting inquiries.
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