Prov. 29:18-Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he,
What is "vision?" The mission of the church is a broad and general statement about what we hope to accomplish and who we wish to reach. Mission is the philosophic underpinning of ministry; vision is specific, customized, distinctive and unique to a given church. All churches who have Christ as there Head have the same mission (Matthew 28:19-20), but all do not have the same vision. The spiritual implication of a vision is something that is seen but not with ordinary sight or with the natural eye. it is mainly prophetic in character, divinely inspired and supernaturally given.
The vision of the Old Testament prophet usually pointed to the nature and activity of God for a specific people to accomplish a specific object with the end results being that God received glory. Within any God-given vision, God takes the initiative and gives revelation to the shepard of the flock to give them His message and their marching orders, and to show them His future actions concerning them and them only.
Vision empowers people for service, facilitates productivity and causes selectivity; for one person cannot do everything. It is not the result of consensus, but it should result in consistencies. It is conceptual but it is also proctical and detailed. Vision entertains no fuzzy perspective. It asserts control over one's environment. It is determined by our receptiveness and level of participation to receive God's blessing. Vision is a focus upon the future; a thinking ahead rather than dwelling on the past. Its purpose is to create the future which is not etched in stone. It is about change, not maintaining the status quo; and change is a natural risk and unavoidable outgrowth of vision...nothing ventured, nothing gained. Vision is a bridge from the present to the future. It presents a clear mental image of a preferable future imparted by God based upon an accurate understanding of who God is and one's own self. Vision dreams the most possible dream, not the impossible dream. It stretches our abilities, especially our ability to dream. It entails great depth of understanding, detailed knowledge of facts and potential. Visions are not wild-eyed schemes born in a vacuum, but they are rooted in reality. Tjey grasp the "bigger" picture. Dreams shun reality where vision builds upon it.
Hearts are to be surrendered to vision and based upon what we know vision to be, it eliminates the sense of personal ambition. There can only be one vision in the church at any given time, and it should originate with the pastor otherwise you go from "vision to di-vision"
If we follow the vision that God has set before us, the drudgery of following old models mired in mindless traditions and meaningless routines will be done away with. The pressure to search constantly for new motivational bimmicks is eliminated where there is vision. The future belongs to the visionary who causes the uncertainty of the future to become a reality.
"THE CHURCH MUST GRASP THE REALITY THAT TRUE/REAL MINISTRY BEGINS WITH VISION"
Formula:
GOD-(takes the initiative and gives revelation concerning the future)
FORESIGHT(anticipation, contemplation, expectation, preconception,hope)
plus INSIGHT(discernment, discretion, intuition, perception,recognition,sense) equels VISION
