“Bush...suffered from his lack of what he called ‘the vision thing,’ a clarity of ideas and principles that could shape public opinion and influence Congress. ‘He does not say why he wants to be there,’ complained columnist George Will, ‘so the public does not know why it should care if he gets his way.’”
You probably have to be 40 or over to remember this phrase as connected to President George H.W. Bush. We shouldn't feel too sorry for #41 though, because this idea has followed many a pastor into the study and the boardroom. Certain people expect for us to have a vision for the church.
Like President Bush, some of us struggle with "the vision thing" as well. This episode of the podcast is a really fun one. Jonny and I talk about an idea that have finally executed at our church, then we have a conversation with Dave "the Animal" Jacobs on "the vision thing" in our 200churches. Finally, we wrap up the episode expressing how we view vision in our own church. Particularly, I talk about how I think we should think about vision. We hope that you enjoy it! 3/3/2015 11:00:55 pm
This past summer, I was in such a quandary about vision. All the leadership gurus were saying it was so critical to have a vision for your church and to cast your vision for the church. I kept asking myself, what is a vision? What are these guys seeing that I am not? Is God showing them something that I He's not showing me? Finally I said, "Forget it!" I'm just not one of those vision casting pastors. I'll just stick to doing what I know to do. I just rolled up my sleeves, started working as hard as I could trying to reach people door-to-door, started emphasizing witnessing and evangelism in my messages more than I ever had. I started launching ways to do what I could to engage the community around our church. It wasn't a month later we had a new family join the church. The father told me, "We just love your vision for this church." When I had given up on having a vision and just got down to business doing what I knew to do (Great Command & Great Commission), "vision" (whatever that is) became glaringly obvious. Thanks Dave for making "vision" Sunday school simple: Stick with the original marching orders! 3/4/2015 12:24:03 am
Hey Ronnie, thanks so much for the good words. I am glad that God is using you and your ministry to make a difference in your community. One size does not fit all when I comes to methods, ideas, and vision. Comments are closed.
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