You can’t have a great church without a great vision. That’s what I’ve been told.
And you can’t have a great vision unless the pastor (always the pastor) casts a singular vision for the church, then sells that vision to the leadership and the congregation. I’ve been told that, too.
So I did – or tried to do – what I was told. For years, I prayed, worked, searched the scriptures, and listened to God in every way I knew. I begged him for a vision that would carry our church to vast, new expanses of glorious ministry.
But it never quite worked out that way.
When My Vision Doesn’t Catch On
I thought I had it a few times. I caught a new idea and I presented it with great passion and promise . . .
But it never caught on.
And it’s not like I was pastoring a church full of heel-draggers and vision-killers. Quite the opposite. The church I served was, and is, filled with the most caring, passionate, energized, missional people I know.
Yet this church, filled with great people wanting to do great things for God, didn’t jump onboard to the vision I thought God had given me. Why?
Because God hadn’t given it to me.
I made it up.
I didn’t mean to make it up, of course. But I was so desperate to cast a vision in the way I’d been taught, that I convinced myself into it.
Since those early failures, I’ve learned a few things about myself, the church, and how God uses us to fulfill his plans.
As it turns out, not every pastor is called to cast a grand, singular vision for their congregation. In fact, most probably aren’t.
Don’t Know What To Do? Do What You Know
So what does a pastor do when they try desperately to catch a vision from God, only to come up short? How does a church function when there’s no meta-narrative, project-oriented vision to get behind?
How about this. Do what pastors (along with apostles, prophets, evangelists and teachers) have always been called to do. Equip the saints to do the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12).
Preach, teach, and live as though the priesthood of believers is a real thing. Because it is.
There are thousands of pastors operating under a burden similar to the one I bore for years – the burden to discover, promote, and implement a unique vision for your congregation. But it’s a burden we don’t need to carry.
Here’s another way of looking at it.
Equip Their Vision . . .
Every member of every church has a call of God on their lives. Equipping pastors (that is, all pastors) have an obligation to help them fulfill that. To equip them in their vision, not just to bring it under the umbrella of the pastor’s vision.
Of course, as members of one body, those lives and visions will find new ways to coordinate under the divine guidance of the Holy Spirit. But that’s very different from casting an all-encompassing pastoral vision that everyone is required to come under.
I know that can sound confusing. When you’ve been told, as I was, that good pastors cast a big vision that everyone rallies around, it can be hard to see it in a new way.
But here’s the truth. Your church already has an all-encompassing grand narrative vision. And a commission. And a commandment.
It’s in the New Testament.
. . . Under A Common Calling
It’s okay if the only vision your church has is to fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. They’ve been working just fine for 2,000 years and counting.
It’s also okay if, in addition to that, God gives some pastors a big, meta-narrative, project-oriented vision for everyone to get behind. It’s okay, but it’s not necessary.
You don’t need to be a vision-casting pastor. Christ’s vision for the church has already been cast. And it doesn’t need to rhyme. Or alliterate.
Love God, love others, and share the amazing story of salvation through Jesus.
That simple, profound vision may not be unique. But Jesus didn’t call us to be unique, he called us to be faithful.
Equipping Others to Fulfill Their Vision
The church doesn’t need more vision-casting pastors, we need more equipping pastors.
If you listen, you’ll be amazed at how God is calling the people you pastor. And it will be a profound pastoral joy to help train and resource them to see their vision fulfilled.
And when those seemingly disconnected visions come together in a new, God-inspired way that you could never have imagined? Well that’s when you know God is in charge, not the pastor.
I wonder what would happen if the massive and unnecessary burden of having to find, cast, and promote a unique vision for the church was lifted from pastors’ shoulders. Maybe we would feel free to become the equippers we’re meant to be.
We just need to know it’s okay to do church that way.
It is.
Pastor, it’s okay if your calling is to help others fulfill their calling.
That’s what pastors do.
(Photo by The Freelens | Flickr)
