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Perhaps one of the most important reasons if not the most important reason that vision is so important to a church is that a good vision motivates the congregation with a desire to pursue and realize the church’s mission—to make disciples.
The terms may be used synonymously, but, in fact, a dream is much broader than a vision.
In most cases purpose answers the question why? Vision answers the question what?
A ministry’s mission is a statement of where it is going, whereas its vision is a picture or snapshot of the same.
A mission can be taught, but a vision is more caught than taught.
I define a vision as a clear, exciting picture of the future of a ministry, such as a church, that God uses to motivate that ministry to accomplish its mission.
While a well-developed vision statement has the potential to accomplish a number of important spiritual objectives, it accomplishes nothing unless it is clear and easily understood.
A vision is clear when those who are a part of the ministry understand it well enough to articulate it to someone else.
Next, leaders must communicate the vision as clearly as possible so that their people understand what God’s desire is for them.
I tell my church-planting students that if their people are not excited about the potential to birth a new church, then they need not go any farther.
The mission tells the congregation where they are headed, and the vision serves to excite them and motivate them to want to go there.
When the people’s excitement falls any place on the left side of the barometer, it indicates that there’s not enough excitement to initiate and sustain the vision.
Vision is a seeing word. A good vision probes the imagination in such a way that it develops visual representations in the mind.
Visionaries have the innate ability to see what others do not see. While they see needs, they have the natural capacity to see beyond those needs to the unique, exciting opportunities those needs present.
Vision is always cast in terms of the future.
Visionary leaders spend a large proportion of time thinking about and living in the future.
However, this does not mean that visionaries ignore either the present or the past. Often they use the present as a platform to launch their ministries into the future.
Since the vision is the product of the visionary, it by nature is futuristic.
A good vision drips with potential.
Most often people and organizations err in one of two directions concerning the feasibility of a vision. On the one hand, there is little or no vision.
On the other hand, the vision may be too big.
The first issue is the visionary. Is he the right person to lead in accomplishing such a vision?
The second issue is the visionary’s people.
The third issue is whether the times are right for this vision.
A good vision grabs hold and won’t let go. Not only does the visionary believe that the vision can be, but he also is convinced that it must be.
One variable is the belief God is in it.
A second variable is that God has chosen to accomplish this vision through this particular person.
A third variable is that the vision will benefit people.
Finally, the visionary is also convinced that the vision must be because of his passion for that vision.
Also, as vision fuels passion, so passion, in turn, fuels charisma in many leaders.
Birthing a vision has much in common with birthing a child. Both events rely heavily on certain personnel and on the correct process.
It is important to recognize that every ministry and every leadership team within a ministry needs a single primary leader.
Not only is the biblical foundation for co-leadership suspect—there is a problem with finding its biblical foundation—but the greater problem is that people cannot follow a group.
A church or parachurch ministry’s vision begins with and is the primary responsibility of the point person. And this individual benefits greatly if he or she is a visionary person.
One characteristic that has surfaced among visionary leaders is a preference for relating to the world through intuition.
In addition to intuition, another characteristic of visionary-type people is their ability to recognize, collect, and synthesize pertinent information from a variety of sources.
The charismatic leaders were great information collectors with a difference—they used multiple and often apparently unrelated sources of information.
Thus visionary leaders should seek and value any knowledge gained from their experience in ministry.
In light of the importance of ministry experience, some people point to the fact that a number of pastors of the larger churches in America are not seminary-trained people but individuals who came up through the ranks.
The vision cultivator initiates and develops the organization’s unique vision, which empowers the vision community for ministry.
The vision caster functions as the primary vision communicator but is not the only vision communicator. Once the vision is cultivated and in place, the leader must take responsibility to keep it before the ministry community.
Finally, as the vision clarifier, the leader focuses the vision.
Fred Smith argues that the mark of a good leader is to “know when it’s time to change the vision.”11
However, with few exceptions, he must not do it alone.
It is most important that these leaders comprehend and fully commit themselves to the vision.
In the church the driving wheels are people of influence who are found at different levels of leadership.
First, people of influence must cooperate with and follow the leadership of the visionary point person.
Second, these leaders must be a part of the process.
One area where these leaders may prove indispensable is in the supply of information that is vital to the formation of the dream.
I suggest that ministry leaders meet regularly with their leadership and gather as much information from them as time will permit.
