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Developing Vision for a New Millennium

by Charles T. Crabtree

The men and women who formed the Assemblies of God were people of great vision and passion. Without their vision, the Assemblies of God would never have been born. Our early pioneers went to towns and cities without a Pentecostal church and sacrificed to spread the gospel and the message of Pentecost. This same vision found in the early framers of this Movement is important in pastoral leadership today. Without vision, we cannot move ahead into the next century and accomplish the great task that God has called us to do.

The consequences of a leader without a vision in the secular world include the demise of corporations and the loss of net worth. In the church, the results of a leader without a vision are even more disastrous: the demise of congregations and the loss of eternal souls. Vision is one of the most significant subjects in the kingdom of God.

The word “vision,” in relation to pastoral leadership, has a positive connotation and conveys many meanings: supernatural direction, universal foresight and discernment, the ability to envision future realities and how those realities will be maximized.

The pastor with vision:

• sees the past as a teacher, not a master.
• sees the present as a launching pad, not a prison.
• dares to believe God for supernatural ideas and has the faith to carry them out.
• is always pastoring two churches—the one that is and the one that is coming.
• seeks counsel from others to enrich vision, but does not allow others to destroy it.
• rejoices in the victories of the past.
• is thankful for the opportunities in the present and is excited about what God is going to do through him or her in the future.

On the other hand, the pastor without a vision:

The words of Theodore Roosevelt have always haunted me: “Far better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checked by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”

• looks at history as his or her master and the status quo (or less) as his/her comfort zone.
• spends his/her entire life and ministry reacting to what happens within the confines of sensual reality.
• exists within the vacuum of function; he/she lives within the prison cell of a man-made job description.
• has no prophetic voice, no spiritual eyesight, and a mind that cannot think in terms of future possibilities.
• excuses the past, endures the present, and dreads the future.

The Bible applauds those who lived by faith and saw what others did not see. It points to a dreadful time in Israel when there was no open vision and says with ominous dread, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). It tells of a day full of promise when old men would dream dreams and young men would see visions.

Because vision is so critical in leadership, the pastor can take comfort in the fact God will give him vision and help him develop and enlarge this vital ingredient in his life and ministry.

As a pastor, you can take steps to become a visionary leader with God’s anointing and blessing.

BEGIN WITH THE PROPER ATTITUDE

Do not allow the enemy to define your church and ministry. He desires to make you think it is wrong to believe God for great things. He will point to past failures in your life and remind you of pastors who were embarrassed because things did not work out the way they had anticipated.

The proper attitude toward vision is one of total openness and reliance on God. After all, it really is not your church; it is His. He wants to build something through you, and what God builds is always great and glorious. The Bible tells us we are “to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). When God directs, we can follow through with confidence.

Many have failed in the area of vision because their confidence was misplaced. They looked at themselves and said, “I have the training and the experience, so I can do that.” Or they looked at the resources and said, “We have enough money and people to make this happen.” Pride magnifies the wrong kind of strength. Pride looks at what is and assumes the resources and personnel will always be available. Humility looks at what is and knows how fragile and unreliable resources and personnel really are. God’s blessing and intervention are the only stable factors for the future.

LEARN TO LOOK AT THE CHURCH YOU PASTOR THROUGH THE MIND OF CHRIST

This is accomplished by waiting on God. J. Robert Ashcroft once said that most of praying is waiting for orders from above. People have a tendency to tell God what they want Him to do and then do what they want to do. The result is limited to what they can do.

The mind of Christ is really seeing things from God’s point of view. A divine vision, by definition, must be God’s idea, not man’s. The pastor must commune with God to get heaven’s picture of the future and allow it to develop in the pastor’s mind and heart. There is a world of difference between a human perspective and a heavenly vision of things.

The Laodicean church had a serious problem; they were looking at their wealth and resources from a human perspective. Their eyes were on the temporal, and they mistook the external as a measurement of eternal wealth and success. In reality, they were out of their spiritual minds.

HAVE “WHY NOT?” SESSIONS

As God gives you vision, ask “Why not?” instead of saying “Impossible!” or “That’s not practical!” or “We tried that before.” It is important to talk to yourself in the right way. Most vision is destroyed through talking yourself out of it before it can be developed.

Visionary leaders have always thought out of the box. For a spiritual leader, no box is big enough to contain all of the divine elements necessary to fulfill God’s perfect will.

Assemblies of God history is rich with stories of men and women who asked “Why not?” under God’s direction. Sometimes their approach was unconventional and controversial, but they saw a need God could fill through them.

• Lillian Trasher said “Why not?” and built an orphanage that has blessed untold thousands.
• Mark Buntain said “Why not?” and built a great church and hospital in Calcutta.
• David Wilkerson said “Why not?” and put Teen Challenge into motion.
• Bernhard Johnson said “Why not?” and filled stadiums in Brazil and started a program to train thousands of pastors.
• George Flattery said “Why not?” and started a correspondence program that has touched millions.
• Bob Hoskins said “Why not?” and put the Book of Life into the hands of millions of school children around the world.
• Hal Donaldson and his brothers, David and Steve, said “Why not?” and created the Convoy of Hope.

AFTER GOD HAS GIVEN YOU VISION FOR THE CHURCH, BEGIN THE WORK OF FULFILLING THE VISION

The same God who shows you what to do will give you the tools and expertise in how to do it.

The important element in this particular exercise is wisdom. It is here the visionary seeks further counsel from God and godly people. He studies facts, faces the reality of resources, and considers timing. All of this is done to fulfill vision, not destroy it. Remember, the process of building a house is just as important as the vision or architectural drawings of a house.

Many pastors see the challenge of people and resources as excuses for not following through with vision. The pastor must realize that leadership means leading and leading means getting ahead of people and resources while staying in sync with God.

The element of wisdom separates the crackpots from the true visionary. God’s vision is never destroyed by truth or an anointed mind that makes good sense to spiritual people. A leader does not get so far ahead of his people that he loses contact and finds himself without a body to work through. Leaders can lose contact with people spiritually and mentally. God has always chosen to confirm His direction and vision through more than one witness.

If most spiritual and mature people in leadership have no witness, the pastor should not force the vision, but wait on God until there is a strong witness in the hearts of those who will be used of God to fulfill that vision. Remember the words of Acts 15:28: “For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us.” Paul believed in the witness of the Spirit in others before following through with his vision.

BE OF GOOD COURAGE

If God is for you, who can be against you? All of the godly leaders of the Bible faced difficulties and often had to resolve conflict to fulfill vision. This has not changed.

If you do a great work for God, you will confront the enemy at every turn, be constantly challenged by well-meaning people, and get tired of setbacks. Is it worth it? Of course! The alternative is unacceptable. We are called to build, not just look at the plans. God is looking for those who are full of faith, not fear.

Receiving a vision from God and following through in faith is one of the great joys of pastoral ministry. To grind away week after week on the treadmill of routine is like a spiritual death sentence. To move toward the future with vision is the antidote to apathy and despair.

As we enter the new millennium, God wants to accomplish great things through you and your church. The same God who gave vision to our founding fathers will give us vision to accomplish His plan for this church in the century to come.

Charles T. Crabtree is assistant general superintendent of the Assemblies of God, Springfield, Missouri.