Why your vision fails?

“Vision” as I always state is a big word packed with so much of meaning that it needs to be internalized, articulated, documented (Habakkuk 2:2) and intentionally walk the journey. God gave me the vision to take up this ministry “SHEFA” and walk alongside the Churches to help them develop the ministry blueprint and pave the roadmap. In this journey, I could learn so many important lessons that further enhanced my perspective to help Churches (body of Christ) in an entirely different manner.

One of my key observation in the ministry is to find many people who are running around overtaking many others, but they are without a message or a purpose like Ahimaz. They always want to run as at other times (2 Sam 18:22), failing to understand that those who are waiting at the doorpost are waiting with a desire, a purpose and an expectation. Though Ahimaz was a good man, he could not impress David because he had no message. If you notice in this story, Cushi was not a usual runner but could impress the king because he had a message. Lets ponder over few questions listed below:

What is your message?

Why are you running?

Of what purpose is your speed?

Why are you overtaking others?

Noah Simpe in his book “Purpose & Pursuits” puts it this way, ‘It is said about achievers, that they are people based on the purpose & vision set goals and succeed in doing them. You are designed and programmed by God to be an achiever. You are born to fulfil a purpose; a purpose is the program of God almighty. We are mercenaries on earth, invading this planet to take over its kingdoms for our God.’.

Theologian Howard Hendricks said, “If it’s a mist in the pulpit, it’s a fog in the pew.”. Please consider this, if your vision is unclear to you, it will never be clear to the people in your Church/organization. Vision needs to be reiterated consistently. You need to find ways to step up the vision casting into the rhythm of your Church/organization. Vision should evoke emotions. Remind yourself of the vision every day and ask this question, why you are doing what you are doing and what is at stake?

During my sessions with Pastor/leaders especially while I keenly listen to them with an intention to develop a ministry blueprint and a roadmap, I find the testimonies of Pastors/leaders so inspiring and God ordained. But when I observe the current state of their ministry and their work there is dichotomy. It's far from the vision they received. In some cases the ministry has become stagnant and in other cases their Mission is successfully institutionalized and running the show without creating much impact.

King David in Psalms 139:16 states, “Your eyes saw me when I was formless, all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began.”. Avoid planning activities in random. Note, Noah was given a blueprint for building the ark, Joseph translated the vision to a blueprint to save the people from famine, Moses had a blueprint for building a tabernacle, David had a blueprint for getting the temple erected, the list is endless in the Bible. Keep your vision moving and you move along with it.

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Vision-Purpose Unfolded

How crucial is having a vision for you? It is the holy grail that's reiterated in Christendom today. Without a doubt it is the most crucial thing in life because Bible states that "Where there is no vision people perish....." Proverbs 29:18 (KJV). In other words without a ‘vision’ we cannot unfold the purpose of God in our life. Martin Luther explains vision this way, “You cannot move from where you are until you see beyond where you are.”. You must have a dream otherwise whatever is not your vision can never be your portion in life. You will lose the purpose for what you have been created, if your heart cannot conceive.

“A vision provides the focus for the ministry and will enable the leader to keep his followers to move in one direction towards the ultimate goal. It is the skill of an effective leader to articulate the vision in such a way that everyone understands it and wants to participate in it. A vision statement provides direction and a target for the church/organization or even individuals.  It is a tool to help the organization fulfill what God has called it to do.”.

A clear Vision provides 3 things.

1.    Why we are here: Our purpose

2.    Where are we going: A picture of the future

3.    What guides us along the way: What we value!

Stay with me as I unfold how to culminate to a vision or a dream. Finding a vision to move forward towards a specific mission is not conditioned to dreams alone. Let me categorize few major heads to find direction to unfold the purpose in your life:

1.    A specific vision/dream from God or God speaking to man for achieving a specific mission:                 

Pharaoh had a dream (Genesis 41:1-7) for Egypt which was wrapped in mystery. Joseph had an opportunity to unfold it to a specific, meticulous strategy and workplan.

Moses: God spoke to Moses in Mt Sinai to build the tabernacle (Exodus 24:18; 25:8)

Jeremiah: God specifically called Jeremiah to warn Judah and return to Lord God. (Jeremiah 1:8;10)

2.    A strong desire or aspiration to fulfill something for God:

David had a strong desire to build a place, an abode for God (1 Chronicles 17:1-2). What is your burning desire and how it falls under the Biblical framework.

3.    Sensitizing about the Problem and getting the person to act. (Can be from God or from an anointed man of God):

God reminded Moses of the serious problem Israelite were facing, the slavery in Egypt. Moses was asked to be the conduit and bring the people out from bondage (Exodus 3:7; 10)

Esther was challenged by Mordecai to redeem the Jew who were soon prepared to be annihilated (Esther 3:13; 4:8,14)

4.    Getting to know about the problem and act on it:

Nehemiah: He heard about the broken walls of Jerusalem and was burdened and acted on it (Nehemiah 1: 1-4). The problem that is overwhelming you is the missionary call to act upon it.

5.    Obedience to the edicts of God:

Edicts of God are as follows -

Great commission is to preach the gospel and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20) 

Great Commandment of God is to love God and to love the neighbors (Mark 12:30-31), and 

Great Compassion is to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, take care of the strangers, help the sick, visit those in prison etc. (Matthew 25:36-40). 

Here, no one is exempted. Everyone who is His disciple is mandated to be involved in the mission of God.

It's worth to ponder which of the above categories you fall under as a Church, organization or individual. May God help you in fulfilling His purpose in your life through visions and dreams.

(To influence people on vision, strategies, developing a Ministry blueprint for Church and organization through seminars is my ministry. I would be glad to help you out in the same for your ministry.)

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"Ichabod- the glory has departed"

Every name has a meaning and it is obvious people live up to their names. People are careful while choosing names, they ensure it makes much sense and it is noteworthy. What does your name mean? Does your name reflect you?

Let me draw your attention to the incident where Israel loses the battle during Eli's period and at the same time his daughter-in-law gives birth to a boy whom she names Ichabod- which meant the glory has departed. A sad name the child had to live with all his life, right? In this case it displays two meaning one the child's father, Eli's son was extremely wicked and secondly the heights of Israel's lawlessness at that time due to which the protection of God was removed.

Today some people have their names to which its meaning is so inspiring and noteworthy but live like Ichabod in a state where the glory has departed already. They may be great worship leader, or a powerful speaker yet live with the departed glory. It is spoken about such people who are "walking encyclopedia but living failures". 

Same is the case of many glorious Churches once, but now lost all glory and just survive for their existence. In the book of Haggai, it talks about the magnificent temple of Solomon and it goes like this, ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now?. .’ Haggai 2:3 CSB. But praise God He is not giving up on us or on the Church He promises to restore the glory. 

We know Moses and Stephen (Acts 6:15), become a person like Jesus, a person with a shining face. The glory of the Lord was with them. In the case of Moses, as Warren Wiersbe says, 'It was the godly influence of the woman who raised him, his mother, Jochebed? Her name means “Jehovah is glory.” Whenever Moses heard his mother’s name, he was reminded that “Jehovah is glory.” The glory of men and nations lasts as long as the flowers and grass in the backyard, but the glory of God lasts forever. That’s the glory we want to choose. As leaders, we are responsible to restore God's glory in the lives of people who have lost it.

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What is your mission strategy model?

We are all so familiar with the sharp instruction in the book of Habakkuk that demands documenting the vision in order to create the urgency of the work. But is it really happening? Or it is just one more set of instructions of the Bible we wish to absorb based on our convenience and refer it for convenience. Let me bring the verse down which goes like this goes, “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it.”

“We need to write our vision down in clear, compelling language so that it grips our hearts. A clearly written vision statement frees us from confusion so that we can “run” instead of wander, stumble, or go backward. A clear vision overcomes inertia and produces the inspiration to run toward our goals.”. Zig Ziglar. Though we may experience ups and downs, delays and disappointments, these won’t stop us if we keep our eyes on our purpose and on the One who has given it to us.

Let me bring to reminder few people from the Bible as an example, who were able to come up with a strategy to accomplish what God intended, and in some cases toward a successful mission.

1 Joseph was a man who interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh, came up with a robust strategy to save the nation from the severe famine (Genesis 41:34-37)

2 Moses was successful in interpreting the vision he received concerning the building of the tabernacle. In Exodus 25:40 it was instructed, “Be careful to make them according to the pattern you have been shown on the mountain.”. And Moses brought in all components of the work into a definite plan to build the tabernacle for His glory.

3 David presenting the plan of the temple to his son Solomon (1Chronicles 28:11-12). This made the work of Solomon easy and structured and it was the magnificent temple, which became the place of abode for the almighty God.

4 Nehemiah was apprised of the problem that the walls were broken (Neh1:3) and it records that he wept, mourned, fasted and prayed for a number of days (Neh1:4) but then he did not stop there. He converted into a work plan and accomplished the mission of building the wall in 52 days.

I can keep quoting so many others who were successful because of the structured definite plan derived from the vision, I trust the examples of the great people I pointed out tell us something very serious i.e.  to have a proper strategy and work plan. Woodrow Wilson puts it beautifully, “We grow by dreams. All big men are big dreamers. Some of us let dreams die, but others nourish and protect them, nurse them though bad days . . . to the sunshine and light which always comes.”.

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Highly Esteemed Church

In Acts 2:47 Jerusalem Church is described as “having favor with all the people”. What special traits of this church aided to be favored among the people? The preceding verse tells this:

Acts 2:45 “They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need.” Anytime this verse is spoken anywhere either we want to nod our heads showing our amazement and go back or would immediately want to argue that their context and situations were different unlike us today. I want to pull here the important trait of the Jerusalem church (Early church) they got from the people to give back not to keep to themselves. Somebody said like this “Not giving to get, it’s giving to get to give more” Unbelievers saw the generosity of these believers, they saw how they loved one another and many came to the faith. Verse 47 says “And the Lord added to their number day by day those who are being saved”. 

Paul talks about the generosity of the Macedonian church in 2 Corinthians 8:1: “We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia.” How was God’s grace demonstrated? Through their giving to needy Christians. In verse 6, Paul calls the Macedonians’ giving to help the hungry in Jerusalem as an “act of grace.”. There’s no doubt that the Macedonian churches were in the midst of difficult financial times. Paul references their “severe trial” and “extreme poverty,” making it clear that this is a group of people that has almost nothing to spare. And yet, they gave generously, “even beyond their ability.”

  “The world can benefit from seeing the church's generosity as an attractive witness to the grace of Christ”. Randy Alcorn author of many books including “Heaven and the treasure principle” 

Now the need is varied, do we intentionally work our strategy to address the many needs of the people in the church and outside or we have only strategy to collect for the expansion of our ministry. Let us bear this in mind, when the congregation notices that the church has a vision and strategy built to help the poor, then definitely the congregation’s heart is moved to volunteer for the cause.

People give, not from their richness but from their extreme poverty status.  2 Cor 8:4 says  “they begged us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in the ministry to the saints” Helping the needy has always set Christians apart, showing the world that we operate on a radically different value system. In the sermon where Christ says we are not to give in order to be seen by men. He commands us to “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Mathew 5:16). Does your church model the early Jerusalem Church or Macedonian Church? 

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Blessings.

Write it down!

“Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.” Habakkuk 2:2-3.

When God inspired me to help Churches articulate the Vision and document the same, this was the verse that was overpowering and inspiring me to take this forward to help Church leadership, youth and congregation members so that they understand the real purpose of their existence and pen their vision down.

Once the Vision statement is articulated and the Church roadmap is drawn listing out the milestones, it gives the sense of purpose and satisfaction. God in the Bible always quantifies, measures and gauges the work including our intention. We are capable of so much, but because we are not defining the ministry/organization purpose and the strategy to achieve it's goal, we are unsure about the progress or the impact our work  actually makes.

Unless people are convinced of their sincere calling and commitment for the ministry it will just not be possible for them to put their vision down. They will manage to exist and survive but without a purpose. Zig Ziglar puts it this way, “An out-of-focus purpose can’t inspire us, but a crystal-clear lens on God’s purpose for us rivets our attention and gives us energy to keep going until we reach our goals.”

We need to write our vision down in clear and compelling language so that it grips our heart. A clear vision statement frees us from confusion so that we can ‘run' forward steadily rather than wander, stumble or go backward. But the fulfillment of our vision is in His timing, not ours. Seldom does anyone move in a straight line from the conception of a dream to its fulfillment. We may experience ups and down, delays and disappointment. But this cannot stop us if we keep our eyes fixed on the purpose and on the One who gave it to us.

Personally, I had challenges too working with no expectations, sometimes supported sometimes never considered at all, but because of the strong passion towards my vision I am still by the grace of God able to move bereft of resources.  If your Church vision is compelling nothing will stop you to integrate the Holistic model of connecting Church with active evangelism and ministering to the poor. Do you have a clear compelling vision?

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Sheep and the goats- Holistic perspective!

The holy book, the Bible is holistic in nature and addresses all facets of human life. We cannot by any chance separate the physical from spiritual. If you have to notice, the number of laws in the old testament addressed all areas of life that included, health areas (Physical), laws concerning relational well-being (Socio-emotional), to know the law and execute it correctly (cognitive), and finally revering God and establishing a spiritual connection (Spiritual).  

I am compelled to remind you on the two edicts Jesus gave. 1. The Great Commission (Mat 28-19-20) 2. The Great Commandment (Mark 12:30-31). In 1 Cor 9:16 Apostle Paul states, “woe is me if I do not preach the gospel”, this is the mandate given to all. We cannot escape as individuals or the Church and try to accommodate the gospel at our convenience. Apostle Paul reminds us that we are accountable for the souls of the one’s whom we are leading to God (Hebrew 13:17).

The second edict is the Great commandment, which says love God and love others. What did Jesus mean when He said to love others? He had to help us by narrating a story about, “the Good Samaritan”, about the good works. In Mathew 5:16 “. .that they may see your good works and give glory to your father in heaven”. The sharing of the gospel and sharing of the resources are our obligation, not a choice. Somebody put this so beautifully, “If you practice the great commission and share about Christ you are an irritant, and if you practice great commandment and talk about the love of Christ you are interesting, but if you do both great commission and great commandment together you are irresistible.”.

Have you tried to figure out what Jesus was trying to tell us when He explained in detail the parable of ‘Sheep and the goats”? The details of the parable described in Mat 25:31-46 is trying to caution us that we do not fall short of this action but learn to live out effectively. God arranges and puts the sheep on the right and the  goats on the left and commences the allegations - You did not feed the hungry, you did not take care of the strangers, you did not clothe the naked, you did not take care of the sick, you did not take care of the people who are in prison and the consequences God had to lay was sending them to eternal damnation. 

Bryant Myers in his book “Walking With the Poor” states, “To think properly about human transformation, we must see the world of the poor and the non-poor in light of the whole Biblical account.". Let us understand this clearly, in the holistic judgement of God we are worthy enough to suffer eternal damnation just because we as individual and Church are not prepared to take care of the poor and the needy nor willing to take care of them because we thought the resources is not meant for them. We cannot escape from this crucial responsibility." Quite a point to ponder, isn't it?!

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