Without a Vision...
Maybe it’s that we are almost ten years into the new millennium or maybe it’s just the sound of the year 2020 and its connection with the word ‘vision’ (20/20 vision) which makes it too hard for politicians to resist. It could be that we live in uncertain times both economically and environmentally. But for whatever reason it seems like everyone is casting a vision for the future.
Kevin Rudd had a 2020 summit in Canberra in April last year where he invited our nation’s “brightest and best” to come and discuss a plan for our country’s future. At the summit the Prime Minister even quoted the Bible (or should I say paraphrased it) when he said “Without a vision our people will perish”, a quote taken from Proverbs 29:18.
Newly inaugurated US President Barack Obama ran his whole election campaign based on a vision of a new America! The former Senator addressed the nation’s needs and hopes for the future in his campaign promises. Who will ever forget his acceptance speech as President-Elect with the continuing refrain of “Yes, We Can”. This “can-do” vision for a new America dominated his entire campaign, not to mention capturing the hearts and minds of millions of Americans: many of whom voted for the first time and who made his inauguration the most watched ever! Some 2 million people crammed into the Lincoln memorial at the National Mall in Washington DC in temperatures of -5℃ while some 39 million Americans watched it on TV along with an estimated world television audience in its billions. All of them tuning in because of the power of a vision.
Queenslanders aren’t missing out either! Our own state premier Anna Bligh also cast a vision for our great state of Queensland last year called “towards Q2” listing her government’s proposed targets for creating a stronger, greener, smarter, healthier and fairer Queensland. She then travelled the state telling us where we are heading and the direction she hopes to take us (if she gets re-elected).
Of course, Queenslanders also know the pitfalls of a poorly cast vision. It was only ten years ago that former Premier Peter Beattie called Queensland the Smart state and spent $400 million so everyone else knew it. Now, ten years on in a survey conducted by The Courier Mail, 60% of Queenslander’s said they didn’t know what the ‘Smart State’ meant with another 26% saying they knew ‘little’ about it. “For many, the Smart State slogan refers only to vehicle registration plates. It would be amusing if it were not such a lamentable outcome for a mammoth financial investment.” (Courier Mail – January 18, 2009).
Poorly done or well casted, its obvious that having a vision for the future is very important!
Even the Rockhampton Regional Council has recently forecast its own predicted population growth figures and the infrastructure that our city will need to cope with the “boom” of people who will soon call Rockhampton home. It’s predicted that Rockhampton will have a population of 74000 by 2021.
Here’s something for us to think about: If our church is to reach just 1% of Rockhampton’s estimated population by 2021 then within the next 11 years we will need to have a church with 740 people in it.
Vision matters.
Vision is important because without it no-one knows where we are going, what we are doing or why we are doing it. Vision matters because without a vision there is no assessment of where we are or where we are heading. Without a vision we have no compass to charter our way though to the future and no reference point to refer back to when we get lost! We’re not sure what we should take on, where to place our time, energy, finances and resources. Its true: where there is no vision the people perish.
Starting in February our church is going to be considering a new vision for where we are heading. Without a vision, the people perish! Together we need to hear from the Bible and to start praying and planning as well as discussing and goal-setting where we want to be and more importantly where we think God wants us to be for our city in the next 10 years.
In our coming series on Revelation 1-3 we will be looking at The Church Jesus Wants. From this series of Bible Talks and Bible Studies together under the oversight of our church leaders, we will cast a vision for our church. We don’t need to spend $400 million to do so or even $40 to be clear. But we want it to be clear to everyone inside the church and for those still yet to come in: what is it that we at st.andrew’s are on about. What it is that we value because we want to value the things that Jesus values.
There will be some who read this article and think “oh no”. People who get freaked out because of past experiences in churches where the Pastor starts talking about ‘vision’ one minute and the next we are all living in a small village in the bush making our own clothes and signing over the contents of our bank account and personal assets to “Mike O’Connor International Ministries”.
Let me reassure the skeptic in everyone of us. Firstly, there is no such thing as “Mike O’Connor International Ministries” (yet!) and if there ever was, leave quickly, run away – fast and sign nothing! Secondly, this isn’t about a vision I have had. It’s not about imposing my ideas or my ‘stamp’ on our church.
In fact, lets be very clear: this is Jesus’ church. It does not belong to me or to anyone else.
Our church belongs to Jesus so this is not about a vision that any of you have had either! This is about all of us coming together under God’s revealed Word to us – the Bible to carefully and prayerfully study and seek what Jesus wants for his church and the things that he values – not what you or I value or what our personal preferences are.
The consequences for not having a vision and a mission statement that is clear to everyone is fatal. Without something that we are all working towards and prayerful about we could end up anywhere and probably will!
Because this goes on the web, I won’t mention the name of the denomination. But 32 years ago a denomination was formed in Australia. It had no statement of beliefs, no creeds or confessions, no mission or vision statements that its members or ministers had to sign off on. No one knew where it was heading and no one was held accountable for the things that they taught or believed or became involved in.
Now 32 years on Christian people are leaving in droves, while the denomination continues to unite everyone even if their lifestyle or sexual orientation isn’t congruent with the Bible.
In their attempt to be relevant they have become completely irrelevant.
With no vision, no core values, no leadership and no direction, our church let alone our denomination, risks becoming the exactly the same.
