Mark and Nicki

For years I’ve been told that Christian leaders need to have a vision. “Where there is no vision the people perish, (Proverbs 29:18)” has been preached to me more times than I can count. “What’s your vision, brother?” seems to be one of the favorite questions we ask each other at ministerial gatherings; one that I’ve had to answer many times.

But I must be honest – every time I get asked that question I get sweaty palms and a knot in the pit of my stomach. I feel under pressure to give some grandiose answer that’s bigger and better than the last time I answered it; something that is unique from anyone else’s vision; something no one has ever dreamed of before – a vision so large that only God can fulfill it!

So I launch into a litany of ideas as big as the State of Texas. That’s what I’m supposed to do, right? I can’t just reply, “My vision is to love God and His people.” That would be boring. I can’t say something as mundane as, “My vision is to obey the Father and be a servant.” That would be dull and unimaginative. So I give them my best rendition of American entrepreneurialism wrapped up in Christian language.

And, of course, I’m the guy at the center of it all! After all, we don’t receive vision that other people fulfill. Our vision should be all about us. Having a vision that somebody else would fulfill would take the fun out of it.

Vision must be big and bold, wild and crazy, filled with extraordinary dreams and fantasies. I know because that’s what I’ve been told all my life. It’s been the relentless message I’ve received from all the elite Christian celebrities we admire. Everyone wants to be like them. We all want to grace the cover of a magazine or host our own TV show.

So I close my eyes and let my imagination take over and talk about big buildings, big numbers, big ministries, big success and such.

And then I usually walk away feeling slimy and sick!

Has this ever happened to you?

Armed with great ideas that we’ve spent hours dreaming and polishing, encouraged by the examples of wildly successful mega-church superstars, many of us have invented our own form of vision that is more fantasy than reality; more celebrity-focused than Savior-focused; more Hollywood than Biblical. We’ve fashioned our own form of vision from Twentieth Century American culture that has been overly fascinated with big business and celebrity.

Listen to the answers we give when asked about our visions. Whenever vision is the subject, most of the time it’s put in the context of wealth and fame. We see ourselves building mega-ministry empires like the industrial barons of the early Twentieth Century, being famous in our media ministries like the film and TV celebrities of the mid-Twentieth Century and leading an army of adoring fans like the Rock stars of the late Twentieth Century.

Barons, Celebrities and Rock Stars…that’s the vision of many Christian leaders in America today.

Make no mistake; God has raised up special servants who were anointed to do ministry in a big way. These men and women become famous and have many followers. But they are the exception not the rule. For the last 2,000 years, the church has moved forward on the backs of men and women who did not care about such things, who did not pine for fame and celebrity status; men and women who gave their lives serving one person at a time. They are the true heroes of our faith but whose names will never be mentioned in a Christian magazine and whose image will never be seen on a television screen.

In the “Land of Opportunity” where a “Can-do Attitude” can create wealth and fame, Americans have imposed a cultural definition of success upon our ministers. Our “Rags-to-Riches” mythology has found its way into our Christian thinking. We have created an unrealistic standard of success for our leaders that, in my opinion, has caused many to feel like failures and driven them to quit. Unless they have large ministries with thousands of followers, they simply don’t feel like they have achieved anything worthwhile.

Unwittingly, we have become victims of our own success. Churches and ministries in the United States reached mammoth proportions over the previous century, touching the lives of untold numbers of people around the world. We need to thank God for that!

But it also has left its toll. The success of the American mega-church has caused a tidal wave of expectations that the great majority of pastors and other Christian leaders cannot live up to. Unless they can preach and teach like the person their congregants see on television and their music ministry is as good as the latest popular worship band they downloaded on iTunes, then they don’t measure up.

At least that’s how these leaders feel. And to ask them about their vision is simply another reminder that they haven’t fulfilled the one they had last time they answered that question.

I’ve got to tell you, I don’t use the term vision much anymore. It’s been too Americanized and secularized for my tastes. If every vision that I’ve heard Christian leaders talk about came from God then every pastor would have a mega-church and their own TV show.

But’s that’s probably not going to happen.

Does that bother you?

When talking about vision, Jesus simply said He came to do His Father’s will. He took great delight in that. He found peace in it. His identity was firmly established in His relationship with the Father, not in the adoration of His fans. He didn’t look for fulfillment in His popularity or personal achievements. He knew His mission was to bring the Gospel to Israel, be rejected by His own people and give His life for all mankind, undoing what Adam had done and destroying the works of the devil in the process.

Somehow, our Lord was able to focus Himself on these things and leave the results to the Father. He found complete rest and peace in fulfilling His mission even when people did not understand and many forsook Him. By our definitions, Jesus was a complete failure whose brief notoriety was overshadowed by the fact that, in the end, He lost His ministry and nearly everyone left Him.

His idea of vision, I’m afraid, was far different than ours.

Do you agree?

Disagree?

Leave a comment and let me know!

In Part 2 of this article, I want to suggest four things that we can focus on that will help us adjust our understanding of vision and give us a greater sense of significance and peace as we serve the Lord. Be looking for it. I’ll send it out shortly.