3. It puts all the weight on the pastor.
In Acts 2, Peter did not bear the weight of the vision. He spoke in the company of the apostles (Acts 2:14 | NIV” href=”http://www.biblestudytools.com/acts/2-14.html” target=”_blank”>“Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd.” —Acts 2:14), based on a vision the entire body received together (emphasis mine).
We’re not Moses on the mountain. Jesus never intended for pastors to live on the top rung of some self-created ecclesiastical ladder. Or, to use different imagery, as the foundation upon which everyone else’s dreams and visions rest. Instead, we’re called to live as John 21:15-17” href=”http://www.biblestudytools.com/john/passage.aspx?q=john+21:15-17″ target=”_blank”>an under-shepherd with the sheep. How many pastors are stressed, burnt out and overwhelmed by a burden we were never meant to carry alone?
4. It doesn’t factor in the dreams and visions of church members.
When I go to a church leadership conference, it’s not to find out what the leader’s vision is and how I can help them fulfill it. I go to get tools to help me fulfill the vision God has given me for my life and ministry. I think a lot of people would come to our churches if they could get that help from us.
This may be one of the primary reasons for the growth of New Age, Find-Your-Inner-Vision books being gobbled up by otherwise Christian people. People want to know how to dream their own dreams, like Acts 2:17 says they will, but that’s seldom what they get at church. What they usually hear is what I heard at the above conference. “You’re here to help me fulfill my vision for this group.” So they go elsewhere and receive unbiblical advice instead.
The reality is, if church leaders will see our role as helping others find and fulfill God’s vision and purpose for their life, people will put their lives on the line when we need them to help us.
5. It requires constant selling.
The three most-taught principles of vision-casting are “repeat, repeat, repeat.” I’ve been told constantly that if I don’t remind people at minimum of once a month about the vision, they’ll forget it.
That’s a problem.
Any vision that needs to be sold to me that constantly … I don’t know … maybe it’s not God’s vision for me.
There’s nothing wrong with repeating principles. That’s a basic tenet of teaching. But when God puts a vision on a person’s or a church’s heart, you can’t shake them from it. When someone has truly bought in to a vision, they couldn’t stop thinking about it if they tried. They don’t need constant, obsessive, exhausting reminders.
A Possible Alternative
One of my primary roles as my church’s pastor is to help people discover and implement the vision God has given them for their lives.
The job of pastors and teachers is “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (Ephesians 4:12). Now that’s a passage that is neither obscure nor taken out of context.
Shouldn’t part of that preparation include inspiring them to hear from God for a vision for their own life and ministry? But how can they dream their own dreams if they’re constantly pushed to give time and money to support the pastor’s vision instead?
