“Then He brought him (Abram) outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.””
Genesis 15:5 NKJV
Vision…
How many books have been read, sermons heard and delivered, and conference sessions attended over just this subject?
Can anything more be said?
I guess I’ll try…
German scholars developed a theological concept called “mitte”, which presumed there was a centering concept or theme to which the Scripture revolved or was structured. Some suggested that there was a subject thread that wove its way from Genesis to Revelation in which we could better understand Scripture.
Different mitte(s) have been suggested by scholars…
Covenant
Promise
Communion
Kingdom
Redemption
To name but a few…
Over the past 30 years, I have become convinced (for better or worse) that there has been a predominant leadership mitte. A centering concept or theme to which any leadership endeavor revolves around. Whether you have planted a church, started an organization, or inherited a work that has been established, there is no study of leadership without the giant shadow of the “vision thing” in the center of your administration.
Who hasn’t attended a ministerial gathering or conference and met people for the first time and the question arises concerning your church or ministry, “What’s your vision?” There was a time early in my days of ministry when we discussed attendance figures and baptisms, but now it revolves around the “vision” statement.
It was BARNA who told us that vision was a “clear mental image of a preferable future given by God to His people”. Vision was best articulated if you could distill it down to a sentence.
To this day, as I make presentations of the primary ministry initiative of which I give leadership, I am able to quickly and in a sentence share the “vision”. It has become the expectation of nearly everyone being solicited by a church or ministry that they clearly hear “the vision”.
There is no criticism of that reality…
“Where there is no vision the people wander aimlessly.” (Proverbs 29:18)
Vision is biblical…
That said, the foundation of vision is inarguably traced back to Abram, as God led him out of his tent and directed his attention to the night sky and ostensibly said, “Look, this is your family tree. These stars represent the wake of impact I am going to accomplish through you. It will literally touch the globe.”
Get this…
The foundation of vision had to do with…The Family Tree.
It wasn’t about an organization…
Or a ministry…
Or a business…
Or a church…
As important as those things may actually be…
It was a vision about a man’s family tree…
And how that family tree was to fulfill the purposes of God…
My new take, so to speak…
Vision starts with your family…
Because you can succeed at numerous organizational endeavors…
And still lose your family…
What God said to Abram wasn’t that his legacy was just a nation with all the moving parts of a functioning, successful, global power; but rather more personally, He was creating for Abram…a legacy of a family. And this legacy would be endowed with incredible promise and purpose…
It wasn’t a vision for a highly organized ministry with amazing protocols and systems to retain people…
It wasn’t a vision for buildings, bricks, and mortar which landmark a business…
It was a vision for the impact of the family tree…
Pastors, ministry leaders, business people, and…well…everyone…
The answer to a decaying culture is Christians getting a vision for the family tree again…
Christians please marry Christians…
Have children…
Disciple and catechize those children thoroughly in the Faith…
Protect the destiny God has placed in those children by active parenting…
Remain steadfast, faithful, and covenantal in your marriage…
Sow a Christ-honoring vision into your family…
Help them believe their last name means something special to God in His plans…
Get a God vision for the family tree…
Your descendants will thank-you.
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