And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven (Nehemiah 1:2-4).
One of the hardest elements of ministry is vision. The concept gets mixed with Mission and goals and objectives. Sometimes it seems way more difficult than it should, at least in most people’s minds. I have walked into some non-profit Christian ministries, and several have mission and vision on the wall. When I look at their statements it starts to make sense, but when I come back to write ours for our church, it all gets convoluted again.
Nehemiah had vision when he heard that Jerusalem was in shambles. Many, like Nehemiah, had been exiled and Jerusalem had been destroyed by their enemies. The walls had been demolished; the gates had been torn down – the place was virtually uninhabitable. There was great trouble and shame. Nehemiah knew Israel was God’s chosen people, but their sin and stubbornness caused God to revoke their privileges.
The first element of vision for Nehemiah was simply responding to a need or problem in the community. Some churches get very comfortable with themselves and may conclude that they are pretty happy with everything that is going on at church. Their vision is no bigger than having a smooth-running worship service or kids program. The problem with that kind of vision is it is simply internal and it essential ignores the mission Jesus gave them to make disciples of all ethnic groups (Matt. 28:19-20).
Genuine vision must connect to mission. Mission is always bigger than the church and by nature has to be external. Nehemiah, in spite of being exiled, had a pretty comfortable situation. Other than being exiled, he had pretty secure circumstances. The problem was back in Jerusalem. His vision was that someone had to go help meet that need and fix the problem. He was not just making his own situation better; he was responding to the need of others outside his context.
Sometimes vision is that simple – what need, or problem, needs to be addressed in the community. Vision is discovering what issue or problem needs to be addressed in the larger community, not in the church. When the vision of the church is simply that all the programs inside the church are fully staffed, and all our programming runs well – that church has a vision problem. Vision ought to be connected to a problem or need in the community. The movement of vision rests on the ability of the church to determine how they can we step in and meet that need.
Some will complain and say that is not spiritual enough. The mission is to make disciples but if we do not rub shoulders with people, you will never make disciples. Meeting real problems or needs in people’s lives is the doorway to carry out the mission to make disciples. It might be just the beginning of the journey, but it is a significant part of that larger journey.
The second element of vision is to do something, not trying to do everything. We live in a world where we have more options than brain cells. If I do this, I might miss out on something over here. If I do that, then I might miss out on something over there. Many people are so paralyzed about missing everything that they never get around to doing anything.
Vision does not have to last forever. We often think vision is for the rest of our lives. Actually vision can run out when the need is met. The mission, however, to make disciples, never expires, it will always be the big picture and always the “why” for the vision. If I help meet a need (vision) my motivation is always with the hope that through meeting that need, I can help make disciples (mission).
But again, this is where many pastors and even leaders seize the engine. Pastors are overwhelmed with how to “lead” everyone through all this. True, it can get overwhelming but unless you are a pastoral, entrepreneurial superstar, no one does this by themselves. Nehemiah did a few things we can learn from:
- He decided he would get personally involved in meeting the need. Most people do not get involved in mission because they do not want to suck away time from other things they like doing. We love to tell others what to do but often never do it ourselves. If you are not taking personal responsibility to get involved, you do not have vision and you probably do not embrace the mission either.
- He found others that wanted to meet that need. He even tapped Artaxerxes on the shoulder for supplies and resources to actually fix the problems when he got to Jerusalem. Artaxerxes asked what he needed, and he was not ashamed to tell him.
- Leadership might be better described as being a facilitator or a coach. I know a lot of men in leadership who are introverts, and the word leadership simply overwhelms them, as does ideas like vision and mission. They don’t see themselves as the high profile, charismatic personality that everyone chases. Of course, the good old fashion type “A” leaders would immediately conclude these introverts are not real leaders if they can’t deal with responsibility.
My response is that introverts do not have a problem with responsibility, just the extrovert way of messaging it. Nehemiah wanted to be a servant, responding to the need of that community. He was a great facilitator who helped coach people how they could help get things done. I love the picture of being a facilitator or coach. It is a powerful picture of what visionary leadership does.
Many pastors, and particularly introverts, can be great leaders, or at least great facilitators or coaches who can help others see the need and know how to help. My encouragement is if you struggle with leadership and all the verbiage that goes with traditional ideas of leadership, think of being a visionary leader as someone who sees a need, you are willing to get personally involved, and you will help others know how they can help meet that need.
The reason for any vision is that it has to be connected to the “why” of the mission. Doing good works just for the sake of doing good works may have vision but no mission (or a pretty lame mission). Doing good works for the opportunity to make disciples, now that has vision connected to mission.
In His grace
Brad Little
