What is God's Vision?

Most people look to the pastor for the vision of the church. We, too, feel that God will reveal the vision to the pastor and use him to lead the church in that vision, but we must be clear in one very important fact. It is the Lord’s vision. Please get that. It’s not the pastor’s vision. It’s God’s vision. When we speak of the vision of a church, we are not speaking of one man’s vision for a community. We are more interested in God’s vision for the community.
In most churches the Lord planted that church in that place for His purpose long before the current pastor ever arrived. In order to understand the vision we must come to grips with a very important question. Why? Why did God put this church in this place at this time? When a new pastor comes to a church the first question that is asked of him is “What is your vision for the church?” Most enterprising pastors have learned to keep a well-crafted vision in their suitcase should someone ever ask him about it. But how can a man who is new to that church and that community possibly know what God’s vision is for that church and community? When asked, most pastors pull out the mission of the church rather than the vision, with full confidence that no one will recognize the difference. The mission of the church was given by Christ to the church as a whole. It will be the guiding force for every vision, but it is not the vision.
The mission of the church is to “go then to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples” (Matt. 28:19). This is the same for all churches. The vision, on the other hand, will be different for every church and every community. No self-respecting pastor ever wants to be caught without a vision. This would be equivalent to being caught with your proverbial pants down. A better response when asked by the people from the church would be: “You have lived in this community and attended this church for years. What is your vision for the church?”
Actually the question should be asked collectively: “What is God’s vision for our church. The way you find this “right” vision is to look for the activity of God in that church and in that community. Once we find where God is showing up we can more clearly see what God’s vision for that church is.