Transforming Church

It is possible for different people to have a different piece of the vision, but don’t get misled at the outset that discernment is a group process either by vote or consensus. With authorship/artistry of the vision coming from the Holy Spirit it is important that even well intended personal aspiration and zeal be kept in their place. Our personal interest, even for the right reasons, pales alongside the insight of the Spirit.

Inviting others to offer potential visionary pieces for examination and possible inclusion makes more sense after enough vision has already been discerned to allow it to be cast. There can be a significant gap between discernable vision and great ideas. Discernment of vision is like the interpretation of scripture needing the “whole” of Scripture to come to bear on a particular part.

Congregations wanting to get on track with the vision provided by the Holy Spirit need to first appreciate that some aspects of their present ministry may not fit that vision. Therefore, part of discerning vision is taking a critical look at existing ministry to discover where that might need to be transformed.

The first group of such ministries that no longer fit the vision comes from a different age. Some of these may have been part of the congregation’s overall ministry for generations, but have been declining in effectiveness in recent decades because they belonged to the Modern Age (prior to the mid-1960’s). Their time of effectiveness has passed. They will be somewhat different from congregation to congregation but clues to a number of these can be seen in the trust series article, “Part Five: Eight One-time Helpfuls That Now Sabotage TRUST In Missional Congregations.”

Considering the impact these ministries once had, it would be safe to assume that some of them have been given almost “sacred” status by the congregation. Most members want to assume that these ministries will once again be strong if we can only get them right. The traditional Sunday School is one of these. If you can get past the aura that surrounds it, minimal critiquing shows that without transformation this ministry sorely fails to meet the needs of today’s family. In this instance most of the transformation involves families taking back a good part of their own responsibility, but realizes that will happen only if the church helps them to do that.

The second group of ministries that will be found not to fit the vision of the congregation are those activities, popular though they may be, that simply do not fit into the purview of both the mission and vision of the congregation. They likely got their start by individuals or groups at a time when no mission or vision existed to guide them, and while these activities may not have had a lot of reason attached to them, they are likely to have a huge amount of emotion attached. Even though they need to go, it may well take time, education and baby steps to extract them. The challenging mission faced by every congregation simply cannot allow time or resources for extra-curricular or counter-direction activities that distract it from the mission.

To sort what is positive vision coming from the Holy Spirit, concentrate spiritually on how your congregation’s mission impacts the present and immediate future of your parish area and your wider partnerships. Since often God’s thoughts and our thoughts get all mixed together at this point, it heightens the importance that we keep looking at all considerations for vision from His perspective.

One way to check or test the intensity is by asking, “Why does God want us to do this?” In spite of God’s reasoning not always being clear to us, it might be safer to dismiss any consideration where there is no obvious attachment to God’s desire. If God really wants that consideration pursued, He will make sure it keeps coming at us again and again until we finally add it to the vision.

Another step toward clarification comes when we measure the challenge. What is at stake here is thinking big enough. Human aspirations and confidence are often quite short of what God is calling us to do. Many visions being followed by congregations are too small because they have not listened sufficiently to God to discern the whole vision. If an honest evaluation suggests that this is something we can do on our own without God’s help, chances are our perception of the vision has been too limited or small. One way to be more confident you have the complete vision for that time and place is to ask if it stretches the congregation to its optimum risk and payoff point.

There is yet another reality that one needs to be aware of here: if you do not have the complete vision, it will likely get swept away, tabled or shelved in favor of whatever appears to be more pressing or critical at the time. Once you get caught in that, you are likely reverting to the counter-productive survival side of ministry, moving from mission back into maintenance.

And if that is allowed to happen, the most dangerous consequence is that those being coached will probably welcome the shift as less challenging and more comfortable. While that may well make you more popular as their leader, it invites your participation in compromising Christ’s mission. The correct amount of challenge will initially strike you, “I’m not sure we can do that.” All that can be said here is that if it is your intention to be led by the Spirit, be prepared to live with that feeling.

Whatever else these articles share with you, the most important guidance is: vision needs to transform my heart of hearts, not come from it. You have just read the second part of “Help In Clarifying Vision - for new visionaries.” Future parts appearing in the months ahead include:
Part One: Is This My Vision, Our Vision, or Something Else?
Part Two: What Is the Stuff Vision Is Made Of?
Part Three: How Do Pastors Live Out Their Role as ‘Keeper of the Vision?’
Part Four: How Does the Congregation See and Take Ownership of the Vision?Part Five: Why Most Visioning Efforts Fail –by Gregg Burch