What’s Your 2020 Vision?
By Wayne Dinsbeer
My dad is about to turn 91 years of age. He has been around the block a time or two. He is still very sharp, spending 4 to 5 hours daily on his computer researching and writing Bible study materials for his church. He teaches a Men’s Bible Study class weekly and preaches regularly at his home church and other places. His knees are bad and his eye sight suspect, but he doesn’t let anything slow him down, especially me.
Today a great deal of importance is placed on “Sight”. I am sure in this year of 2020 that the marketing gurus will take advantage someway of this natural theme. Having 2020 Vision is very good. Our optometrists get us to spend a lot of money trying to return our eyes to this quality standard. We know the importance that Vision is vital to the successful work of any church, business, and life. Yet too often we fail to discover and develop our vision, leaving us to flounder day to day failing to accomplish what God desires for us.
I was taking my 8 year old granddaughter to school this past week when she looked at me and with her serious look asked, “GrandPa. What do you want to accomplish this year?” Her question caught me off guard. I had to quickly think of a response. The one I gave her off the cuff apparently did not meet her guidelines for something I was going to DO. So I had to re-answer her with a more viable response.
That got me thinking about this same question posed in a spiritual setting. “What do I want to accomplish for the Lord in 2020?” I work with a lot of Pastors and Missionaries who would have a difficult time giving a clear response to this relating to their ministries.
This requires clear Vision for our ministries and lives.
Our Christian world is a Faith Based one which differs greatly from a society that promotes “Seeing is Believing.” The facts of our faith are that our Belief leads to Sight or Vision. What is it you Believe God has for you to accomplish and do this year? Your heart will turn this to seeing God’s plan for strategy development to bring your faith to Vision and Sight (reality).
Have you considered all the power which Vision holds? One simply needs to study the life of Nehemiah to see the importance that Burden, Passion, Belief, and Vision play in accomplishing that which God is leading us to do.
Note his Strategy, Plan, and Actions:
- Nehemiah Prays First 1:4
- Prayer internalizes allowing us burden and deepens ownership
- Prayer insists we slow our reaction allowing us to hear from God
- Prayer influences Vision enabling us to see what God sees
- Prayer initiates Vision and becomes a catalyst for action
2. Nehemiah’s MAP (Mission Action Plan)
- Approached Key Influencers 2:1-9 Gained support from King Artaxerxes
- Assessed Situation 2:11-15 Saw Jerusalem damage first hand
- Cast Vision to Others 2:16,17 Spoke with Jews, Priests, Nobels, Officials, and people to do work
- Reminded them of past successes 2:18 Hand of God is with them.
- Got “Buy in” from people 2:18 “Let us rise up and build”.
- Organized people to work 3:1-32 Families worked according to planned priorities, beginning with the city’s gates.
- Defended his work against opposition 4:1-23
- Developed others to carry on 2:5-6:14
- Completed Wall in 52 Days 6:15
Nehemiah is a great example of receiving a Vision from God and following a plan to carry it out. Truly we can see the importance that Nehemiah’s vision had on his actions.
Consider these important thoughts about the power of Vision which Malphures gives in his book Advanced Strategic Planning.
Seven Ways Vision Impacts Ministry:
- Provides Energy for the Actions of People- not much happens without a compelling vision.
- Creates Cause and Gives Meaning to People’s Service with a Divine Purpose.
- Fosters Risk Taking as People are Asked to Respond.
- Legitimizes Leadership as Leaders Paint the Picture for What Can Be.
- Energizes Leadership and Becomes the Fuel Leaders Run on which Creates Action.
- Sustains Ministry as it Encourages People to Look Beyond the Mundane to the Eternal.
- Motivates Giving as People Accept Financial Responsibility to Accomplish the Vision.
We all understand and believe what scripture says – that without Vision people perish.
Too often we fail to know what to Do about either the lack of it in our ministries or the response to structure a MAP (Mission Action Plan) to fulfill it in our ministries.
It is critical to be able to write down and articulate the Vision. It is not enough just to have a head knowledge, or even a passionate heart relative to the Vision. For Vision to be effective it has to be shared with others who will help carry it out. That requires definition, writing it out in a way it can be easily shared with others.
- Start with the Heart
- After much prayer, write out what God is speaking to you regarding His plan for the specific area of ministry being developed.
2. Once all your thoughts are written
- Ask God to give wisdom as to how He would have you accomplish His Vision He has placed in your heart.
- Be specific in your search for this. Ask :
“Who” is to be reached by this vision?
What are the “Resources” it will take to fulfill this Vision
3. Develop a Strategy to accomplish the Vision which includes details sufficient to establish a viable plan which can be shared with others.
Vision and Strategy development are critical to the success of any ministry. Contact us to see how our H2T team can assist you with your ministry development and implementation in 2020.
The above thoughts are shared from Here2There’s ampd (Association of Mission Partnership Development) curriculum for Church Partnership. This is an Eleven month Cohort designed to teach, coach, and develop the entire scope of ministry for churches.
