It’s often misused. The Scripture on vision.

Where there is no vision, the people perish….

Proverbs 29:18 KJV

Business and ministry leaders have often quoted that verse and then proceeded to share their vision for the company or the organization. Right…or wrong? At my most generous I would say partly right. Vision is important. And few organizations, corporations, or ministries can move forward without some direction. But is it any old vision? Is it just someone’s good idea? Or is it God’s idea?

That is where we often go wrong in quoting this verse and applying it to moving our ministries forward. We have committees, think tanks, focus groups, or leadership groups that gather and thrash out their vision, including their latest vision statement. To the degree that we don’t consult God and seek His direction, we can be leading our organizations off in the wrong direction with the right purpose in our heart. Sincere…but sincerely wrong.

Henry and Richard Blackaby address this in their book Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God’s Agenda:

Vision is crucial for an organization. Its source is God’s revelation of his activity…. When leaders successfully communicate vision to their people, it will be God who sets the agenda for the organization, not the leader, and the people will know it is God.

What do we want to pass on to our people…our best thinking or God’s agenda? They are not automatically the same.

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.

“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”

Isaiah 55:8 NLT

Yes, leaders can come up with a vision, but leaders cannot come up with God’s will on their own. It must be revealed by God.

How does the Lord reveal His will and His agenda? Look around. What is God doing in your ministry right now? What have you seen as a leader that was obviously from the Lord? Are you communicating that to your staff? To your leadership? To those who support the ministry work to which God has called you? That is your best way to move people on to God’s agenda. Communication is key.

Again, the Blackabys underscore the importance of communicating as a leader. “You cannot be a poor communicator and a good leader.” And they expand on that thought in their book:

Spiritual leaders don’t just tell stories for the sake of telling stories. They rehearse what God has done, they relate what God is doing, and they share what God has promised to do…. People don’t have to buy into a vision; they simply have to see that God is making a promise.

As I think of all this, I realize that my vision is very limited. I can only see so far. And my imagination is also dwarfed by what God has in mind. Do I want what my finite mind can come up with…or do I want to move toward God’s amazing agenda?

God’s best…