PROVERBS 29:18
A VISION FOR LIFE
[Acts 2:38-47 / James 1:21-26]
"Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law."
Reactionary directionlessness is a plague that infects individuals and churches alike. They have no accepted, unifying, common purpose. Thus most people and churches are in a maintenance mode that, like crippled ships at sea, are headed nowhere.
Other lives and churches are hindered by going everywhere or anywhere. They are pulled in all different directions. Everyone does their own thing. They are like tides and winds that push and pull that crippled ship at sea, constantly changing is course and moving it in different directions.
Other people and churches are moving but they are moving in the wrong direction. They specialize in some area that fits under the Great Commission but is not the Great Commission. They may be moving but they are only steaming around in reaction to current events or circumstances.
It is imperative that individuals and churches have a vision for where God is wanting to lead them. Yet God given direction for a ministry is not enough. It must be accepted and followed by the people and a plan must be put together to get them toward this God given end. Until the local church commits themselves under God to heed His vision, plan how to accomplish it, and join together to pursue it; they will lack the empowering God gives to His on mission people.
I. THE COMMON VISION.
II. THE COMMON GOAL.
III. THE COMMON PURSUIT.
Verse 18 teaches the need for a ministry based on the revelation of God. "Where there is no vision..."
The mission of every Christian individual and every Christian church is spelled out in the Bible. It is the grand purpose for which Christians and the church exist. Though it is not the intent of this text or message to give a full definition or understanding of it let me give you the basic thought. As a disciple of Christ your life mission is to know, love and serve God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength (Deut. 6:5; Mt. 22:37-39). The mission of the church is to enable as many people as possible to know, love, and serve God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. FBC Bluegrass has defined our Church Purpose by the statement: "Our church exists to glorify God by developing devoted followers of Christ who truly love God, love each other and love people who are lost. [FBC Spring City - "We are surrendered to making fully functioning followers of Christ who share His love with our community and world."]
The Hebrew word for vision (h zôn) used in the Old Testament designates the vision of a prophet. The familiar "where there is no vision" (KJV) may be misleading. The word "vision" is the revelation (h zôn) a prophet receives. [Walvoord, John & Zuck, Roy. The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983, S. 968]
The vision therefore first must come out of the written revelation of God. God may have a vision for how to fulfill His revelation, but it must be based on His Word.
A vision for a local church is much more focused and detailed than the revealed mission of the church. The mission of the church is general; the vision is more specific and personalized way God would have a local body fulfill the Church's mission. God will impart the vision to us based on our gifts, abilities, experiences, opportunities, desires, attributes, etc. God customizes the vision to fit who and where we are (Ps. 138:8). God's vision to us will be strategic, inspiring, exciting, and challenging (Ex. 3:11).
The vision that comes out of the mission statement of a local church will [therefore] most likely be communicated by God to the leader in the proclamation ministry. The proclamation's pastor who is abiding fully in God's will must seek what God is saying to Him through His Word and grasp what vision God is seeking to inspire and challenge the church with. This personalized vision once developed with key church leadership must be communicated to the church. The church under God has the responsibility to take up the vision and follow God's leader and leadership to accomplish God's vision for that local church.
When COMPANIES STAGNATE and decline they can point to any number of excuses: recession, interest rates, foreign competition, or unfavorable legislation. But ultimately, the problem can be traced back to one simple symptom –lack of vision or lack of commitment to it.
A business needs vision for its place in the market. That's the ability to see demand for future products and services. Without vision, a business losses focus.
Before FRED SMITH envisioned a nationwide overnight small package delivery system, people relied primarily on first-class mail. The company he founded, Federal Express, is the product of his vision. Now there are many overnight delivery services, but Federal Express remains a leader.
Vision also is imperative for church growth. When a pastor and his people can't see beyond the horizon [about how they are going to reach their community and world with the love of Christ], they become stagnate. Scripture thus warns us that, where there is no revelation, the people spiritually die.
[People generally fall into one of two categories. First there is the reactionary. This individual reacts to the situations and circumstances around him. Then there is the visionary. The visionary relies on revelation. You will come across situations every day in which you must decide whether you're going to be a reactionary or a visionary—whether you're going to react to the situation or rely on revelation. Courson, Jon: Jon Courson's Application Commentary: Vol 2. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2006, S. 265]
II. THE COMMON GOAL
The second part of verse 18 reveals what happens if we don't firmly grasp God's revelation to us. "The people are unrestrained (perish)."
The translation "the people perish" (KJV) does not refer to unsaved people dying in sin. Parah, the Hebrew verb translated "perish," means to cast off restraint. The word literally means "to become uncovered, to loosen, or to run wild." So the verse is stating that without God's Word people abandon themselves to their own sinful ways [Walvoord, John & Zuck, Roy. The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983, S. 968].
People without vision, without revelation from the Word of God, are like voyagers on boundless seas without a star, a pilot, or compass to guide them. They know not where they should go or how to get there if they have no Word from God. Once we are responding to God's redemptive revelation, He can show us the vision He has for us as a body.
Thus the leader, leadership team, and church must rally in support of the vision or revelation of God so that they do not revert to the way of the world. It is not done by a simple vote. It is ownership which supports the vison with a personal commitment to the vision and to the leader who implements it, and to the strategy developed to accomplish it.
We need to ask God for His vision for our church and then when He has given it, follow those He makes responsible for its implementation.
Each individual church needs a strategy developed that will implement the five functions of the church. What are THE FIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE CHURCH? According to Acts 2:38-47 they are:
Worship: To lift up in praise and thanksgiving the Lord Jesus and to draw near to Him so that we might be confronted, cleansed and comforted.
Evangelism: To share the good news of Jesus Christ with as many people as God provides opportunity. To create an atmosphere that encourages unsaved people to place their faith in Christ and encourages Christians to lead people to Christ.
Discipleship: To teach and model the Word of God so that Christians might be sustained and matured in their living in Christ and be empowered for greater service to the Risen Lord.
Ministry: To serve in tangible ways those experiencing need and to implement ministry and mission projects.
Fellowship: To spiritually stimulate one another in Christian love and harmony so that our church grows in joy, peace and unity. To lead in actions that help new members assimilate into the fellowship and build relationships with each other, as we together build our relationship with God.
The ministry of the local church must be based on and rooted in the eternal Word of God. These essential directives or functions of the church cannot be accomplished without fervent prayer, love and faith being put into action daily.
III. THE COMMON PURSUIT
The last part of the verse that tells us what gives vision and what provides focus and purpose is most often never even mentioned. "Where there is no vision the people are unrestrained..... "But happy is he who keeps the law."
Keeping or obeying God's Law (28:4, 7) brings happiness. It is not having the law, but obeying it, or living it out, that will enable us to be blessed. When the heart and life are governed by God's Word we can then be happy. [See James 1:22-25.]
"Where there is no vision," no expounding of the law, no teaching of the Word of the Lord, where the knowledge of the Lord is scarce (1 Sam. 3:1), there the people apostate, rebel and scatter from God. [Henry, Matthew: Matthew Henry's Commentary. Peabody: Hendrickson, 1996, S. Pr 29:18.]
What is your heart's desire? Is it to resist the pressure, challenges and changes God's calls us to? Or is it to seek to accomplish to the boundaries of your capabilities great things for God? Are you wanting to step out in faith to the next level of spiritual growth or are you satisfied to stay at your present level with God for the rest of your life? Will you deal with obstacles and pay the price to move onward with God or are you content with holding on to what you have?
People who are content with their level of Christianity will not commit themselves to join in to pursue the common goal that moving a church forward into ministry requires. The level of commitment that leads to a willingness to continue to grow as a Christian is what holds churches back. They may agree on what should be a common goal or goals but they choose not respond to the responsibilities necessary to obtain the goal(s). They have too quickly become too satisfied with their level of Christian maturity and their serve for the kingdom of God through the local church.
CONCLUSION
Our continuing response to God's revelation throughout our life is often the difference between success and mediocrity. One is reminded of the classic story of the TWO SHOE SALESMEN who were sent to a primitive island to determine business potential. The first salesman wired back, "Coming home immediately. No one here wears shoes." The second man responded, "Send a boatload of shoes immediately. The possibilities for selling shoes here are unlimited."
As you pursue the Lord He will also give you confirmation of your vision for your life or church. Take the time to seek the Lord and He'll send confirmation in one way or another.
I pray that the Lord will continue to instruct and grow us toward His vision so that the way we face life and its inevitable challenges isn't based upon our situation but upon revelation in order that we might truly become men and women of vision. [Courson, Jon: Jon Courson's Application Commentary: Vol 2. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2006, S. 267]
For the Christian, vision is a true awareness of Christ in all of His fullness and enabling power. An ancient 8th century hymn text from Ireland is still meaningful for us today with its expression of a yearning for the presence and leading of God in our lives. The song is an earnest prayer and should be so sung. The text states that when we allow God to have first place in our lives, He becomes our treasure; we care no more for the pursuit of riches or "man's empty praise."
[The entire Irish poem was first translated into English in 1905 by Mary Bryne, a research worker and writer for the Board of Intermediate Education in Dublin Ireland. Several years later Eleanor Hull, a writer of English history and literature put the prose into verse form and included it in her book of poems, The Poem Book of the Gael. The melody for this hymn is a traditional Irish tune. ] Listen:
"Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart–nought be all else to me save that Thou art: Thou my best thought, by day or by night –waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word –I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord: Thou my great Father, I Thy true Son –Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise - Thou mine inheritance, now and always; Thou and Thou only, first in my heart - High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
High King of heaven, my victory won, may I reach heaven's joys, O bright heav'n's Sun! Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, still be my Vision, O Ruler of all."
Vision and the accomplishment of the vision come from your heart, your clarity in understanding it, your commitment to it and the action you take to accomplish it. If God was to reveal the special purpose He has for First Baptist Church would your desire to know God, love God and serve God move you into action to accomplish it?
[If it wouldn't then maybe that's why His vision hasn't taken hold in your life and fellowship as He desires.]
