Jimmy Johnson what he told his players before leading the Dallas Cowboys onto the field for the 1993 Super Bowl.
"I told them that if I laid a two-by-four across the floor, everybody there would walk across it and not fall, because our focus would be on walking the length of that board. But if I put that same board 10 stories high between two buildings, only a few would make it, because the focus would be on falling."
Johnson told his players not to focus on the crowd, the media, or the possibility of falling, but to focus on each play of the game as if it were a good practice session. The Cowboys won the game 52-7.
As we stated last week, there is a four-month gap between Ch.1 and Ch. 2 (Kislev and Nisan). In chapter 1, Nehemiah is burdened about Jerusalem but he has no specific plan. In chapter 2, he has a plan firmly in place. What happened?
As I said last week, we must discover God’s specific vision for not only our own lives but also His vision for His church.
I see three critical steps to defining God’s vision.
1. Discover Your Purpose (1-5)
In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before; so the king asked me, "Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart." I was very much afraid, but I said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?" The king said to me, "What is it you want?" Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king, "If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it."
Have you ever been in a business that is struggling to make ends meet. You wonder why they keep their doors open. Tell story of Rawhide’s and the tennis balls.
Many churches today are having a similar struggle. They have yet to discover why they are doing what they do.
Look at Jesus’ vision for His church:
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. (Matt 16:18)
This definition is more than survival. It sounds like a church that is driven by purpose.
Purpose
Purpose is the first and biggest issue of vision. The major question that must be answered here is: What does God want us to do?
Take a minute and answer this question: What is the purpose here at Lake Dreamland?
My guess that your answers will likely include preaching the gospel, evangelizing the lost, discipling the Christian, providing for widows and orphans, etc.
There are over 485,000 identifiable churches in the United States. I believe that God has a purpose for each and every one of them.
How many of you like working jigsaw puzzles? Where do you start working a jigsaw puzzle? Most people start with the border. Most people will tell you that they do this because it will serve as a frame for the rest of the puzzle but I am here to tell you that it is also the easiest part of the puzzle to complete because of the straight edges.
Vision is a lot like a jigsaw puzzle. You work it one piece at a time—and sometimes it takes a while to get all the pieces in place. Discovering your purpose is the border of the puzzle. It will serve as a frame of reference for the rest of the vision. The purpose needs to be easy to find, easy to see, and easy to put together.
Some churches try to determine their target or their strategy before they discover their purpose. They try to determine programs and ministries before they determine what it is that God want to do with them as a church.
Many churches have gone the corporate route and have come up with Purpose Statements. The problem is, most of these statements are to long. If we cannot state the purpose of this church in a single sentence, we have not yet discovered our purpose.
Characteristics of a Good Purpose Statement:
Biblical (fit within the parameters of the Great Commission)
Practical (written in simple, easy to understand language)
Transferable (passed from one person to the next)
Short (Able to remember it)
KISSSS—Keep It Scriptural, Simple, Sharable, and Short!
Discover your Purpose
2. Define Your Target (11-16)
I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days I set out during the night with a few men. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on. By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal. Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire. Then I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through; so I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned back and reentered through the Valley Gate. The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work.
The most controversial and misunderstood part of vision is defining the target. If we were in business we would be asking: “Who is our customer?”
Jesus describes this process in Acts 1:8:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Do not ask the wrong questions or you will get the wrong answers.
§ Who do we want to reach? God “….does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9)
§ Who are we already reaching? This question assumes we are reaching the people we are supposed to reach.
If you go hunting and want to hit your target dead center, what is the most important part of the rifle? The Scope.
No church reaches everyone. If they did, we would not need over 485,000 in the US. We need to see each other not as the competition, but as teammates.
Defining Our Target is Biblical
§ Paul the Gentiles
I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry (Romans 11:13)
§ Peter the Jews
On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews (Galatians 2:7)
§ James, persecuted Jews
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings. (James 1:1)
§ Jonah, Nineveh
"Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me."(Jonah 1:2)
Jonah passed several countries and people groups to go to Nineveh. Why didn’t he go to those groups? Because God wanted him to go to Nineveh.
Define The Target Geographically
Most church’s immediate target is within 5 to 19 miles around the church. The target driving time will be fifteen to twenty minutes
Define The Target Demographically
In order to effectively minister, we need to know as much as we can about the people who live in the area. By understanding the people, we can understand their particular needs and how we can minister to those needs.
Define The Target Spiritually
§ The Unchurched
§ Unchurched Christians
§ New Christians
§ Mature Christians
Each of these groups have unique needs. The methods to minister to the Mature Christian stands in stark contrast to ministry to the Unchurched.
Sheep swapping is not a strategy.
3. Decide Your Strategy (6-9; 17-18)
Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, "How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?" It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time. I also said to him, "If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? and may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?" And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests. So I went to the governors of Trans-Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me. (6-9)
Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace." I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me. They replied, "Let us start rebuilding." So they began this good work. (17-18)
Here is another point in which we make many mistakes.
We try to define our strategy before we define our purpose and target. This usually occurs because we have a set of programs that we are committed to. We feel that we have to have certain programs because we are a Southern Baptist church.
We should evaluate every program and ministry annually according to whether they are accomplishing our purpose.
Conclusion
We cannot find the right answers without asking the right questions.
Defining vision is the most tedious and time consuming part of the vision process. But we must take the time to discover our purpose, define our target, and determine our strategy—in that order.
Fuzzy vision leads to fuzzy results. Specific vision leads to dynamic results.
Remember, Nehemiah rebuilt a wall that had been torn down for over 70 years
