Table of Contents

Interview with John C. Maxwell And Ron F. McManus

Turning Vision Into Reality

[See also "Why Organizations Fail in Experiencing new Vision."]

Pastoral leadership is critical in developing vision for the local church. Without a vision a church will not grow. In fact, it might even decline if people leave the church to attend another church that has a clear and more defined purpose. Even when pastors have a vision for their church, there is much to be done to see the vision fulfilled. How pastors communicate vision will determine if the congregation will join them in fulfilling that vision. The congregation will also need to evaluate its ministries in light of its vision. Change may need to be made if the church is to remain effective in reaching its community with the gospel and turn its vision into reality.

Enrichment asked two successful pastors—John C. Maxwell, founder of INJOY, Inc. and EQUIP, and Ron F. McManus, president of EQUIP, whose ministry involves training pastors and leaders—to discuss the role of pastors in developing and implementing vision in their church. They provide practical advice for pastors who want to get a fresh vision from God for their church.

Define vision and its importance in ministry.

MAXWELL: Vision is a picture of a desired future; a picture of something that I don’t possess right now, but it is something I want to see and experience, and something I want the people I am leading to experience. When the pastor and his or her church have a vision, they will put their energy, time, money, and personnel into achieving it.

When the pastor and his or her church have a vision, they will put their energy, time, money, and personnel into achieving it.

Less than 5 percent of pastors have effectively articulated a vision. what is the impact of this on the local church?

MCMANUS: The Scripture, "Without a vision the people perish," is two-sided. Without a vision our community will perish without Christ, but without a vision the church will perish as well.

Churches whose members fight with one another have lost their vision for the lost. Without a vision people and the church become self-centered. People start finding fault with one another and the church self-destructs. Vision is something pastors and churches cannot afford to live without.

MAXWELL: Anytime a church squabbles over minor things you can be certain they do not have a clear picture of what they need to be.

In my leadership conferences, pastors ask, "Do you have a vision for my church?" Many times they want me to give them a picture of where they should go and what their church should look like. When these pastors do this, I always feel bad.

Without a vision people in leadership positions perish. You not only lose your people, you lose the person who is in a leadership position—you lose it all. Many times when people leave churches we think it’s a doctrinal issue, but most of the time it’s a leadership issue. Most pastors have a hard time grasping a vision. But vision is the indispensable quality of a leader. The rallying call to people is to give them hope. When you have hope, that’s huge.

Not everybody who has a vision is a leader, but every leader has a vision. When somebody tells you he or she is leading something, a fair question is, "What is your vision?" If a leader cannot give you a clear picture of what he or she sees in the future, that person is not the leader of that organization.

Why would God give a multigifted, multitalented, and multifinancially wealthy person to a church if the biggest thing you are going to do is paint the restrooms next year?

What is the danger in having a vision that has not had adequate prayer and direction from God?

MAXWELL: Bill Hybels gives an illustration. The average pastor in America stays about 3 1/2 years in a church. Pastor Joe comes to the church and believes the vision is to march to the right. Everybody in the church starts marching to the right. After 3 1/2 years, Joe is gone and Pastor Harry comes. He wants the people to march to the left. So, most of the people start marching to the left. Pastor Harry leaves after 3 1/2 years and Pastor Jack comes. He tells the people, "You are the most confused people I have ever seen. Some of you are marching to the right and some to the left. We need to go forward." By this time three pastors with three different visions in less than 10 years have come to the church. The people are confused and frustrated.

MCMANUS: A similar type of thing happens when a pastor attends a conference. The congregation thinks, Next Sunday we’re going to get the whole load. They do, and they sit in the pews and think, He’ll get over it. And sure enough, he does. The result is that credibility is lost with the people because they hear this over and over.

How can pastors develop a God-given vision for their church?

MCMANUS: If pastors are going to get a vision, they must hear from God. They have to pray and seek the Lord. That’s where it begins, in their heart. God drops something in their heart and spirit, and then it becomes something they need to communicate effectively to leadership so they can take ownership of the vision.

MAXWELL: Pastors need to find their place in the community of believers by spending time with God. Let God talk to you and minister to you, where you get honest with Him—here’s what I do well and don’t do well; here are my shortcomings, my strengths, and my gifts. Many times we ask people to march outwardly, when we haven’t yet spent the needed time inwardly. People are not going to give you a vision, but God can.

Many times when people have a vision, they think in terms of a big vision—I want to take my city for Christ. But the problem with many pastors and this type of vision is this: they haven’t developed the strategy to fulfill that vision. A pastor preaches a dream or vision to his/her people, they get excited for a week, a month, or a couple of months, but there is no strategy, planning, or process to fulfill that vision.

Hope is not strategy. Hope fits with vision, but we must have a strategy and a process to make our vision become a reality. Many pastors fail to see God’s vision fulfilled because they never have a strategy for fulfilling that vision.

How do pastors communicate their vision to the church?

MAXWELL: Great visions are cast one on one. As a pastor I reinforced my vision over lunches. When I had something I thought God was talking to me about, the first thing I did, before I ever talked to the congregation, was to sit down with the major influencers of the church and share with them what I thought God was speaking to me. I gave them time for input or questions. Many times they would ask questions and I would reply, "I need to spend more time on this. I’m not sure I’m thinking clearly there." Other times they added value and helped make this vision better or more accessible to the people.

One of the laws of leadership is the law of buy-in. People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision. All visions begin with relationships. My relationship with God is where I receive the vision; my relationship with my people is where I give the vision. If those relationships aren’t what they could be or should be, on either side, the receiving or the giving out, the vision is going to be aborted.

When pastors ask me if their people will buy this vision, I ask them two questions: "Have they bought into your leadership?" If they haven’t, don’t ever try to pass on a vision. Second, "Have you processed this vision correctly?"

By the time I went to the pulpit, the vision was never on the same level as when God first gave it to me; it was clearer and bigger. It was better because the body of Christ complemented what God had given me. So when I gave the vision to the congregation, the influencers already bought it. Then after the people have heard my message, and migrate to the influencers, these influencers are already my allies and help me communicate the vision to the congregation.

Ownership of the vision is important to the congregation. Why?

Maxwell: There is something to be said about a pastor and a church that develop a missions statement and the people take ownership of it. They get their identity, purpose, and energy from the unique place their church is to be in that community. If churches would take ownership of a vision, the next pastor who is thinking about coming to that church can see what their vision is and then determine if their vision fits with his or her ministry. If it doesn’t, then it would be wrong for that pastor to come to that church.

Describe the type of vision the church will need if it is going to impact 21st-century society?

MAXWELL: If the church is going to make a difference, it will need to go through the "big give-up" stage. Churches will need to quit being selfish and become relevant. The only way a church is going to be relevant is to get out of its comfort zone and connect with unchurched people. There is a real hunger for spiritual things in today’s culture; people are seeking something spiritual, something beyond themselves. That’s the good news. The bad news is people are not getting it at church because the church is singing songs, preaching messages, doing programs, and taking offerings for itself.

There are pockets of the church that will "give up," and reap a bountiful harvest. They are going to have huge success, like the church has never experienced since the Book of Acts.

There is another pocket of the church that will not give it up. They will say, "This is our pastor. We pay his or her salary. We want our church, our songs, our pews, our parking spaces." The church that will not give up will be outdated and passed by, quicker than they realize.

The church will not stay the same. It will either blossom because someone understands the season the church is in, or it will wither very quickly.

MCMANUS: We have to build bridges to the world. Many believers were raised with the mentality of "them and us." But we need to change our mentality and bring light to a darkened world.

The church that will impact the 21st century is the church whose dreams are bigger than its memories. To hear people in the church say, "We’re grateful for the past and for what God has done here, but God has exciting things for our future," then you know their dreams are bigger than their memories.

To hear people in the church hallways say, "We’re grateful for the past and for what God has done here, but God has exciting things for our future," then you know their dreams are bigger than their memories.

What about pastors who have a vision but are not seeing it fulfilled?

MAXWELL: There are a lot of pastors who have a vision and have not yet seen it become a reality. Remember, at the time God gives us a vision, we never have the resources available to accomplish it. We don’t have the people, the money, the knowledge, or the opportunity. So at the beginning, all we have is the vision. At that point God expects us to begin walking in obedience according to the dream He has given us.

What happens is this: we say, "As soon as I get some people to help me I’m going to…."; or, "As soon as I get somebody to give an offering I’m going to…." In other words, we often wait for the resources before we make a move.

The feeding of the 5,000 is an example of how Jesus wants us to act. When the disciples came to Jesus and wanted Him to take care of the problem, He said, "You give them something to eat." God doesn’t move until we move first. God gives us the vision, then He expects us to walk in obedience. As we do, the resources we need come to us. If I’m halfway to the dream, at best, half of my resources are there. Your resources to fulfill the dream will come during the last step of the dream.

Think about it. Why would God send people to our church if we don’t have a great dream? Why would God give a multigifted, multitalented, and multifinancially wealthy person to a church if the biggest thing you are going to do is paint the restrooms next year? That’s bad stewardship. So God gives us resources according to our dreams and according to our obedience. And God doesn’t give those resources until we’ve started walking in obedience.

For pastors who have a dream and who are walking in obedience but still don’t have the resources they need, don’t worry. Keep walking in obedience. God has never given anybody a dream that He did not want that person to fulfill. He has never given a dream that could be fulfilled at step one. So start walking, be obedient, and watch God fulfill that dream in your life.

Recommended Resources

Maxwell, John C. Developing the Leader Within You. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1993.

Maxwell, John C. The Twenty-One Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998.

John C. Maxwell, D.Min., is a former pastor and founder of INJOY, Inc. and EQUIP ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.

Ron F. McManus is a former pastor and executive presbyter for the Assemblies of God. He is currently president of EQUIP ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.