Where there is no vision

Proverbs 29:18

Does a Vision Really Lead to Church Growth?

Many years ago, I read from David Yonggi Cho’s magazine about how it was important to have a vision and a dream for church growth. I never understood why and how a vision was necessary for church growth.

Dr David Yongi Cho, the pastor of the largest church in the world and propagator of the concept of church growth, said something else that I did not understand. He said, “Your vision makes you. You do not make your vision.” I also did not understand this.

Honestly, I assumed that the subject “having a vision” was always mentioned as a standard opening point for all teachings on leadership.

As I listened to people teaching about the importance of having a vision, writing down goals, etc, I still did not understand how it brought about church growth.

Every pastor who attended church growth conferences seemed full of visions and desires for church growth.

I thought to myself, “But all pastors have a desire for their churches to grow, but their churches still do not grow. If it were desires and visions that led to church growth, then every church would be a big church!”

Your Vision Must Be a Burning Vision

As the years have gone by, I have realized that the vision you have must be a burning vision. You cannot have a superficial vision for a large church. A shallow vision will not make your church grow. The vision must eat you up and burn within your soul. Then, all the things Dr Cho said will happen. That burning vision will literally make you into a mega church pastor.

Actually, in the absence of a burning vision for a large church you will never have real church growth.

The way a burning vision causes church growth is by inspiring and leading you on the difficult road to real church growth in a way that no human being can.

A Burning Vision Becomes the Invisible Engine of All Church Growth.

It is a long and tortuous journey to become the pastor of a large church.

A burning vision and dream is the invisible engine that drives a minister on that journey from being the pastor of a small church to becoming the pastor of a mega church.

Some pastors do not have that internal engine that is needed to make them do the many hard and difficult things necessary for church growth.

External Influence Cannot Make You a Mega Church Pastor

There is no external advice or input that can sufficiently drive an individual on that difficult road to becoming a mega church pastor. All external influences will fade out long before you become a mega church pastor. External advice, encouragement and counsel are too short-lived to cause any minister of the Gospel to survive on the road to church growth.

What a Vision Can Make You Do

There is something that a burning internal vision and dream does for you that no human being can do for you.

The internal burning vision and dream makes you humble enough to do all the things that you must to have church growth.

A burning vision and dream for a large church makes you pray for church growth. Without a burning vision and dream you will never pray hard enough to attract God’s attention.

A burning vision and dream for a large church makes you seek the wisdom and strategies needed for church growth. Without a burning vision and dream, you will not spend the time needed to seek the wisdom that brings church growth. You will soon be irritated with the strategies that are taught by church growth pastors. Without a burning vision you will say that these teachings do not work.

The internal burning vision and dream will cause you to keep reading and re-reading the same things until something works.

Without a burning vision and dream for a large church, you will have no time to read the books that lead to church growth.

A burning vision and dream for a large church will drive you to meet the people who will help you to have church growth. It will make you humble enough to relate with and fellowship with the right people until their influence and anointing rubs off on you.

Without a burning vision and dream for a large church you will not listen to the messages that bring church growth. You will criticize the very thing that you need most and even make fun of it.

A burning vision and dream is the only true source of the staying power, stamina and persistence needed for the long journey towards church growth.

by Dag Heward-Mills