The Vision Thing, Take 2

Grace Bible Church seeks to build a community that glorifies God by developing passionate servants of Jesus Christ that attract others to Him.

So reads our church's mission statement. If organizations aren't careful, they spend hours and hours developing these statements, only to immediately forget them. What a waste!

Our statement attempts to reflect what we believe the Bible teaches about the role of the church. From the Great Commission we have the "product" of the church: passionate servants of Jesus Christ who attract others to Him. The usual language is "disciple", but we have chosen the longer statement in order to clarify our understanding of what a disciple really is.

It is our prayer that we will be a church that is characterized for a passionate love for Jesus. Attendance alone is not the standard: Jesus didn't just come to us, He died for us. So coming isn't an adequate response to His sacrifice. He deserves our passion, our lives.

The statement is intended to raise the bar, to cause discomfort. It even begs the question: How much do I love Him? Or, "What is my vision of loving Jesus?"

The Vision Thing

I was interviewing a man for a staff position at Grace and he asked that great question: "What is your vision of Grace?" I must admit that part of me hates that question. I've been around long enough that I've grown weary with what many call vision. I believe in vision, I think I even have one, but I think the word is over-used.

My first thought when asked that question is to say, "My vision is for Grace to be a church, in the fullest sense of the word." Quite frankly, as I understand the teachings of the Bible, I become increasingly aware of just how much it means to be the body of Christ--and I fear we have a long way to go.

And having worked in marketing, I somehow rebel against using marketing principles too liberally in the life of the church.

But I must admit that we all need to know where our organization is headed. And if that's what vision is, we need one. So in coming blogs, I'll talk about VISION.