Habakkuk 2:2-3 – “Then the LORD answered me and said:

 “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.  3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time;  but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”  NKJV

I shared with a particular congregation concerning the importance of vision in the local assembly.  We discussed the value of individual and personal vision and then about connecting our visions to THE VISION of the assembly and that vision into the VISION OF THE KINGDOM.  I had someone ask, “How do we know the vision of the church?”  I was not truly surprised that he did not know the vision for I had encountered the same situation at other times.  It is a problem when the congregation does not know the vision of the assembly.  Too many times, there is no defined vision and people are wandering around going through the motions seeing times of increase and decrease without real direction and purpose.

Whose responsibility is it to define the vision of the assembly?  First and foremost, from a human standpoint, it is the pastor.  However, that does not mean that the pastor alone sets the vision or even publicizes the vision but he/she is charged with leading the local flock and therefore MUST have the vision inscribed on their heart and able to write it down and communicate it.  That is the directive from the LORD to Habakkuk. Yes, I know this was writing down a prophetic vision but is not the vision of the assembly a prophetic vision?  Do we know what God wants to do in our communities?  Do we know how God wants us to pursue His purposes in our local assemblies?  Do we just meet for regular services, have a few extraneous activities and call that the vision?  Can those who are participants in that congregation read the vision and then carry it out or “run with it?”

Most of us want to know the will and purpose of God for our lives but how many of us pray for a revealing of the VISION of the local assembly?  Some people are gifted as scribes and able to write the vision with clarity.  I believe it is incredibly important for the local assembly to hear the vision, understand the vision and align with it.  It is no surprise that God would speak in Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint…”  The KJV translates it “perish” and the Amplified, “Where there is no vision [no revelation of God and His word], the people are unrestrained…”  A church with no clear vision causes people to pursue their individual visions with no concept or idea how to plug those visions into the VISION OF THE WHOLE and often those visions, although good individually, are counterproductive when one tugs against the other with no order or guidance.

A Vision of a Church is like a rudder on a ship it helps steer the church and keep it on the God-charted course.  One of the reasons churches have no defined vision is there is no prophetic voice.  When people ask, “Where do you go to church?”  I often respond, “I don’t go to church, I am the church.”  I don’t mean that I am anything special but the Church is not a building that is the ‘sheep-shed’.  The church is not an organization it is an organism made up of “living stones” or “human cells” making up the Body of Christ.  Can you imagine the human body trying to function if there was no link between the brain and all the other parts via nerve paths?  It would be utter chaos and would be unable to survive.  The human body follows a vision and the church needs one as well to keep it moving in the right direction, maintain health, and be productive.

If you have not established a personal vision there is no time like the present.  If your local assembly does not have a defined, clear and written down vision, pray that God will bring one to the body.

God bless you as you go through this day pursuing His purposes in your life.