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Have You Lost the Vision?

By New Churches Team

What do you do when you just don’t have the vision to go forward in ministry? The reality is ministry is often a long, hard road. The idea that we are constantly filled with passion and enthusiasm is a modern invention.

More realistically, the joy of ministry does not come from vision. The joy of ministry comes from faithfulness, obedience, and community. Those are the things that get you through tough times of leading. We are not accustomed to dwelling in the normalcy of ministry and mission so it may feel like our vision is gone, but really this is just a time that we have to keep plodding through faithful to the mission.

A Difficult Season for All

When we think about vision and what we get excited about when we wake up in the morning, everything that comes into what it means to be a pastor, the emotional reaction people are experiencing could be a reflection of where we’ve placed our identity. If you are a serial starter of things, being an experience junky in the ministry is not a great place to be in this season. This is a hard time. But right now, all of our visions are being crushed under the weight of reality and we all need a vision for Christ and the cross and God’s people.

However, there are times and places to step back and step away. If you don’t have the vision for what’s next, but you had the vision for it, it may be an appropriate time to pass it on to someone else. We all have different personalities and bents. Some of us are much more near-sighted than far-sighted. We all have different strengths in what we lead. The lack of certainty toward the future may be exasperating the feelings of lost vision. Turn to the One who never changes. Make sure your vision is on Christ and not your identity or your church and allow Him to lead you.

Adapted from the New Churches Q&A Podcast Episode 533: What Do You Do When You Don’t Have the Vision Anymore? What is the Best Leader to Team Member Ratio? Click here to listen to more to church planting, multisite, and multiplication tips.