Here is the truth; satan hates your vision and he will do anything he can do hinder or frustrate your vision. His tactics range from sickness to spiritual dryness to outright opposition. However, we can overcome his tactics by recognizing how he will hit us. Sometimes Vision Killers don’t come from outside the church but from the inside. Here are a few that will try and hinder your vision.
1. Tradition. God uses tradition in ministry to provide a people with a semblance of stability & consistency. Traditions can serve as a bride between the past and the future, but God has no use for traditions that block progress.
2. Fear. If there is not faith than you can be sure that there is fear. There can be no middle ground. We either can or we cannot. Many times fear is caused by past failures or a lack of self-confidence. Now don’t wax all super-spiritual on me, “I thought we were supposed to be God confident?” Well, thats a given, but we are not waiting for God…God is waiting for us.
3. Stereotypes. Here is the reality. People have a tendency to place stereotypes on others. If we are going to reach our vision, we need to break out beyond the stereotypes. Think of all those things that “they” said you would never do… start doing it. God is with you and He will give you the strength according to His Word. I don’t think we should allow peoples opinions to hinder our vision. Haters are everywhere get used to it.
4. Complacency. We may need a renewed passion & vigor for the mission. Complacency comes when we neglect the importance of our responsibility. We become lazy in our approach and we no longer do our best. I want you to know that God does care how we do in ministry. He can see if we are working hard or not. He has a tendency to provide for those who are using what He has already provided.
5. Short-term thinking. We must remember that we are not after the temporal but we are after the eternal. The everlasting. Short-term thinkers do not think of the next generation, they only think of the present. We must not cash in on current resources for short-term benefits, leaving nothing in place for the long-run. We must have the attitude, “NOT ON OUR WATCH.”
Pastor Al
Tags: Church, Jesus, leadership, passion, vision
October 8, 2009 at 12:38 am
Great blog pastor! Being here in the East Coast again gives me a fresh perspective on how people look at their situation. I’m beginning to see a change take place though…here in the BPT, you’re seeing that the phrase of, “We’re the eastcoast” is beginning to leave! People are taking responsbility and ownership of their city!