Vision: Looking Around so You Can Really See

My Vision: A Biblical View of My Vision

Boasting about tomorrow and dreaming about what God can do is not the same thing. The one relies on self and the other relies on God. As I think about my life and consider my calling and vocation, I have specific ideas for where I think God will take me. I can hope and pray for big things because I serve a big God who creates new things and brings life out of death. My vision is limited but in light of who God has created me to be I see him accomplishing important things though me, especially in the areas of training, teaching, and traveling.

There are a few areas that I think God would have me train others. The most significant is training my family. If by God's grace my wife I receive children I want to make sure they are taught the gospel and how the truth about Jesus changes every area of life. My family ought never to take the backseat to my ministry. Secondly, I feel compelled to disciple young men through sexual addictions. The church is at now, more than ever before, under constant attack by things like pornography. Its greatest power comes from a refusal to bring it to the light. I hope to create a space where young men can be open and confess sin as well as praise God for victories. Finally, longer term I desire to be training others to teach God's word. Working truth into the heart is a skill that is long forgotten in our world. True Biblical teaching causes, as Paul would say, the eyes of our hearts to be open (Eph. 1:18). I think that this can and should happen organically from the church itself. Preaching is best done in community and I want to create weekly workshops where those feeling called to preach can utilize their skills and make each other better.

True Biblical teaching is my second vision. In ten years I don’t exactly know what that would look like. For a long time in my life I thought it would be in the academy, but as I saw the desperate need in countries near and far for ministers of the gospel, I realized that I would be remiss if I were to pass up the need to preach God's word. I would love to teach once a week if my church needs me or less if they don’t. God has given me at least a partial gift in learning languages so I would be excited to learn another language and preach Christ in some place not in the United States. Finally, although the primary avenue for teaching is in the local church context, it does not need to be limited to Sunday mornings. Christian education has been a passion of mine and I would be open to the idea of partnering with or even starting a Christian elementary and secondary school.

Traveling is the final element in my long term vision for me and for my wife. The two of us had the opportunity to spend a few months in the United Kingdom during our college years. I can't tell you how many historic and beautiful churches I passed by walking every day that were totally uninhabited. At the very best they had become tourist traps and at the worst bars and nightclubs. Europe is a place where Christianity once reigned supreme but now it is dead. I know however that I serve a God who makes streams in the desert and rivers in the wilderness (Is. 43:19). I long to return and be the means by which light is brought to this dark place.

Vision is best built by looking around. As you look at what God has in the world it starts to give you a vision about he would have you do in it. I have had the privilege of seeing a lot. In my short time on earth God has given me things I want to do but I don’t hold them so tightly. I am always looking because as you look the more you will see.

Tags: Vision, future, plans, family, life, map, goals, ministry, preach, teach, train