Copycat
I have heard a lot about vision over the past eight years in full time ministry. Every book I read on leadership at some point says you have to have vision. I do believe you need a God ordained mission which should give you vision. I do believe you need Holy Spirit inspired guidance. In the end I beleive you must have a vision from God of what he wants you to be about.
What I wonder about is if vision is so important why does so much of what churches do seem like impersonation? Why does it seem that one church simply copies another church? What is visionary about that? What is God inspired or Holy Spirit led?
What drives such a copycat mentality? Recently I have ran across several churches with identical web sites. Because I know some of the background information I know that they are coping a successful and growing church.
I wish we had more vision in the church today. I think we settle for copying way to often. I worry that God has a mission that we miss because we are trying to keep up with the bigger church down the street. I worry that denominations attempt to copy other groups without any understanding if it is God’s will. What if their brand of conservative small fellowships is exactly what is needed in God’s kingdom?
I wish we had more vision in the church today because much of what I see looks like copying.
June 12, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Spot-on! I think vision, biblically speaking, means seeing what God is up to RIGHT HERE AND NOW, not looking for what is working somewhere else and trying to transplant that.
What drives such a copycat mentality? Overwork, over-filled schedules that leave too little time for wandering around and looking for “thin places” in your community — either places where God is near, or places where grace is in such short supply that survival is thin and we need to be there. Desire for comfort might also play a role, along with the sense of safety that comes from being able to say, “I know it worked THERE, so it should work here.” Desire to walk by sight, maybe?
Not only is most of what we see copying — most of that copying is encouraged! “Shouldn’t all Christians want to worship and live the same?” Bleargh.
June 19, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Great thoughts as always Nick.
Thanks for stopping in.