Our vision: Jesus

What does it mean for Jesus to be our vision? Here’s what a vision is in business-speak:

a vision is a shared picture of the future which helps to unite an organisation and order its priorities. It is the ultimate reason or purpose an organisation exists, guiding it and driving it forward

So what should our vision be? What is it that unites us and orders our priorities? Spreading the gospel? Feeding the poor? Starting new churches? Growing our church?

They are all good things to do. But they are just that: things to do. What unites us and orders our priorities is not a job we must do, but a person who has already done all we must do on our behalf.

And so, Christ himself must be our vision.

The picture of the future that binds us and unites and drives us forward is the picture of a kingdom ruled by him: this is where all of human history is headed. Christ is the head of the church and the goal of human history. Everything has been made by God through him and in him and for him. He is our life, hope, purpose, meaning, direction, and our future.

The danger of making our vision anything but Christ is idolatry.

Idolatry is worshipping anything other than God. It is putting anything – good thing or bad – in the place of God, in the centre of our lives or in the highest rank in our affections. This place is rightfully reserved for God alone. And so we must be careful not to place any dream or ambition or plan or vision above Christ himself; he is the reason we do everything else. He belongs right at the top; this is what it means to worship him. The danger of not making Jesus our vision is ministry-idolatry: elevating “doing good things for Jesus” above Jesus himself.

We do not get derive our value, worth, justification, forgiveness, or standing before God by being a church which accomplishes X, Y and Z. We obtain all these things and more by being united to Christ by faith, and letting him rule and reign and produce fruit in our lives. Therefore, Christ is our vision as a church. We want the eyes of our hearts fixed on him to give us purpose, meaning and direction. His incredible love for us, demonstrated on the cross, is what ought to motivate us and drive us to love and know and serve him.