Now, none of the uses stated above are necessarily wrong but they may cause a misunderstanding of the original meaning and intent of the verse used. From a leadership standpoint a leader must have a vision for the institution he leads. It makes little difference if you are the leader (CEO) of a Fortune 500 company or a pastor of a church of fifty having a vision is necessary if that which you lead is to move forward and grow. Stan Toler, in his article Directing Attention in the November/December addition of Preaching magazine defines vision this way: “A vision provides focus for what the organization will become or accomplish in this particular place at this particular time. Vision should be local, specific and inspiring. The question is, however, is that what Solomon had in mind when the Holy Spirit led him to pin Proverbs 29:18?
According to the Pulpit Commentary Solomon was speaking about much more than Mr. Toler is referring to (This is not a criticism of Mr. Toler since his article did not even refer to Proverbs 29:18, nor does his article even imply that his view of vision has a biblically based understanding). Solomon was referring to an absence of Divine revelation. “’Vision,’ prophecy in its widest sense, denotes the revelation of God’s will made through agents, which directed the course of events,…” (The Pulpit Commentary – Old Testament Edition : One Copyright : Electronic Edition STEP Files Copyright © 2007, QuickVerse.) What Solomon was speaking of was the destructive results of a prolonged absence of God’s Divine message. That the nation of Israel experienced periods where there was no, “word of the LORD” is clear. In 1 Samuel, 3:1 we read “And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision.” We find the same in 2 Chronicles 15:3 in Asa’s day and of course there are the four hundred years of silence between the close of the Old Testament and the opening of the New. If you know the history of Israel during these periods you know that they, “…transgressed sore against the LORD”(2 Chronicles 29:19). The result of no Divine vision, a clear word of God’s will, a clearly presented message from God is a people who are in a state of confusion, disorder, and rebellion; they are a people who are, uncontrolled and who fall into terrible excesses. In other words, without a clearly presented Divine message from God, the people perish because they follow their own will not God’s.
Solomon believed, as did the entire nation of Israel, that they were a divinely directed nation, with God for their King and Leader. To them, the fading away of the prophet’s message would be the equivalent to the disappearance of the pillar of smoke and fire in the wilderness; a desperately needed guide would be lost. The truth is, however, Solomon’s warning is no less important to us today, after all, all men are in need of a divine vision today.
The reason we have so many problems in our world today is because our world is in a state of spiritual darkness. The truths contained in the Divine Truth have faded and are no longer heard by the masses. Without a Divine Vision man can not live out the will of God today. Oh, we have an abundance of Churches in our world today claiming to have the divine truth. The problem is, however, that far too many of these Churches have lost the vision of what that divine truth truly is. The result is a multiplicity of messages that only lead to a state of confusion, disorder, and rebellion among the people. An even more tragic result, however, is that without Divine Truth, men’s souls are being lost. Unfortunately, men cannot discover the Divine truth on their own, it must be revealed. Without a vision from God our world is in spiritual darkness.
It is a given that people need a heavenly vision, the Scriptures make that abundantly clear. But God did not then and has not today, left his people to grope around in the darkness to find their way. God has sent the Light from heaven to earth to push back the darkness and give his people a vision. What is this divine light? The Holy Bible! That record of revelation contains a continuous vision of God for all who have eyes to consider it. Therefore it is the duty of Christian people (1) to study the Scriptures, (2) to circulate them throughout the world, and (3) to teach and explain them to children and the uninformed.
The truth is, each of us, every person must have his own vision if he is to really know truth. This is not to mean that everybody can be a Daniel or an Ezekiel or have a vision of God as Isaiah did. I am not implying that we need another “apocalyptic” message as John had and certainly no man should look for his “own” separate and personal gospel, much less to believe he is called to write is own newer Testament. It is, however, necessary that we each gain understanding of and appreciation for the truth we do have by the aid of a Divine inspiration. This is what Scripture declares, “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions” (Joel 2:28) and claimed by Peter:
“For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Peter 1:16-20).
I believe our world is like it is today because we, the individual Christian, have lost our vision. We no longer have ears to hear his Divine truth. There are many Christians who declare they no longer have a sense of the presence of God, could it be they have lost a vision of God? Could it be that they no longer have ears willing to hear the Divine truth? God is not unpredictable. If the Divine voice is silent, if there is no Divine vision it must be because there are no obedient ears to receive it. The Divine vision is only withdrawn when the eyes of man are so blinded by sin and worldliness that they can on longer behold it.
So what is the Divine Vision? I believe the essence of the Divine vision for each born again Christian and every Bible believing Church can be summed up in one simple passage. This passage was given to us by our Savior just before His return to the Father. Though this vision is recorded in five different books of the New Testament, the clearest version of it is found in Matthew 28:18b-20, when Jesus says, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” The essence of the Divine vision is the making of disciples, followers of Christ, of all people. If we are to truly carry out the Divine vision as a church and individual Christ followers we must be passionate about making disciples.
What is your vision? Have you lost a passion and vision for the lost? Is your hunger for acquiring stuff rather than acquiring a more intimate connection with the Divine vision? Has the church lost its true vision? Has the church become so consumed with a vision of bigger buildings, plush settings, and state-of-the-art equipment that it has lost sight of the divine vision?
Our world is in spiritual darkness because the Church has lost its vision for making disciples and the people are perishing. Disciple making is much more than just trying to get someone to pray a prayer, it is about teaching and investing in the lives of others. My next post will have more to say on the subject of making disciples. Until then I leave you with these facts
There are approximately 6.7 billion people on earth today, 41% of them have not been reached by gospel message. So far this year 21 million people have died, that means that nearly 13 million of them died without ever hearing the gospel. Is that what the Divine vision intended? (Statistics from http://www.joshuaproject.net/great-commission-statistics.php)
