Hey Pastor, Stop Praying For Vision!
Vision will communicate where you want to go but unity is what will get you there!
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Last week, I blogged about vision HERE. One of the things I didn’t share in that blog was the idea of unity. Unity is the best friend of vision. Vision will communicate where you want to go but unity is what will get you there!
For most driven leaders, the vision piece is easy. The pastors I talk to typically have more vision than they have shared publicly and definitely more vision than they currently have resources to pursue. I definitely know that’s the case for me. There is some God sized dreams and vision that I haven’t ever spoken out loud. (That’s another piece as well. Knowing when to share the vision)
So the last couple years or so, I have found myself praying less for vision and more for unity! Unity in the church is what will get us to the vision that God has for the church! Look what God said about unity in Genesis chapter 11:
Genesis 11:6 “Look!” he said, “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them!
That’s why I started praying for unity. Vision will communicate where you want to go but unity is what will get you there! (And please don’t add a comment about how “God is the one who gets us there.” I’m considering that a given. But one of the things I’m asking God to do that only He can do is to unify the church.)
Here are some verses on unity I have been praying would happen in our church:
Ezra 3:1 In early autumn, when the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled in Jerusalem with a unified purpose.
The church may not always be united in practice but we can be united in purpose.
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1 Chronicles 12:38 All these men came in battle array to Hebron with the single purpose of making David the king over all Israel. In fact, everyone in Israel agreed that David should be their king.
We may not agree on everything but we can be aligned around the most important thing. KING JESUS!
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1 Corinthians 1:10 I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.
Division is destroyed when we are united!
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Judges 5:2 Israel’s leaders took charge, and the people gladly followed. Praise the Lord!
Unity creates happy followers and cultivates healthy leaders!
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Vision will communicate where you want to go but unity is what will get you there!
Every day, one of the main things I pray over our church is that we would have unity! Unity is not total agreement, it is total alignment toward a common goal. I’m so thankful for the great unity that exists in our church right now. It doesn’t mean we don’t have conflict. It doesn’t mean we all get along. It just means that we are pursuing the mission and vision God gave us with all we are! Pray less for vision and start praying more for God to unify His Church!
