Worship Vision

Worship Leaders by John A. White Contributing Writer September 15, 2011

Getting started - Worship leaders must first accept the responsibility to lead. We know that God's people perish without vision. If Ps 29:18 is true, "where there is no vision, the people perish", then we must take the responsibility to gain vision for our ministries. Since most of us do not revelatory gifts where vision comes quickly, we must be strategically purposeful with our vision seeking time. Do what ever it takes to get alone with God and put yourself in the spiritual environment and attitude to receive vision for your ministry. There is probably little need to warn you of an over active imagination yet you must consider thoughts that are much bigger than yourself. Gaining vision can take a long time as Hab 2:3 suggests, "Though it (God's vision) tarries, wait for it." Let me emphasize that gaining vision may be the single most important part of your ministry if it is to flourish and bear fruit.

Write down your vision for your ministry - Hab 2:2 " Then the Lord answered me and said: ‘White the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it'". As you receive the vision, write it down. Few people are gifted or graced with a complete revelation at one time. Therefore, write down as many details as you can. Some times visions comes in spurts and we must allow it to unfold over time. Don't be surprised if you gain more vision while writing... write that revelation/inspiration down too. If God's hand can appear and write on the wall at Belshazzar's feast (Dan. 5), then we should allow Him the opportunity to use our hand to write on paper. Don't worry about forming complete sentences or good grammar; simply take notes of what is revealed. Sometimes it is useful to make special notations of what is revealed prior and during writing.

Communicate your vision compellingly? If people can see what God revealed to you, they will be likewise compelled. In his article "You've got to speak your vision" Rick Warren says, "Leadership is knowing where you're going and being able to persuade people to come along with you." (http://www.pastors.com/RWMT/default.asp?id=88&artid=3139&expand=1). Therefore, we must help people to imagine the future God revealed. Understanding Ps 29:18, gives the burden of and the responsibility to instill the vision you saw in (not to) the people you lead. Give this process time; just as it took some time for you to receive the vision, it will take time for your people to catch it too... in fact, some may never catch the vision but the can be really good followers. Be persistent and consistent in communicating your vision. People have a tendency to forget why they do certain things and frequently need to be reminded. We do too. That is why writing the vision down is so important.

Enemies of vision – "A cataract is a cloudiness or opacity in the normally transparent crystalline lens of the eye. This cloudiness can cause a decrease in vision and may lead to eventual blindness" according to the Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. Spiritual vision, like our physical vision can be obscured or blocked too. Let's consider the personalities that act as spiritual cataracts:

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