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I was reading the nakedpastor’s blog post about vision and I agree with him.  Vision is so promoted in churches as the way to bring life and “purpose” to the congregation. Proverbs 29:18 “Without a vision, the people perish.” is stated to give biblical support for this corporate/business idea. David Hayward points out that the vision the proverb refers to means revelation. I think that to the extent that a church received their “Vision” as revelation is the extent to how well it helped them…in the short run. We need to constantly be seeking new visions, new revelations if we are to truly thrive. A one time vision retreat won’t be enough to set the future of the church for a month if even a week.  I particularly liked how he compared the idea to a family. I certainly don’t have a vision statement for my family along with corresponding goals to achieve it. I simply want to love them. That didn’t come to me by way of revelation, it’s the natural outflow of my relationship with them. That’s how it should be with the church. There should be a natural outflow of love for God and others and we should follow that flow wherever it takes us. It’s chaotic and impossible to control. In fact, when you try to control it, you kill it. There is no control, only guidance. We need the moment by moment guidance of the Spirit. Continual visions of revelations in how to best love the person in front of us. Now that’s something that can revitalize a church!