david hayward. artist. cartoonist. teacher.

I come back to the issue of vision and mission statements again and again because it is very important to me. It is also extremely important to the church. I have witnessed and experienced this first hand. This is not theoretical, but practical help for churches. I have seen and experienced the negative impact vision and mission statements have upon the church, and I wish churches would stop needing them, creating them, drafting them and casting them. The church would be healthier for it.

So here are just 10 reasons why vision and mission statements should be expelled from the life of the church.

Vision and mission statements…

1. distract from the primary purpose of the church, which is to be a community… a spiritual family, and focus attention and energy on doing something. I’ve seen meetings where critical relational issues were ignored in order to prioritize a vision’s immediate demands.
2. tantalize the people to follow a code rather than their own hearts. How many times have I heard it said, when a unique need presented itself to the community, “Well, that’s not what we do!“
3. aren’t found from the earliest church right through to recent history. They are a modern phenomenon excited by their success in the business world. I believe they are necessary in business, but are a virus to the church. Inject just a small dose and in time it will crash the vitality of the local spiritual family. They might produce more activity, even positive activity, but the core health of the spiritual family will be compromised.
4. promise the success and longevity of the group rather than the individual health of its members.
5. transfigure what is meant to be a spiritual family into an energy unit, a lobby group, or an activist organization. There is nothing wrong with these things, as long as we understand that this is a forsaking of our primary identity as a family. It would be like Lisa and I insisting that we were put on this earth to raise 3 children, when in fact our primary identity and role is lovers from which child-rearing emanates.
6. insinuate competition between local churches. Whenever I’ve been in meetings where demands for vision and mission statements were given, it always threw me back to Israel demanding a king because all of her enemies did. God consented. We are allowed to create and employ vision and mission statements without God smiting us. But that doesn’t mean its the best way.
7. divert the pastor’s attention away from the primary practice of prayer, study of scripture and teaching. Rather, the pastor’s attention and energy usually get poured into inventing and crafting a sexy vision statement, convincing the leaders to endorse it, and inducing the congregation to comply to it.
8. assume we can predict the future and predetermine our actions in it. Almost all people I’ve spoken with admit that the vision and mission statement of their community is quickly redesigned, abandoned or forgotten as soon as tomorrow hits with full force.
9. behave like an addictive drug: once you buy in, you can never find the perfect high. They constantly lose their appeal and demand that they be traded up into something stronger and more satisfying.
10. tempt us to take our attention away from what is right now to what should be by now. They introduce a subtle dissatisfaction with who and what is, and instill an appetite for something better than what we already have right here right now.

What is most dangerous to the church? What is the most wicked weed and the most wily wolf? What weed looks delicious but is a terrible poison? What wolf wears the most convincing sheep costume to worm its way into the flock, its very food?

Over the many years I have been in the ministry, this is what I’ve concluded is most dangerous: Not sin. Not poverty. Not corruption. Not persecution. Not bad pastors. Not even poor theology. We will have these with us always. The greatest danger to the church is vision. Agenda. It is an idea for the church that certain people entertain that is the greatest danger to it. It is when different people have designs for the church, where they want it to be something other than what it is, that it destroys the fabric of the community. Even the most well-meaning people, believing that they want what’s best for the church, in actuality introduce what is worst for it.

I have been on both sides: I’ve allowed my ideas for the church to bring damage to it, and seen other people’s ideas do the same. This is the worst weeds and the worst wolves to the flock. This is what can slowly poison the community and bring sudden destruction to the fellowship, jeopardizing the actual life of what we think we are most concerned about. In desiring it to be more or different than what it is, we sabotage the beauty of what it actually already is. And this is what kills it.

To impose a vision upon a church is not only unhealthy, but deadly to the genuine life of the church. I’ve seen it happen over and over again. Even a vision that is inspired by the community is a self-destructive force. What would it be like just to gather, worship, pray and teach the scripture, and love one another? To the modern mind, this isn’t enough. The powerful prefer to see us not as human beings, but as commodities. They see this mass of people as a resource for a greater purpose. They are spiritual lobbyists who recognize the usefulness of groups to effect change. They are businessmen. They are not pastors. They aren’t interested in the flock of God, but in the utilization of corporate power.

Here are ways to frustrate visionary thinking in your church:

1. It is one thing for individuals to have personal visions and dreams. It is the application of these to a community that is dangerous.
2. Don’t see the church group as an entity, but primarily a voluntary gathering of free individuals.
3. Similarly, the church as an entity cannot fix people’s problems or make their lives happy. It is their own responsibility that other individuals can assist in.
4. Embrace diversity of thought and expression. Do not set goals for the church.
5. Do not measure success in terms of numbers, money or reputation.
6. See that mission is expressed individually. Each person is salt and light.
7. Any corporate mission that is genuine will seem spontaneous and have an “of course” feeling to it.
8. Share the oversight of the church. Avoid autocratic rule that provides the richest culture for visionary thinking.
9. Don’t pretend to know the future of the church prophetically, statistically or otherwise. You don’t!
10. Respect the pressure the people are under to want a king, to desire favor, and to think in terms of marketing to promote success. Almost all the literature available is written by successful pastors of successful churches. But don’t bow to this pressure.

Vision is incompatible with church community. The vision and mission statement talk is very provocative and tempting. As soon as anyone questions what our purpose is, it has the immediate and alluring aura of imagining, creating and shaping our future. It’s called futuring. And it is very sexy. If you are a business or an influence or lobby group or club or even a charity or anything else, you will need to have a vision and articulate a mission statement. But not a church. People, even believers, must have the freedom to assemble without being required to serve a vision created by the pastor or the leaders or even the collective. Otherwise their personal freedom out of necessity is sublimated. You have a choice: you either serve a vision or you serve people. The church can’t do both.