20:20 Vision!
How is your eyesight these days? Perhaps you are like me and have had to concede that your arms just aren’t quite long enough anymore and you have had to acquire a pair of glasses for the first time!!! For me anyway, this was not an easy thing to do. First I had to concede that my eyesight was failing, ever so slightly! Second, I had to part with some money and that is never an easy thing to do! Third, I had to overcome the embarrassing feeling of actually wearing glasses for the first time in public. But what a difference the glasses actually made when I put them on – what had previously been blurred was now crystal clear and in sharp focus.
Clear vision and focus is something which we need in our Church as well. To simply keep on doing things the same way year in year out is to deny the work of God’s Holy Spirit in enabling us to see more clearly those things which God would have us do. But establishing that vision may well involve change. For some of us the mere thought of change is challenging and even intimidating – it raises all sorts of thoughts and questions. For others the cost involved can be too much. And for others, doing things in a new way can be difficult to adjust to and ultimately can be a source of embarrassment.
If we are to move forward as a Church we must constantly seek God’s Holy Spirit to lead us, otherwise we will end up down so many cul-de-sacs and blind alleys. Therefore we must focus on what God’s priorities are for His Church and seek to make those a reality in our community. Over the next 12 months, I anticipate that we will be doing much vision casting as we seek God’s leading in discerning His will for each one of us and His Church. At a recent Diocesan event the Bishop informed us that churches which saw growth were Visionary, Passionate, Disciplined and Risk takers. As we begin to cast a vision for the Churches in our Group of Parishes, let us understand that if that vision involves change, then change we must, in order that we maintain our 20:20 vision!