As a boy, I remember watching a movie called The Incredible Shrinking Man. This was the story of a man who was afflicted with a substance that caused him to gradually shrink in size. Day by day he got smaller and smaller, and by the end of the movie he was able to crawl through one square of flyscreen! While this sci-fi flick from the 50s may not be realistic, it reminds me of something that is not only real but very dangerous: shrinking vision.
Jesus expressed a grand desire in the model prayer (which we also call the Lord’s prayer), saying “Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven” (Matt 6.10). He had a big vision—to reach the world! He wants us to have God-sized vision, but we have a tendency to let it become man-sized. Back in 2006 when we began training using T4T principles, I would begin our training cycle with something that reflects this, asking “What would Australia look like if everyone loved and obeyed Jesus?” My mistake, however, was not revisiting this big vision regularly. Gradually, the people I was training (and yes, even I) would start thinking ‘smaller’ and ‘more manageable.’ Before long, we were making excuses about how hard God’s work was in our tiny locale and failing to take risks for the Kingdom of God. Our Heavenly Father wanted to do so much more!
A few years later, we began casting vision more often and with a variety of stories and Scripture passages. This minor adjustment yielded major changes in how our movement spread. Why? Because vision shrinks! We need to “top people up” with a fresh view of what God wants rather than letting our endeavours degrade to what we feel is manageable. If our dreams are man-sized, we should expect nothing more than human results. This is God’s work, and we should dream God- sized dreams.
True, a God-sized vision is way our of our league, but it’s the Father’s heart that really counts. He wants us to see how big is the need, but also how big is our God who can meet the need! Be sure to take a few minutes during every gathering to cast a big vision. Let participants repeat it back to you. Get them to practice sharing vision stories with one another. At the end, commission disciples with a reminder of your vision story. If you need ideas for vision-casting vignettes, we have listed over a dozen on the aimtrainers.org website.
Remember, vision shrinks! Sharing it once or twice is not enough. Cast a clear and compelling vision whenever your gather. Be sure people know that our God is a great God, and that He has a heart for the nations.
“Attempt great things for God. Expect great things from God.” – William Carey (1761-1834)