Today’s blog post is an excerpt from a favorite book of mine, Spiritual Leadership, by Richard and Henry Blackaby. Is a relationship with God really unnecessary? The answer may surprise you:

God’s assignment for a church may not include meeting every need expressed in its neighborhood…the congregation must discover its vision not by asking people’s opinions but by seeking God’s direction…Often need-based church visions cause Christians to neglect their relationship with the Head of the church as they focus their energies on tabulating surveys and responding to expressed needs…A relationship with Jesus is always a higher priority than meeting temporal needs. Jesus didn’t base his ministry on what people wanted but where he saw his Father at work…If the Father was working with the multitude, that is where the Son invested himself. If the Father was bringing conviction to a lone sinner, that is where Jesus directed his efforts. If setting vision occurs by merely tabulating a door-to-door survey, then a relationship with the Heavenly Father is unnecessary (Spiritual Leadership, 94-95).

And there you have it. A convicting thought from the father-son team of Richard and Henry Blackaby. We must be careful that our vision for our Bible study group is not determined apart from spending much time with our Heavenly Father. The vision we have for our groups should align with the vision our church has for our community and world.

The question now becomes, “How will I motivate my group members to be involved in the accomplishing of God’s vision for our group and our church?” Perhaps an even bigger question is “How will I be involved in accomplishing God’s vision?”

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