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Do We Need a Vision?
By Pastor Fred Greco | December 2, 2006
Over the years, I have found that one of the most abused verses of Scripture is the King James Version’s translation of Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” In contradiction to almost all principles of interpreting Scripture (context, original language vocabulary studies, comparison with other passages, etc.), this passage is often used as a proof text for writing a “vision statement” for the church, or for launching out on some new elaborate plan of ministry. “After all,” the saying goes, “we need to have a specific and unique vision for our ministry, or else we will fail (i.e. perish).” And so we begin the latest in a series of trips up the mountain to find out what God will have us do this year, or this month or this week. How can we completely revamp our ministry this time, we ask ourselves, so that we can be relevant, successful and affect our community? Should we emphasize youth? or families? or something else? We need to know what our vision will be!!
In a word - hogwash! As all the modern conservative translations point out, Proverbs 29:18 has absoluetly nothing to do with “vision planning” or “vision” in the sense of “the manner in which one sees or conceives of something” (American Heritage Dictionary). That does not mean that the King James translators got it wrong. They perfectly well understood what was meant, but they simply translated the Hebrew into the idiom of their day. They lived well before Tony Robbins or Zig Zigler. Just because someone abuses a translation does not make it bad. What the verse really says is that without God’s revelation (especially the Bible) to man, the people will perish. See:
ESV Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.
NIV Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.
NKJV Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law.
NAU Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the law.
This should make sense, and greatly encourage us. We need God’s Word. Without it, we case off all restraint and cannot survive. We certainly cannot be blessed and happy. Why? Because it is God who has made us, and He knows what is best for us. Do you really think anyone wants to live in a world where murder is acceptable? Or theft? Or lying? Someone might want to live in a world where everyone else has to obey the law, but they don’t. But no one wants to live in a world where others can kill them, lie to them, and steal from them with impunity. That is why the proverb ends: “blessed/happy is he who keeps the law.” The law restrains our sin. As a matter of fact, it restrains all sorts of sin throughout the world. In his book The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis calls this phenomena the Tao. Not in the sense of Eastern mysticism, but in the sense of “Natural Law.” God has given all of us a revelation about what is right and what is wrong, and He has done this for all to see in His creation (Ps. 19:1-3; Rom. 1:19-20). He has also given this to us in our very nature. Our Westminster Confession of Faith refers to it as “the law of God written in their hearts” (WCF 4.2). This is why the most amoral of people are outraged when injustice is shown to them. Even if they think “anything goes,” the first time someone abuses them, they cry out for justice!
So our encouragement comes from the fact that God has not left us on our own - He has not even left us with only His creation. No - he has given to us His Word, His revelation, His prophetic vision. We can look to the Word of God, and see “what duty He requires of us” (Westminster Shorter Catechism Q.3).
So why think about this today? Why write about this in the context of the coming Lord’s Day at Christ Church? For two reasons:
- I will be beginning a 12 week Sunday School series on A Vision for Ministry. We will be discussing what it means for Christ Church in Katy, Texas to minister to each other and the community.
- Our sermon text this week is (Providentially) is Galatians 3:19-22, in which Paul talks about the purpose of the Law of God.
One could easily think that these two events are completely unrelated (especially since there was no grand plan to have them coincide). But in truth, there really is an important thread that runs through them both. (pull)If we are to minister to the community around us, we must have a vision.(/pull) Not a newfangled, fancy, 10-point organized vision, per se, but the vision that comes from God’s Word, the Bible. Ministry is Bible driven, not “vision”-driven. And the Law of God is an important part of that vision, and of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Law is not contrary to the gospel, Paul says, and we must believe him!
So as we prepare to think about how we will minister to others, and what the gospel of Jesus Christ is, let us renew our commitment to study, memorize and live God’s Word. Without it, there is chaos. Without it, there is death. Without it, it is impossible to be happy or blessed.
The Coming Lord’s Day
This week, we should focus on not only the Word of God, but the God of the Word. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who makes the place where we are beautiful and fulfilling, as Isaac Watts wrote in his hymn “How Sweet and Awesome is the Place“:
How sweet and awesome is this place
With Christ within the doors,
While everlasting love displays
The choicest of her stores!
All of God’s Word points to the matchless greatness of Jesus Christ, including the law. This week we will look at “Why Did God Give the Law (Part 1)” from Galatians 3:19-22. As always, I look forward to seeing you all and praising the Lord with you. To download a PDF copy of this week’s Bulletin, please download here. You can listen to the music for the hymns (or use it to practice!) by clicking the tune links in the PDF file.
Topics: Church, Coming Lord's Day |
February 7th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Great article Reverend Greco! I like how encourage your flock to worship by using the upcoming hymns.
Looking good!