Detrich Bonhoeffer is one of my favorite authors. He was a true
prophetic voice during the first part of this century. He stood against
the greatest darkness of his time without compromise, and died because
of it in a Nazi concentration camp. In one of his books, Life Together,
he made a bold and shocking remark, stating simply: "God hates the
visionary." The translation of this from the German language that he
wrote in may be a little stronger than he intended, but there is some
truth to this that we should understand.
Vision is a powerful force. Almost all human advancement is the result
of someone having a vision. It has been a great encouragement for me to
see so many with a vision gather in our local congregations. I have
listened to many visions, and I feel that most of them really are from
the Lord. It has stirred me with the knowledge that there is a potential
for something more extraordinary than I could have even hoped for just a
couple of years ago. However, if we are going to fulfill our calling, as
individuals and as a church, we must now go beyond just having a vision.
Almost everyone, Christians and non-Christians, has a vision of what
they want to do or be, and yet very few fulfill it. Vision alone has
never accomplished anything. Between the place of having a vision and
seeing it fulfilled, there is always a lot of hard, tedious work that
few visionaries have been willing to do. I think that was the source of
Bonhoeffer's frustration with visionaries.
That is why, regardless of how good a person's vision sounds, I cannot
get too encouraged about it until I see them also having a heart to
work. Having the vision is the fun part. Walking it out will usually be
much more difficult. Between the place where we receive the promise and
the Promised Land, there will be a wilderness that is the opposite of
what we have been promised. That wilderness is where our faith in God is
purified, and our knowledge of ourselves becomes much more realistic.
The wilderness is the place where the mere visionaries are separated
from those who have true faith, who love the purposes of God enough to
pay the price to see the visions fulfilled. That is why James wrote:
"For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without
works is dead" (James 2:26).
God did not call us out of bondage just to wander aimlessly in the
wilderness. He called us to walk in the full inheritance that He gained
for us on the cross. We cannot settle for anything less. It is time to
get through the wilderness and start possessing the promises that we
have been called to inherit. I am even more convinced that this is the
time to cross over when I see so many with great visions who also have
great hearts and are ready to work. However, let us not forget that even
after we have crossed our Jordan River and have begun to eat the fruit
of the land, the battles will have just begun. Possessing our promises
will be hard, but it will be worth it.
We must combine vision with the wisdom to know how to do the work, the
faith to know that it can be done, and the resolve to actually do it. As
we studied yesterday, those who have a vision to see the house of the
Lord restored, and the walls of His great city rebuilt, will suffer
attacks from within and without. However, those with true faith will not
be deterred. Our goal is to hear on that most glorious judgment day,
"Well done good and faithful servant. You finished the job I gave you to
do."
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