# Where There Is No Vision: What It Truly Means

> Vision statements have saturated the business world since the 1920s, with visionary leaders guiding their organizations with ingenuity, passion, and…

- Author: Isaac Corzo
- Published: 2023-05-21
- Topic: Scripture
- Source: https://truthinformed.com/articles/where-there-is-no-vision

Vision statements have saturated the business world since the 1920s, with visionary leaders guiding their organizations with ingenuity, passion, and persistence—interestingly enough, the Church has also followed this trend. But is that any surprise since the Evangelical Church today more closely resembles a company or business than a fellowship of believers led by godly men? And is it any surprise that CEO-like pastors have emerged in the Church, eagerly desiring to be their organization's visionary leader?

Of course this is not a surprise to those who are paying attention. But what really frustrates us is when God's Holy Word is misinterpreted, misapplied, and misused by leaders in order to manipulate their congregations into granting them full authority and decision-making with regards to the purpose, mission, and direction of a given local church. Many pastors use a famous verse, Proverbs 29:18, to instill in their congregants a sense of loyalty to the "vision" they alone have been given for their local church. Below is a list of how the top fiveBible translations word the verse:

-   Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. (KJV)
-   Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction. (NIV)
-   Without revelation people run wild, but one who listens to instruction will be happy. (HCSB)
-   Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law. (ESV)
-   Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the law. (NASB)

With so many options, which translation should we use, and what does this verse TRULY mean...for us today? For more information on Bible translations, read our article titled Bible Translations: Pick A Good One!

## Interpreting Proverbs

As many of you might know, the Book of Proverbs is also known as the Book of Wisdom. In it, King Solomon and others contributed wisdom and instruction to God's people of all ages, throughout all historical periods. If we all read one chapter of Proverbs a day, we would be much wiser indeed! But sometimes verses in Proverbs are not interpreted correctly, taken in isolation, and without any input from the rest of the Scriptures...a sure recipe for disaster! This verse is among the many verses that are mishandled by Christians, especially leaders.

The literary genre of the Book of Proverbs must be taken into account when reading it and applying it to our lives. It is not prophecy, nor historical, but simply what is called "wisdom literature," which includes other Bible books such as Ecclesiastes, Job, and portions of Psalms. Therefore, instruction and acquiring wisdom is the main purpose of Proverbs. With that in mind, what wisdom and instruction is Proverbs 29:18 trying to teach us?

## The Visionary Pastor(s)

Read the verse again, now that we have quickly reviewed how Proverbs is to be interpreted. Does this verse seem to be saying that where there is no visionary leader, the people perish and die, and that we are to unquestionably follow the "vision" that our pastor(s) have for us in the local church setting? Well, that is what some pastors would *like* you to believe in order to maintain their influence over you and the flock entrusted to them. But hopefully you are now able to see that this is an unlikely interpretation for various reasons.

It is one thing for pastors to say that they *believe* God wants them and other church leaders to guide the church in a certain direction, and quite another to say that they have *received* a vision from God telling them what they should do with the local church. God has given us all the revelation we need in the Bible itself. Everything we need to become more like Christ and fulfill our corporate mission to evangelize and grow in the faith is in God's Holy Word...not in the mind of a possibly power-hungry man.

Here are a few questions for you to think about: what happens if a pastor's "vision" for the church goes against the Bible? What if his "vision" goes against the wishes of the entire congregation (assuming the people are devoted, born-again, godly disciples of Christ)? And what happens if his "vision" turns out not to be a vision at all, but a personal preference and goal of his?