George Barna is the founder of The Barna Group, a market research company. Barna has written other books on leadership and church growth, such as The Power of Team Leadership and Grow Your Church from the Outside In, yet Barna stated in the introduction to The Power of Vision that he had never before “had a book that seemed to be written through me and not by me”. In this book, Barna emphasizes the importance of pastors and church leadership discovering God’s vision for their ministry and the church. Although “vision” is a popular topic in both business and church administration, Barna asserts that few churches, believers, or even senior pastors have an understanding of God’s vision for ministry. This book contains simple, straightforward principles for discovering God’s vision, for casting the vision and helping others catch it, and for implementing the vision to the glory of God.
Barna’s primary purpose in writing The Power of Vision is to challenge pastors and leaders to discover God’s vision for their ministry and then develop and implement the vision. In this writer’s opinion, Barna does a good job of accomplishing the book’s intended purposes. Barna defines “vision” as “a clear mental picture of a preferable future imparted by God to his chosen servants and based on an accurate understanding of God, oneself, and circumstances.” He then breaks the definition down into four more detailed components: a clear mental image; a preferable future; a future focus; an impartation of God. Throughout the book, Barna refers to the different components of this definition but continually emphasizes the most important component; vision is imparted by God.
Barna also paints a clear picture of a visionary leader by listing the requirements to catch God’s vision and describing the characteristics of a visionary. Vision requires knowing God, knowing yourself, and understanding circumstances such as needs, opportunities, and barriers. Visionary pastors have “an urgent need to seek the glory of God by doing his work, his way, according to his vision.” It’s common for leaders to confuse mission with vision, which is why Barna emphasizes the difference between a mission statement and a vision statement. A mission statement defines the ministry and describes the goals. It is a general statement about what the church hopes to accomplish. A vision statement is “specific, detailed, personalized, distinctive, and unique to a given church.” The vision statement puts the goals of the ministry into action. There are many myths related to the development of vision, so Barna lists twenty of the most common myths and dispels them with the reality of true vision.
The book also goes into great detail to discuss the benefits of having a vision and also covers the barriers and cost of implementing the vision. Most importantly, Barna reminds leaders that vision must be God-centered and not based on personal abilities because “man’s vision is flawed.” The values and desires of the leader must align with the heart of God. A vision produced by God will be perfect, blessed and inspired and has only one goal, which is to glorify him.
The things in this book that I consider strengths are, first of all, that it is easy to read. The book is short and written in plain language rather than full of confusing jargon. Second, the book gives detailed and accurate information in a very straightforward and direct way. Third and most importantly, Barna gives glory to God for the inspiration for this book.
Anyone with a serious desire to be an effective leader will look for ways to improve their skills, but few people have time to read big books full of confusing and technical jargon. Barna offers relevant information in a simple format. Although the book is reasonably short in length, it is not short in substance. Barna begins with a definition of vision that helps to better understand what “vision” really means. Vision is having a clear idea or picture in your mind of the future you prefer. The key to vision, however, is that it must be God’s vision given to a leader rather than simply the preferred future an individual might have for the church. All pastors want the best for their church and may have great ideas and plans for the future, but only God’s plans for the future will succeed. Barna not only explains the process of capturing, projecting, and implementing vision, but also provides information on common misconceptions regarding vision. In chapter three, Barna explains the difference between vision and mission because they are often confused. He then corrects twenty of the most common myths about vision. It is often easier to understand how to do something correctly if one first understands what he was doing wrong.
Although I am not a pastor or in a leadership position in a church, I enjoyed reading The Power of Vision. Anyone seeking direction regarding God’s call for them in ministry should read this book. As part of the body of Christ, all Christians have a purpose and a work to do within the ministry. Discovering God’s vision for life and ministry is important for all of God’s people. It is especially important for shepherds because they are called to lead the flock. Having a clear vision imparted by God will give pastors direction to lead effectively. This book is inspiring and challenging and would be a valuable addition to any pastor’s library.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bern, George. The power of vision. 3rd ed. Ventura, CA: Regal/Gospel Light, 2009.