Vision (English: “Vision”, one of the meanings) is a concept used in Christianity as a theological term denoting a deep and multifaceted awareness of something or someone. In this branch of Christianity, Protestantism as a rule denotes one of the elements (or their combination) of organizational and spiritual life. In particular, this concept is used in the communities of Pentecostal , Pentecostal and charismatic trends, and is also especially emphasized in the local churches of the Lord's Restoration as the most important and distinctive feature of such believers. Unlike vision, vision does not imply a state of unclear consciousness: such as a dream, trance or ecstasy, etc. Both the church community as a whole and each individual believer can have a vision (Eph. 1: 15-23).
Values
The vision of the church community reflects the local church's understanding of its place and its role in the universal Church. In many Protestant communities, they often receive such a vision through prophetic revelations to the pastor or spiritual leader (or leaders) of this community, which joins the vision of a church association with which it identifies itself.
A vision of a church community or a local church, as well as a vision of some church association, implies an awareness of God's great purpose (Eph. 1: 9; 3: 9), which is called God's housekeeping in the New Testament (Eph. 1: 10-11; 1 Tim. 1 : 4), and which consists in the fact that God gives Himself (Eph. 1:22) to His chosen people (Eph. 1: 4; 2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Pet. 1: 2), as well as faith in that that Jesus Christ founded His Church with the goal of expressing Himself in His divine glory (Eph. 1: 6; 12) and representing Himself in His divine authority (Matthew 10: 1; 16: 18-19; 28:18; John 18: 5-6; 20: 22-23; Eph. 1: 19-22; 3:10; 6: 10-12), bud teach completely one with your holy chosen ones (John 15: 4-5; Acts 9: 4; Eph. 1:23; 5: 29-32), which is expressed in the preparation of believers in Him for the Kingdom of Heaven, as well as faith in the fulfillment of His commission by the Church (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15; Acts 1: 8) with the guidance of the Holy Spirit to accomplish these tasks.
The vision of a single believer can be a manifestation of wisdom as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the spiritual growth of such a believer (1 Cor. 12: 8; Eph. 1: 17-19; Col. 1: 9). The criterion for verifying its truthfulness is always compliance with the teachings of the Word of God, the Bible (Acts 17:11; Acts 2:42; 2Pet. 1: 19-21; Col. 1:25).
Source
- Ulf Ekman , Spiritual Leader, Chapter 2 (inaccessible link) , M., ed. The Word of Life, 2006, ISBN 5-94324-025-X , ISBN 91-7866-532-9 .
- New Testament. Recovery translation. Ed. Living Stream and Witness Lee, 1998, ISBN 0-7363-0463-0 .