VISION, MISSION & PURPOSE OF BUSINESS

What is a Vision?

A vision is born out of a burden placed upon a man’s heart. That is, an issue or situation that he continually ponders about voluntarily because he desires a change or an improvement or understanding concerning it. Another word that can be used for burden is passion. When a man has passion for anything his whole being is so focused on it that he becomes sensitive to any issue or information about it. He is bound to notice or become aware of developments in respect of it. The issue or thing may have been in existence before he became aware of it but it will now seem as if it has just come into ‘existence’ in his realm of life. For example, until one becomes born again, a lot of us do not realise that the knowledge of God available is so vast. As we then begin to wonder why it took us so long, our desire to know more and more of God will be fired up. Mentally, we have a vision for our life in God.

1. Vision means to gaze at; mentally to perceive, contemplate (with pleasure). It also means to behold, look, prophesy, provide, see, inspired appearance/sight.

2. Vision can also be defined as:

something (revelatory) seen in a dream, trance or ecstasy
a mental image of something immaterial
power of imagination
manner of perceiving mental images
discernment, foresight or
any verbal and/or pictorial communication through a dream

3. Vision that is not based on knowledge that is understood in the right perspective is difficult to bring into fulfilment. For example, if you have a vision for a world-wide business and no knowledge of managing men and other resources, no understanding that God deals with man in phases/stages you may get frustrated within a short time if results are not measuring up to your own thinking.

4. Knowledge is:

fact or condition of knowing something/somebody through experience/association
acquaintance with or understanding or awareness of something
range of a person’s information, perception, or understanding
fact or condition of having information or being learned
sum of what is known; body of truth, information and principles acquired by mankind

5. Understanding is mental grasp; comprehension; and power to make experience intelligible by applying concepts.

6. Applicable Scriptures to Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding and Vision are Prov. 1:7; 3:5&6; 15:14; 18:15; Is. 5:13; 33:6; Dan. 1:17; 8:13 & 14; 12:9; Hos. 4:6; Lk. 11:52; Jn. 8:32; Ps. 119:104 & 130; and Matt. 17:9.

7. Difference Between Vision and Ambition A true vision is God-given and its origin is heaven. Divine enablement is granted to bring it to fulfilment (Rom. 11:29).
Ambition is man-made and earthly in origin. It is born of earthly desire and drive to do it better than others. It is born mostly out of a desire for power and self-recognition. It has self as its centre. It makes people willing to kill, destroy and pull others down to reach their goal.

8. A vision is like a guiding and driving force for a business enterprise or ministry throughout its life. It does not get totally fulfilled all the time. It is expected that it will be enlarged as the organisation grows unless it is very specific with time and achievement criteria. For example, the vision of Microsoft is "There will be a personal computer on every desk running Microsoft software."

Why Do You Need A Vision?

Vision is an insight into God’s plan for an organisation and ministry. The Bible says in Ps. 29:18 that without vision the people perish or cast off restraint and in Hos. 4:6 that people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. If God’s plan is not revealed unto you concerning your business enterprise you are running it at a high risk.

When you have a vision from God for your enterprise, you will excel. You will become more confident that you know where you are going and difficulties will be approached with the right attitude of an overcomer. You will have a sense of being catered for by God and that He knows what you are doing and will be there to back you up.

It is important for one to know God’s plan for one’s business. When this is known, running a business becomes very interesting. Jeremiah was told in Jer. 1:5 & 10 the Lord’s plan for his life, that is, a prophet unto the nations, set over nations and kingdoms, to root out and to pull down and to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant. He was further given an insight that people will not accept his message when he was told in Jer. 1:17-19 that he should not be dismayed and that the Lord had made provision against that.

So knowing where you are going and what to do to get there generates confidence. This eliminates ignorance which leads to destruction (Hos. 4:6). When you know God and His plans for you, you lay hold of strength for exploits (Dan. 11:32b).

Preparation for a Vision

Let us examine the lives of two men in the Bible who received vision from God, that is, Daniel and Nehemiah. In Daniel 9 and Nehemiah 1 we see what they did before they received the visions and by God’s grace we believe that if we apply the principles to our lives, we too shall be able to receive God’s vision for our business.

DANIEL 9: Daniel (had knowledge of God’s Plan, he then sought God for understanding)

Dan. 9:2 – Daniel observed, understood, learned, perceived from scriptures prophecy or the word of the Lord concerning Jerusalem’s desolation period.

He must have read, studied and meditated upon scriptures and also prayed for understanding concerning the duration of Jerusalem’s desolation. He acquired information, knowledge, compared them, put them together in a place and pondered over the meaning of the words and their implications for the issue at hand. (Jos. 1:8).
He must have believed the medium through which he got the information, that is, the writing of Jeremiah (2 Chr. 20:20b) and also the source, God.
He counted God faithful, true and worthy to be believed. (Is. 25:1).
He knew the importance of meditation and prayer. He had a relationship with God and knew that God would answer him when he called upon God. (Jer. 33:3)
He did not spend the first year of Darius’ reign trying to curry Darius’ favour, he sought the Lord our God. (Matt. 6:33)

Dan. 9:3 - Daniel did not focus or set his face unto the situation or problem, he focused upon God. (Heb. 12:2)

Daniel sought God in the place of prayer and supplications. He pleaded his case before the throne of grace. (Is. 43:26).
He fasted to put his spiritual man in tune with the Spirit of God so that his spirit would rise above his physical senses. Thus he became more sensitive to receive from God’s Spirit. This speaks of the need to sometimes deny yourself of comfort to achieve your goal. (Ps. 35:13; Matt. 17:20-21).
He wore sackcloth and was covered in ashes. This indicated that he had a sober mood. He became level-headed and was willing to admit that he needed help from the Almighty God, that is, divine intervention, visitation and wisdom. (Tit. 2:6, 12; Rom. 12:3; 1 Thess. 5:8).

Dan. 9:4-19 - Daniel went to God in Prayer concerning the issue at hand. His prayer covered confession of sin/disobedience and refusal to accept correction by Jews; God’s majesty, righteousness, mercy, judgement; divine faithfulness, forgiveness, favour, hearing and grace; repentance and promises to obedient people.

It is important that we cultivate the habit of taking everything we need to accomplish to the Lord in prayer even things that we think are routine and mundane. For example, the choice of office location, staff, name of company and partners.

Dan. 9:20-21 - While Daniel was yet speaking, answer was on its way through Angel Gabriel. We need to stay in the place of prayer to receive from the Lord. For some people it may take hours, days, weeks or months before a very clear answer is received. You must have a breakthrough in the place of prayer to understand your vision clearly. There is need for perseverance.

Dan 9: 22-23 - Daniel received information and was spoken to.

Daniel received skill and understanding.
He received revelations concerning the burden he had concerning the desolation of Jerusalem.
He also received divine favour so he was able to consider the vision.

Dan. 9: 24-27 - Angel Gabriel then explained to him God’s plan and time-table for the end-times. It was then clear to him that his perspective of time was different from God’s. God will enlarge your capacity to understand his perspective of things when you go to him.

Daniel received full understanding concerning God’s plans and intentions toward Jerusalem and what they stood for.

NEHEMIAH:
Nehemiah (had knowledge of what has happened and sought God for a way to change the situation for the better)

Neh. 1:1-3 -
Nehemiah was comfortable as a cup-bearer in the palace but he maintained touch with his people and the reality of his fatherland. He was heavily burdened when he was informed of the state of the remnant left of the captivity and Jerusalem.

Neh. 1:4 -
After hearing and understanding the situation clearly, he sat down. That is, he gave time and attention unto what he heard. He considered it and its cost. (Read Luke. 14:28-32- story about considering cost of tower building before you start)

He wept because he realised how bad the situation was and how disobedience, that is, not hearkening unto God brought ruin to Jerusalem. He experienced sorrow because of lack in Jerusalem, that is, no prosperity.
He mourned by counting the extent of the loss already suffered. That is, he expressed grief or sorrow unto God, showing signs of grief probably with sackcloth and ashes. He showed concern in respect of the affliction and reproach.
He fasted and prayed before God.

Neh. 1: 5-10 His prayer is similar to that of Daniel above.

It showed that Nehemiah was quite conversant with the history of the Jews and the demands of God. He had knowledge and understanding of what could have led to their situation and how it could be rectified.

Neh. 1:11 - Nehemiah also had knowledge of the fact that he needed King Artaxerxes’ support and approval, that is, favour for him to be able to do anything for Jerusalem for he knew the responsibilities and duties attached to his position as the King’s cup bearer.

He sought divine hearing, called himself a servant of God (thereby establishing a covenant of obedience and service unto God’s commands) and stated his desire to fear God’s name.
He recognised that he was not the only one in this position but asked for mercy, for favour in the sight of the king.

Neh. 2 - The plan of God for fulfilment of the vision was revealed in stages as Nehemiah went back to God in prayers before taking a decision or making a request from the king (vs. 4).

Neh. 2:1 - 2 His opportunity before the king came in the month of Nisan, that is, five months from the month of Chisleu. This speaks of the need to wait for right timing. The fact that a burden is placed upon one does not mean it is time to move. When you have a burden/vision, people around you will begin to notice a difference in your attitude, behaviour, look etc. In Nehemiah’s time it was an offence then for a cup bearer to be sad before the king. It was punishable by death but because God had granted him favour, Nehemiah received compassion instead.

Preparation for a Vision requires:

A Burden to go beyond your current boundary or expand in knowledge, wisdom, prosperity, revelation etc.; bring improvement to existing practice, operations, situation etc. and bring God’s kind of life into a situation, for example, joy for sorrow, healing for sickness, hope for hopelessness. There must be a willingness to break out of your comfort zone.
A search for information and knowledge concerning issues underlying the burden identified not only in the natural but spiritual world. The knowing of the pros and cons of the situation is very helpful. You must be willing to count the cost of your action(s) to the best of your ability and knowledge with an acute awareness of need to have God’s help to succeed.
A deep personal relationship with God based on knowledge of the Bible and times of prayer in God’s Presence. You need to believe in God’s faithfulness and truth (Is. 25:1).
Engaging in prayers based on the Bible and targeted at issues underlying the burden in the natural and spiritual realms. Your prayer session may be combined with fasting.
Staying in the place of Prayer until you receive a definite word from Him and realising that the vision may come in stages/phases.
A Hearing ear, seeing eyes and heart inclined to obey God.
Focusing more on God than problems so that you can hear clearly and correctly from God who is the source of all knowledge and wisdom.
Willingness to act on information/word received from God.
Knowing that you constantly need God’s mercy and favour because you are not the only one in need or can be used. That is, a humble spirit.
Ability to stay on and let the vision consume you to the notice of people in your environment.

MISSION

Mission is a particular task/duty undertaken by an individual/group. It is more specific and focused on the present/short term unlike vision that is futuristic and long term. The achievement can be measured quantitatively or qualitatively. Mission statements often include the following information:

Aim(s) of the organization
The organization's primary stakeholders: clients/customers, shareholders, congregation, etc.
How the organization provides value to these stakeholders, for example by offering specific types of products and/or services.
A declaration of an organization's sole core purpose. A mission statement answers the question, "Why do we exist?"

For example, McDonald's - "To provide the fast food customer food prepared in the same high-quality manner world-wide that has consistent taste, serving time, and price in a low-key décor and friendly atmosphere."

Key Market: The fast food customer world-wide
Contribution: Tasty and reasonably-priced food prepared in a high-quality manner
Distinction: Delivered consistently (world-wide) in a low-key décor and friendly atmosphere.

Nehemiah’s mission was to build again the walls of Jerusalem (Neh. 2:5). This mission statement when it was made to the king elicited a question as response - how long is journey and the return date? That is, do you have a time schedule for your mission, for example, e.g. travelling time to Jerusalem, settling down, actual building and completion of the wall and return time to Shushan.
Nehemiah must have considered a lot of things and issues before replying the King with a specific time target. So when you are going on a mission there is the need to sit down and consider options, resources and time available to you.
Based on his research activities which gave him knowledge and understanding, Nehemiah was able to make specific and definite requests bordering on needs he had been able to ascertain. So he asked for letters (contacts) to relevant people, forest, guard etc. to ensure safety and supply of resources needed. (Neh. 2:6-7)

PURPOSE OF BUSINESS

Business is defined as one’s work. Work is any activity in which one exerts strength or faculties to do or produce something. Work entails sustained physical or mental effort to achieve a result. Work can also be defined as the activities that afford one’s accustomed means of livelihood. It can also be a specific task, duty, function or assignment.

Work can be a medium through which one can translate divine enablement and vision embedded in his attitude, skills and knowledge into money, a medium of exchange. Through money you are able to purchase material things and obtain services required for living. Work is done in the marketplace or ministry.

Work is an avenue to God’s blessings and multiplication that His children would have the comfort of life and increase in all aspects of life. Work enables us to exercise dominion over situations and become sources of blessings to others. Deut. 8:18 speaks to power to get wealth (represented by vision, mission, knowledge, wisdom, understanding etc.). The purpose of having wealth is for establishment of God’s covenant to bless us and our descendants in Gen. 22:17-18. Work converts spiritual blessings/promises into emotional and material benefits.

The eternal perspective is that Christ will be enthroned as the Lord of the marketplace and his enemies become his footstool (Ps. 110:1-3; Rev. 19:11-21). The Bible says in Ps. 24:1, the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. The current situation is that Satan is the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4; Lk. 4:5-8). A Christian in business seeks the eternal perspective which is contrary to the present situation. This brings him into a direct confrontation and conflict with Satan. A Christian seeks to use the rewards of his labour or work to glorify God and promote the Gospel. This is acidic and repulsive to Satan. In the end time Satan will seek final control of the world by controlling the marketplace (Rev. 13:16-17). A Christian’s role is that of stifling Satan’s plans to become the lord of the marketplace.

It is in recognition of the current situation and eternal perspective that God says in Deut. 8:18 that He is the one that gives us power to get wealth that he may establish His covenant, which He swore unto our fathers, e.g., Adam in Gen. 1:28 and Abraham in Gen. 12:2-3; 22:17-18. The fact that God needs to give us power before we can get wealth confirms that there must be some obstacles and oppositions in this regard. The story of the rich young man in Matt. 19:16-23 is appropriate here - Satan seeks to possess man through what man thinks he possesses. The young man was actually possessed and needed deliverance but the Devil sold him a lie that he was the one that had great possessions. You cannot claim to love God with all your heart and you keep your money to yourself. If you love God, you will use your money in ways that please him.

The purpose of business is for God to use it as a pipe to convey our spiritual blessings and prosperity to earth in physical and material forms. He then expects us to use our possessions to establish righteousness in every sphere of life. We are God’s battle axes that are used to deal blows to the kingdom of darkness and weaken Satan’s hold on the world so that Christ can be fully enthroned as the Lord of the marketplace.

If your desire is to consume your material and physical gains/rewards from your work on yourself then you have missed the purpose of God for your work. If your business/work is not helping or strengthening the work of saving souls, discipling them and expanding the works of Christ in every sphere of life, then you are working for Satan since there is no demilitarised zone. It is either you are fighting Satan or loving Satan.

You can keep away from the evil system by considering the following:-

People must always be more important than products.
Keep away from pride in your own programs, plans and successes.
Remember that God’s will and word must never be compromised
People must always be considered above the making of money.
Do what is right, no matter the cost.
Be involved in businesses that provide worthwhile products or services - not just things that feed the world’s desires.”