by Marti Fischer
You’ll need to take some time with this one…
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20)
The Catch vision: To introduce the Gospel of Welcome — Grace Turned Outward — to everyone, everywhere.
Accountability Commission member Mike High said during a previous meeting that he loves my passion. That is because he and I are in alignment with the underlying passion of the Catch Ministry and its vision.
For me, the vision of the Catch is my ultimate passion. People tell me we cannot introduce the Gospel of Welcome — Grace Turned Outward — to everyone, everywhere. I do not know what the Lord of Lords is telling them, but He said I could. (Matthew 28:19-20)
A vision is like a big idea. It is incredibly difficult to see through to the end. It takes an absurd amount of perseverance, proactivity and strategic decision making, and a team that believes in the big picture. There is also an underlying ingredient that must exist to step into the ring and fight for the vision – it’s the magic that weaves everything together – it is courage.
The Catch vision is important enough that it is worth spending some serious time on. You will want to get away from everything you have to do – all the tasks that typically take up a day – and focus for a couple of hours on nothing other than the vision of the Catch so that you will come away with a crystal clear picture of where you want to ultimately be within this vision and what you want to accomplish on behalf of the Catch Ministry and personally through your participation in making real what we always believed we were told to do, “…go and make disciples of all nations (tribes of peoples)…”
This vision needs to energize and excite you even though it will probably be a little scary at the same time. I think the perfect vision usually looks impossible to those on the outside. It often ends up being your “why” and the “how” isn’t necessarily clear. That scares some people, but if you believe you can accomplish it and are willing to do whatever it takes, the specifics of how it will happen present themselves at the right time.
Think about the entrepreneur Scott Harrison from Clarity: Water. Mr Harrison went from thinking only of himself and spiraling in a very bad direction to creating an organization that is 100% focused on helping others. Mr Harrison didn’t just turn his life around – he and his team have made a major difference in the lives of over a million people throughout the world by providing them with clean drinking water.
What’s maybe most impressive is that Mr Harrison has done this by thinking of his charity the way an entrepreneur would; he put Clarity: Water around his passion and a business need.
If there isn’t a need for the Gospel of Welcome — Grace Turned Outward, our passion won’t be enough to make it happen; and if we are just filling a need but not passionate about what we are doing, our chances of failure (usually in the form of quitting before we have a chance to succeed) are much higher.
The biggest mistake we can make is give up before we have a real chance to succeed. Like any business venture, we must recognize the obstacles in order to overcome them and be realistic about what it takes to make this venture succeed.
This is why I am asking each member of the Catch Community to own the Catch Ministry’s vision and discover your passion about it. Solidifying the vision will help us get through the challenges that we are guaranteed to encounter in a small ministry/ business such as ours. The Catch vision is our “why.” It stands to reason we need to focus on why we are doing what we are doing, and, at the same time, have passion for the Ministry we are in. It will be infinitely easier to persevere when challenges come our way.
I can appreciate where we have been over these last few years, but I can see with a clearer focus where we are going and what is required, which begins with building vitally into all that we do now. It is essential we recognize that relevancy requires we anticipate our various audiences’ expectations, which are shaped by the most appropriate, real time, dynamic experiences. It is, therefore, no longer about the audience’s loyalty to John. It’s about the Catch Ministry’s allegiance to its varying audiences and putting our ‘boots on the ground’ to introduce the Gospel of Welcome — Grace Turned Outward — to everyone, everywhere.
Mathew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
John Fischer The Catch 