25 Mar 2026
My mentor asked me "do you think you can cast vision?" - And I almost went to tears about it. I don't actually think I can. It was revealing a limitation I had in mind and maybe something deeper about what I believe about myself. It is hard to navigate this. I'm not sure what the limitation is that I believe that is so impactful or where it might come from. I know I struggle with people pleasing and wanting to be a peacemaker at every stage. It definitely is a weakness of mine to cast vision so maybe it was just easier for me to say I can't do it. It has often been my experience that I don't draw a crowd. My events are often smaller. Bible studies, leadership meetings, events where I speak. I used to be really bothered by this, but it became easier, and is true in many respects, that attendance doesn't matter as much as I think. Attendance as a reflection on the value of my work, or accuracy of my work doesn't matter. But if more people get to hear what I worked hard to prepare to communicate the Gospel well isn't that better? Attendance, to a certain extent, will indicate if you are doing something wrong or right. It is harder to wrestle with what attendance may indicate about my leadership, than it is just to act as if it doesn't matter. It is especially hard when I can pinpoint where my leadership failure is. Drawing people in. Probably hits on some old insecurities around being liked. So I guess I have this desire to be liked. Attendance at things I lead is a pretty clear indicator of what people think of me. In ministry attendance truly isn't the catch all metric of success or doing a good job. So, I'll just say I'm not a vision person who can inspire people, rather than actually confront how I can grow. But now, I have to confront how I can take steps forward to grow in this area. I was given this advice: find your voice.
Which must be some of the frustrating advice I have ever heard. What in the world does it even mean? I'm often immediately skeptical about things like this, but as the conversation progressed I think I saw what I was being encouraged to do and why it was so hard to confront this thing in me.
The first question I was given to find my voice was 1) what stirs you?
That is a good question, but why does it matter to finding your voice? Because ultimately vision casting, as I think about it right now, is deeply vulnerable. In one sense you are saying, "hey I'm on this quest and it matters. This is why it matters. Want to join me?" I have to share this thing that I deeply care about in such a way that communicates why it might matter to others and then ask others to come with me on this journey. I think this is why it was so hard to confront the question I was asked at the top of this article. Vision casting, when it is genuine, is deeply personal. It is out of that well that you draw inspiration because it has inspired you. You are simply sharing that with others and saying, "come with me" which can feel like deep rejection if someone doesn't want to.
My mentor further said you are trying to understand your own vision for the Christian life and the ministry you are doing, and learning to translate that to the students. It requires regular reflecting and translating into a student context.