I took my wife, Jeanine, out to an area in our yard and stood under a tree where the grass was beautiful. Our yard still had a lot of bare spots, but as we were standing there, I said, “Look at how nice and think this grass is here”. “Now, look at the rest of the pitiful yard, and imagine the whole yard being like this grass is here. Imagine playing with the kids croque or throwing the frisbee with them on this type of think, lush, green grass. Imagine playing with grandkids in the future as they roll down the hill on the soft and thick grass.
She immediately went with it and she could imagine the scenario exactly like I was describing.
What I did with my wife was vision casting. I was helping her to see into the future and see what the yard will hopefully be like, some day.
There are over 30 parables in the New Testament, and most are used as Jesus was vision casting. Many of the parables were to help his disciples to see what the Kingdom of God/Heaven is like.
Several years ago, the International Mission Board did an in-house survey was done of the most fruitful missionaries in one part of Asia. The results were surprising. The most important characteristic of the most fruitful workers was NOT evangelism or church planting. Instead, the number number one trait of fruitful workers was their ability to cast vision to local believers and move them onto a kingdom agenda toward CPM. In a survey of nine urban CPMs, the majority of their results, some up to 95%, came through believers they mobilized and trained, rather than from lost people they had personally won to the Lord.
Vision casting is a useful tool that can be used as a way to explain what a concept is or what it will be like in the future.
