Mobilizing workers through vision casting

Jesus was a masterful vision caster. He powerfully communicated the heart and vision of the Father as he invited everyone into the story of God’s kingdom. Jesus made clear his mission and our role in that mission. The final words of Jesus must have penetrated to the very hearts of the disciples as he gave them his promises and authority to join him in this great global mission.

By following the example of Jesus, perhaps we, too, can become effective vision casters. If we want to see more kingdom workers pursuing the Japanese people, we must see more people pursuing the extraordinary vision that is God’s heart. Christians need to hear the truth about the desperate need for the gospel, globally and among the Japanese, and that the time for the harvest is now. So let’s explore the task of casting vision to mobilize laborers among the Japanese by passionately sharing God’s vision, God’s mission, God’s patience, and God’s promise.

God’s vision

We must catch God’s big vision for the world and pass it on to every follower of Jesus we meet. From Genesis to Revelation, God is pursuing all the peoples of the earth. Those from every nation, tribe, people, and language gathered around the Lamb, giving praise and honor to him—this is the end vision. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus commands his disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations.” Eleven disciples. All nations. That’s a big ask! The word “nations” in this verse is the Greek word ethne. So rather than focusing on geographic boundaries, Jesus’s command is aimed at all ethnic people groups. That makes the task even bigger.

What difference does it make if our vision is smaller than God’s vision? If our vision is small, we might think it can be accomplished in our own power. If my vision is to reach five people this year or plant three churches by the time I retire, that’s something I could realistically accomplish. But when God’s vision becomes my vision, I begin to aim higher. I long to see every people group reached, sooner rather than later, so I work urgently towards that vision every day. It’s a God-sized vision that can never be attained without the powerful moving of God’s spirit and a complete dependence on him. And that’s the point!

Though adopting God’s vision for reaching all people could certainly feel overwhelming, it places us at a point of complete and utter dependence on God, right from the starting gate. A vision for reaching all Japanese leads to an urgency in reaching entire Japanese communities . . . and so forth.

As we share about the need for workers among the Japanese, we need to be looking for those who catch a vision far beyond all that we could ask or imagine. Let’s cast out a God-sized, impossible-for-us vision and see who we catch.

God’s mission

God doesn’t just have a big vision; he has a plan to see it fulfilled. And this plan involves every follower of Jesus. The plan is spelled out succinctly in Jesus’s last words to his disciples before he returned to heaven: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19–20 NET).

It’s usually assumed that this Great Commission is applicable for all believers throughout all time. But why is that true? Jesus said that making disciples includes going, baptizing, and teaching to obey. In obeying Jesus’s command, the disciples would have taught those who were baptized to obey all of Jesus’s commands—including this command to “make disciples of all nations.” As those new disciples obeyed, they would teach others to obey the command to make disciples. As those disciples obeyed . . . well, you see where I’m going with this.

Every believer of Jesus needs to understand that they have received salvation because someone obeyed Jesus’s command to make disciples. And this obedience is meant to pass through all of us. Full-time participation in the mission of God was never intended to be limited to the so-called experts or the “specially-called” ones. Every disciple of Jesus is commanded to make disciples, who make more disciples, who make more disciples.

“I could never do what you do.” “I don’t know enough about the Bible to make other disciples.” “My faith is too weak.” Perhaps you’ve heard excuses like these when inviting others into God’s mission. One of the verses that often gets overlooked in the Great Commission passage is—“When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted” (Matt. 28: 17). Jesus looked right at those who doubted him and, without blinking an eye, gave them the same grand mission of God as those with greater faith. Go, you doubters, and make disciples of all nations! Let’s make sure to communicate to our brothers and sisters the inclusive and all-encompassing nature of Jesus’s Great Commission. Even in our weaknesses, we’ve all been called, qualified, and empowered to fulfill his mission!

God’s patience

I used to think that the patience of God expressed in 2 Peter 3:9 was directed solely at those who did not know Jesus. It’s true; God is patient with those who have yet to believe, with the aim of salvation (3:15). But here, Peter directly addresses believers when he says that God is “being patient toward you, because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (3:9, author’s emphasis). The Lord is not slow, but is being patient with us—the church—as we labor to get the gospel to the ends of the earth.

I think it’s important for the church to hear the hard truths concerning the unreached. In the book 24:14—A Testimony to All Peoples, Justin Long shares the following “brutal” facts:

• In the year 1900, 33% of the world identified as Christian. In 2000, the number remained around 33%. And, unless something changes, in 2050 it will still be at 33%.
• There are 7,000 remaining unreached people groups (UPGs) in the world, consisting of 3.15 billion people, representing 42% of the world.
• Only 3% of cross-cultural missionaries serve among UPGs, and only 0.37% of all full-time Christian workers serve the unreached.¹

Clearly, we are not making much progress towards making disciples of all people groups. There could be many reasons why this is true, but the last statistic above must certainly be part of it. The Japanese are the second largest unreached people group on the planet.² As we make the global church aware of the vast lostness among the Japanese, perhaps more resources will be directed Japan’s way. And as ordinary followers of Jesus, dependent on God’s strength and empowered by the Holy Spirit, engage in the task of making disciples among the unreached Japanese, perhaps many more church members around the world will be emboldened to join the rescue mission!

God’s promise

The slow engagement and progress of the gospel among the Japanese and other UPGs is discouraging, hopefully motivating, but definitely not the final word. It’s important we communicate to our brothers and sisters the hope of God’s promise for the Japanese. Jesus said to his disciples, “Don’t you say, ‘There are four more months and then comes the harvest?’ I tell you, look up and see that the fields are already white for harvest!” (John 4:35). The time for harvest among the Japanese is now. Not later. Not someday. Now! The only thing missing is workers! “The harvest is plentiful,” Jesus said, “but the workers are few” (Matt. 9:37). As more disciples enter the field of Japan, the ready harvest will be brought in!

The present church isn’t the only pool from which to find more laborers. An army of God stands ready to be mobilized from the harvest itself. It’s critical that we begin sharing God’s big vision with those we are engaging, even before they come to Christ. They need to know they are a part of a bigger story. In this way, the DNA of God’s vision will be passed from person to person, family to family, and church to church.

God wants us to share his same big vision—the pursuit of all people. He’s invited us into his plan to make disciples and fulfill this vision. The facts regarding the lost in our world are staggering, but we thank God for his patience as we mobilize to reach the unreached. We can be confident in God’s promise that there will be a harvest among the Japanese. And the time is now! Let’s go spread the word! 

1. Justin Long, “Brutal Facts” in 24:14 – A Testimony to All Peoples, eds. Dave Coles and Stan Parks (Spring, TX: 24:14, 2019), Chap. 21.
2. Joshua Project, “Unreached: 100 Largest,” https://joshuaproject.net/unreached/1?s=Population&o=desc (accessed April 18, 2022).