Part II - When the Vision Is Too Small: Control, Caution, and the Fear of Failure
If part one was about pastors chasing porridge that’s too hot—vision that burns too fast—then this one is about porridge gone cold.
There’s another kind of burnout that doesn’t come from overreaching. It comes from under-dreaming. From playing it safe for so long that you forget what it feels like to be led by faith. From managing a church like a nonprofit—efficient and tidy, but lacking fire.
This is what happens when the vision is too small.
The Temptation of Playing It Safe
Let’s be honest: dreaming is risky.
When you’ve been hurt by failed ideas, burned by big promises, or frustrated by unresponsive congregations, it’s easy to retreat into maintenance mode. You stop casting vision and start managing expectations. You don’t want to disappoint people—or worse, disappoint yourself.
So you shrink the horizon. You lead from what’s practical instead of what’s possible. You focus on what’s sustainable, not what’s supernatural.
And on the surface, it works. The bills get paid. The services happen. The machine runs. But deep down, you know the church wasn’t meant to be a museum of past faithfulness. It was meant to be a movement of present obedience. The most dangerous vision isn’t the one that’s too big. It’s the one that’s small enough to succeed without God.
Warning Signs of Small Vision
A vision that’s too small usually shows up in subtle ways:
No initiatives that require real dependence on God
Staff focused solely on execution, not prayer or innovation
A budget that’s built on what’s leftover, not what’s possible
The same calendar, same rhythms, same conversations, year after year
Vision statements that feel like slogans instead of marching orders
Let’s be clear: small vision isn’t humble. It’s often fear in disguise. And fear always leads to control.
When a church stops dreaming, it doesn’t just avoid failure—it also avoids growth. Because spiritual growth always requires surrender. And surrender is anything but safe.
God Rarely Gives Manageable Vision
The Bible is full of people being given visions they couldn’t accomplish alone:
Noah building a boat when it had never rained
Gideon leading an army slashed to 300
Joshua marching around a city with trumpets
Mary, a teenager, entrusted with the Son of God
These weren’t reckless ideas—they were invitations to trust. God rarely gives a manageable vision. But He always gives a faithful one. If your vision doesn’t stretch your faith, it’s probably not from God. If your strategy doesn’t include prayer, you’re probably in control.
Faithful Doesn’t Mean Flashy
Now—don’t hear what I’m not saying. Faith-filled vision doesn’t have to be flashy. Not every church is called to build a campus or launch a network. Sometimes the right-sized, faith-filled vision is to raise up five new leaders, plant a house church, or send a missionary. Obedience doesn’t always look spectacular. But it always moves forward.
The issue isn’t scale. It’s source. Are you leading out of security or surrender?
A Nudge for the Pastor in Maintenance Mode
If you’re in a season where vision feels quiet, I get it. You’re not failing. But don’t settle there. Ask the Spirit to stir something fresh in you. Return to the places where your heart used to burn.
Ask yourself:
When’s the last time I prayed for a vision that scared me a little?
Am I building what I can manage… or what God is calling me to multiply?
What does obedience look like if I truly believed God was with me?
In the final post of this series, we’ll explore what right-sized vision actually looks like. It’s not too hot. Not too cold. It’s the kind of vision that feeds your people, honors God, and leads to real movement.