By Jesse Johnson @ http://www.sfpulpit.comA mission statement is a brief statement of the purpose of a company or religious or other organization. Companies sometimes use their mission statement as an advertising slogan, but the intention of a genuine mission statement is to keep members and users aware of the organization’s purpose.
The mission statement should be a clear and succinct representation of the enterprise’s purpose for existence. The intent of the Mission Statement should be the first consideration for any employee who is evaluating a strategic decision.
Here is a quiz for you to see if you can recognize which company’s mission statements these are:
1. ”A computer on every desktop and in every home, running our software”
2. Establishing ourselves as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles while we grow.
3. ”We seek to be the world’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they may want to buy online at a great price.”
4. “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.”
5. ”Organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
6. ”To give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same thing as rich people.”
7. “To make people happy.”
The answers, of course are: Microsoft, Starbucks, Amazon, Nike, Google, Wal-Mart, and Disneyland. When an employee at one of those companies makes a decision, they do so in light of their mission statement. This ensures that the whole company is working toward the same end.
If you had a mission statement for your life, what would it be? I propose to you that our mission statement is clearly laid out in Scripture. Many churches, in fact, have a mission statement. But the true mission statement of the church, and the true mission statement for every Christian was not invented at an elder’s meeting or designed by committee. The church’s mission statement was given to us by Jesus himself.
Matthew 28:19-20: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Mark 16:15-16: And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
Luke 24:45-48: Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
John 20:21: Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
Acts 1:8-9: “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
So at the end of all four Gospels, as well as at the beginning of Acts, the church is given it’s mission. To reach the lost with the saving power of the Gospel. And with this commission, Jesus makes evangelism an issue of obedience to our mission statement.
Christians are then called to live, think and act in light of our mission statement. We make decisions and choices based on how they will affect our purpose, the reaching and saving of the lost.
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