In Managing the Non-Profit Organization: Practice and Principles, Dr. Peter Drucker said, “The first job of the leader is to think through and define the mission of the institution”. He would find no disagreement from Jesus. The head of the church and founder of our faith is focused on mission (cf. Col. 1:18, Heb. 12:2).
We see this early on. When his distressed parents found the pre-teen in the temple after days of anxious separation, Jesus asked, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Lk. 2:49). When confronted with a grumbling crowd as He brought salvation to a tax collector, Jesus confidently replied, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Lk. 19:10). Because He understood His mission, Jesus always knew what the right thing to do was – even if it was unpopular. He knew the authority and charge the Father had given Him, and it made His work clear (cf. Jn. 10:18). So, when the resurrected Jesus received “all authority in heaven and on earth”, He made His followers’ mission crystal clear, too: “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” (Matt. 28:18-20). This is our mission!
As Drucker might ask, “Why do we do what we do as a church?” Our Good Shepherd has already defined it: we go and make disciples! Taken to heart, this tells us what to do. If Jesus says “go”, then we cannot sit and wait for visitors to wander in! If our business is to “make disciples”, then every activity we plan and dollar we spend should help people become completely devoted followers of Jesus. (And if not – then the church does not need to do it!) If our service area is “all nations”, we need to actively seek people from all walks of life and all around the world. When we are focused on our mission, people will be getting baptized – it is how Jesus tells us to be united with Him (cf. Rom. 6:1-5)! People will both hear “the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” and be actively trained to practice them so “the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:15-17).
And therein lies the challenge. We usually are not ignorant of Jesus’ mission statement, but we do fail to put it into practice. That can change, though. Check back next week for “What is Our Mission? Part 3 of 3: Us on Mission.”
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