Almost every organization these days has a mission statement. Locally, International Paper does its “part to improve the world…by using renewable resources to make products people depend on”. Our School District students receive “world class knowledge and skills that prepare them for citizenship in a diverse society.” The Lions “empower volunteers to serve their communities, meet humanitarian needs, encourage peace and promote international understanding”.
Impressed? You can thank Dr. Peter Drucker for all of this: his work on mission is required reading for business students and aspiring leaders. That is why so many – including churches – try to answer his question of “what is our business?” with a mission statement.
“Mission” is already in most church vocabularies – though we usually mean “money we send somewhere else to preach to someone else.” A “mission statement” sounds exciting and new, though! With so many of our other affiliations developing short, sharply focused descriptions of “why you do what you do,” surely it would be worthwhile for the local church to adopt one, too.
After all, the (pre-pandemic) church budget or calendar can be pretty overwhelming. There are the weekly worship services and Bible studies in all of their age-specific variations. There is a hodge-podge of social activities, broken out again by age as well as gender and marital status. There are ministries to support the church’s bereaved, feed the community’s hungry, or relieve disaster victims. There may even be outreach!
In addition to “what” we do, there is “how” we do it. How does the church ensure we have the supplies, volunteers, and coordination to get that worshipping and age-appropriate educating done? How do we motivate members to attend those social events? With so many good causes the church could give attention to, how do we choose which to support? When someone questions why time or money was spent “there” when people “here” need help, how do we answer? When you factor in the Pareto principle – 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people – no wonder so many church staff and volunteers burn out: “distracted with much serving”, we become “anxious and troubled about many things” (cf. Lk. 10:40-41).
Drucker described mission as “an exacting match of your opportunities, competence, and commitment” – so wouldn’t a mission statement be a big help for the church? It would tell everyone what we are about in clear, succinct terms (perfect for the website!) and give clarity on what daily actions to take.
Well, it just so happens that we already have a great mission statement: we just need to listen to Jesus to hear it. Check back next week for “What is Our Mission? Part 2 of 3: Jesus and Mission.”
Train to be like Jesus every day through our “Your Kingdom Come” series of sermons, Bible studies, and articles.