For the past four weeks I shared about values, purpose, vision and strategy. Today I will share about mission. Mission holds all the above together. Your mission in life is the power behind all that you do. As mentioned before, these five concepts form the philosophies that guide your life.
Mission in general, has many characteristics. We may say things like, “I’m on a mission to clean my yard this weekend.” Or, we might go on a “mission” trip for church. But even then, we need to differentiate whether it’s a long-term or short-term mission trip. Either way, in this case, your mission is only “a trip”. A business could call a particular case, a mission, giving you a new mission each day, week or month. A mission could also be seen as a shelter designed to rehabilitate a person. So, as we see, there are many ways we tend to use the term “mission”.
How do we figure out what our life mission should be? When creating a mission statement for a church, a business or a club, your mission statement describes “why you exist.” In the same way when creating your personal mission statement, it should describe why you exist. A person who believes we all evolved from apes may have a radically different understanding for his/her mission in life than a person who believes that God created us all. A person whose core values are money and power will have a different life mission than a person who values social justice. Even within our religious systems and our Christian churches we can find a myriad of differing personal mission statements. So, to begin with, we must ask, “Why are you here?” “Why do you exist?”
Isaiah 43:1-13, gives us a clear account that we were created by God for His glory and He redeems us to be His witnesses to the whole world (Created, Redeemed and Commissioned). In his gospel, Matthew uses the word “kingdom” 52 times. Matthew’s gospel is all about restoring God’s kingdom. In Matthew 24:14, Jesus says, “the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.” This verse tells me that preaching (sharing, teaching) the good news of God’s kingdom is so important that once everyone has a chance to hear it, His plan is fulfilled, and the end will come. That’s the mission.
Consider this, God created this world and it was all good. Sin entered in and we now live in a fallen world. The entire Bible speaks about Jesus coming as a Savior to restore what was lost. God in His mercy saves us by grace through faith in Jesus. He now commands us to go into all the world and make disciples of Jesus. The gospel message and the Great Commission is not just about making disciples, the Great Commission is about world revolution. The gospel redeems, restores, revolutionizes and transforms. It brings us into an eternal relationship with God and His Son and makes the world a better place. That’s why it’s called “The Great Co-Mission.”
God is on a mission. When creating a mission statement, we don’t just simply throw ideas into the wind but rather we line ourselves up with God to accomplish His mission. As I’ve said before, it’s not that the church has a mission (that could be anything under the sun), but rather, “THE MISSION has a church.” God designed the church to accomplish HIS mission. This mission is not only for the church, it is a mission for every Christian. You can’t separate the two; we are the church.
Preaching the good news to all the earth and making disciples of Jesus is why I exist. Why do you exist? Your answer is what drives you. Your answer is your life mission.
Mission in general, has many characteristics. We may say things like, “I’m on a mission to clean my yard this weekend.” Or, we might go on a “mission” trip for church. But even then, we need to differentiate whether it’s a long-term or short-term mission trip. Either way, in this case, your mission is only “a trip”. A business could call a particular case, a mission, giving you a new mission each day, week or month. A mission could also be seen as a shelter designed to rehabilitate a person. So, as we see, there are many ways we tend to use the term “mission”.
How do we figure out what our life mission should be? When creating a mission statement for a church, a business or a club, your mission statement describes “why you exist.” In the same way when creating your personal mission statement, it should describe why you exist. A person who believes we all evolved from apes may have a radically different understanding for his/her mission in life than a person who believes that God created us all. A person whose core values are money and power will have a different life mission than a person who values social justice. Even within our religious systems and our Christian churches we can find a myriad of differing personal mission statements. So, to begin with, we must ask, “Why are you here?” “Why do you exist?”
Isaiah 43:1-13, gives us a clear account that we were created by God for His glory and He redeems us to be His witnesses to the whole world (Created, Redeemed and Commissioned). In his gospel, Matthew uses the word “kingdom” 52 times. Matthew’s gospel is all about restoring God’s kingdom. In Matthew 24:14, Jesus says, “the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.” This verse tells me that preaching (sharing, teaching) the good news of God’s kingdom is so important that once everyone has a chance to hear it, His plan is fulfilled, and the end will come. That’s the mission.
Consider this, God created this world and it was all good. Sin entered in and we now live in a fallen world. The entire Bible speaks about Jesus coming as a Savior to restore what was lost. God in His mercy saves us by grace through faith in Jesus. He now commands us to go into all the world and make disciples of Jesus. The gospel message and the Great Commission is not just about making disciples, the Great Commission is about world revolution. The gospel redeems, restores, revolutionizes and transforms. It brings us into an eternal relationship with God and His Son and makes the world a better place. That’s why it’s called “The Great Co-Mission.”
God is on a mission. When creating a mission statement, we don’t just simply throw ideas into the wind but rather we line ourselves up with God to accomplish His mission. As I’ve said before, it’s not that the church has a mission (that could be anything under the sun), but rather, “THE MISSION has a church.” God designed the church to accomplish HIS mission. This mission is not only for the church, it is a mission for every Christian. You can’t separate the two; we are the church.
Preaching the good news to all the earth and making disciples of Jesus is why I exist. Why do you exist? Your answer is what drives you. Your answer is your life mission.
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