- Starbucks: To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.
- The Humane Society: Celebrating Animals, Confronting Cruelty.
- The Girl Scouts of America: Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.
- Facebook: To give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.
- SeaWorld: To apply basic physiological research efforts and state-of-the-art reproductive technologies toward wildlife species management and conservation.
The charter school where I
teach has a mission statement. The
railroad where my husband works has a mission statement. Our church has a mission statement. One thing I never really thought about (until
recently) was why I don’t have a mission statement for myself.
That’s right. Why can’t people have mission
statements? If it’s good enough for
Starbucks and Facebook and SeaWorld, why shouldn’t people have their own
guiding principal? The best part about
life statements like these is that they are designed to be short, concise, and
focused. They are foundational, and they
can be pulled out and studied in times of crisis, loss of focus, and movements
toward change.
I had never considered this
until a few weeks ago. Our church is in
the process of calling a new associate pastor.
Being a part of the process has taught me a lot, and meeting the potential
pastors has been very edifying. One of
the potential pastors, who visited our church for a meet-and-greet and brief
talk about discipleship, talked about having a statement that guides his life
in all situations, from enduring hard times to meeting others and talking about
Christ. The statement, which comes from
the Bible, forms the foundation for not only his decisions but also his point
of view. When he is talking to someone
about Christ, he said he makes it a point to ask him or her, “What is your life’s
mission statement?” Then he shares
his: “Jesus is Lord.”
I had never considered what a
handy thing it would be to have a life statement until this moment. Think about it: Did you have a bad day, where nothing seems
to be going right? Well, if your mission
statement is “Jesus is Lord,” then you can rest assured that no matter what the
circumstances, Jesus has you in His hands.
He has a plan for you, and no amount of bad days can change that. Okay, how about this: Did you have the best day ever? Did everything go as planned? Did you find success? Well, guess what? “Jesus is Lord.” And if that’s the case, you know where those
blessings came from, and you know whom to thank. Did you meet a nice person on that flight to
Seattle? Did you strike up a
conversation about life and work and what book you were reading? Now ask that stranger what their life’s
mission is. Then share yours. If it’s “Jesus is Lord,” that swings the door
wide open to talk about how God has worked in your life, and all of the sudden
you are discipling and blessing someone’s life in a potentially life-altering
way. Pretty cool, right?
Ever since that evening where
I was introduced to the idea of a personal mission statement, I’ve been sorting
through my favorite Bible verses and passages, trying to decide what my life
statement will be. I want to it serve as
a cornerstone for everything that I do.
I want it to speak to my attitude about work, about the people I
encounter, and about the goals and aspirations I have. I want it to be both an encouragement in the
rough times and a guardrail that keeps my heart and mind on track.
When I discover my mission
statement, I will be certain to share it with you. In the meantime, have you ever thought about
what statement, Biblical or otherwise, that you want to act as a pilot light
for your life? If not, I encourage you
to ponder it out. It might be just the
thing to illuminate what values you want to permeate your future decisions and
your overall point of view.
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