Achieving the Mission

These are my notes from last Sunday's sermon on "Achieving the (Great Co-) Mission".

To be headed in the right direction in life serves people well. Without a destination, people will meander and drift. We seem to have this inborn desire to want to know that we are headed somewhere – that our lives have purpose and meaning, not just are successful but significant. This, oftentimes is done through formulating a mission statement because people like to know where they are going - or in an organization, where they are being lead.

Matthew 28:16-20 records the mission statement Jesus gave to His remaining 11 disciples. It was a compass, a map to guide them and give direction. "Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Jesus said these words to help give the disciples' lives meaning, purpose, and significance in fulfilling what He started. Living with a clear sense of mission is what the church is all about. Those that don’t, limp along with something called Mission Drift. It's what happens when people come together to support an objective but forget what the objective is. People lose their reason for being and get sidetracked even though they go through the motions.

A clear sense of mission is the reason a church exists. Being missional is not an adjective to describe a church; it is the very DNA of the church. So how are we doing at achieving the mission? Too often we look at the numbers to gauge how we're doing: "How many are attending worship services? How many are involved teaching Sunday school? How many baptisms have we had? How many tithe?" This is the wrong question to ask. Instead we must ask, "Where are you?"

In your walk with the Lord, where are you? Are you drawing closer to Him? The health of our church is not just about numbers. It’s about the movement of people toward Christ, toward deep love for God and genuine love for others. Once we answer this question, we can fulfill and achieve the mission.