I believe our church needs a mission statement. Perhaps you’ve never thought of that. You know our church needs a lot of work on the building, and we need more people in the pews, and and our pastor certainly needs some help with his haircut and some of his sermons. But a mission statement? What’s that?

A church mission statement is a short summary of her reason for existence. It capsulizes the heart of what the church is all about, and helps communicate that vision to members and people in the surrounding community. The mission statement also helps keep the church on task, and provides a handy yardstick to verify it is doing what it should be doing.

Some mission statements are vague and not all that helpful. “We are a family centered place.” That, unfortunately, could be a church, a restaurant or a dental office. Some are funny. I drive by a church that has a big sign: “A Going Church for a Coming Lord.” I’m not tempted to look much further. Some are really ambitious. “Our mission is to change the world!”

Rick Warren, the Baptist pastor who brought John McCain and Barack Obama together during the presidential campaign and then gave the invocation at the inauguration suggests four questions that need to be answered before developing a mission or vision statement.

1. Why does the church exist?

2. What are we to be as a church? (Who and what are we?)

3. What are we to do as a church? (What does God want done in the world?)

4. How are we to do it?

To claim a valid and helpful mission statement of the ways God desires to use First Baptist Arlington, I suggest the following pathway. First, we must look at what the Bible says about the church. Jesus said “I will build my church.” (Matt 16:18) He must have had something definite in mind. What are his purposes for his church?

Next let’s look at who are we as people living in the beginning years of a new century with untold problems and potential facing us. Who are we as spiritual people? What soul qualities mark the very heart of our selves? What about our Christian faith marks us as individuals and a church that reflects the love of God?

Thirdly, how do we go from where we are to more faithfully reflecting the biblical vision on the church? Every generation must reclaim the gospel for themselves. If we neglect to do this, we simply become keepers of a museum of interesting and sometimes beautiful must old ideas and traditions. By bringing our faith into life, it becomes something of significance to us and the people around us.

Then we need to get specific. What’s our purpose? What are we to do if we are to live Christianly right now?

We need to take the living, biblical mandate, put it into a short statement that is specific and focused, one we can both remember and tell to others, and one that will be a help as we measure our progress.

Going through the process of discovering our mission statement, and then knowing and living it out has the potential to bring a fresh vision of God into our church and our lives. That sounds exciting to me. Doesn’t it sound good to you, too?

Blessings,
Pastor Jon