The Best Mission Statement

Over the last two or three decades, it has become clear, at least in the western world, that a person cannot be successful, live a truly satisfying life and experience significance as a human being without a well-written, eye-catching personal mission statement. Likewise, no corporation can increase its bottom line and influence its market without a corporate mission statement. Next to oxygen and nourishment, a mission statement is essential to life.

Of course, I am speaking facetiously. To be sure, strategically developing and clearly stating your personal or corporate mission is a good thing. I have one. Jesus had one: “The Son of man came to serve, not be served, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45). The Apostle Paul had one: “I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” (Acts 20:24) You would do well to have one, too.

But what would happen if the qualifier to every mission statement of every Christian and every faith-based organization was the same as John the Baptist’s? Oh my! We would change the world—that’s what would happen!

John the Baptist’s mission statement can be found in John 1:7, “John came as a witness to testify concerning that light (Jesus Christ), so that through him all might believe.” Throughout his ministry, John faithfully, fearlessly and passionately executed against that calling until he himself was executed, literally, for doing his job. (Mark 6:14-29) And while in reality John’s time in fulfilling his mission was brief, it was undeniably powerful.

It is very likely that John could have avoided what from a human perspective looked like the failure of his business. Most likely, he could have gone on to a lucrative career as a speaker, or the leader of a religious movement. But had he done that, from an eternal perspective, he would have failed at his mission.

No, John’s mission to testify to the Light (that is, Jesus and his messianic mission) was controlled by this caveat: that no matter how famous and prosperous his clients were willing to make his ministry, John knew that he had to decrease so Jesus could increase. After all, his mission was simply to introduce and represent Jesus. Jesus was the real deal; John only knew of Jesus. It was Jesus, not John, who had the bona fides to speak of the Kingdom of Heaven since he had been there and was actually from there. And with that was the case, the more successful John did his job of introducing Jesus, the less of John people needed to see.

Now of course, you and I are likely not called to John the Baptist’s path. He was unique in the initial public offering of Jesus. Yet in another sense, all Christians and Christian organizations are called to introduce and represent Jesus. And to successfully execute against that mission—however that mission statement might be personalized uniquely to you and me—John’s caveat must control ours as well: In all that we do, in the success that we experience, in the direction we take and in the dreams we pursue, we must decrease so that Jesus can increase.

From a human point of view, that might seem silly. But from heaven’s perspective, that is the path by which you and I can change the world—for Christ’s sake. Yes, that is the best mission statement!

“Humility is the displacement of self by the enthronement of God…[it] is nothing but the disappearance of self in the vision that God is all.” (Andrew Murray)

Getting To Know Jesus: If you have a personal mission statement (or a corporate one), add John’s caveat to the end of it: “Jesus He must become greater; I must become less.”