An Eight-Word Mission Statement -- FPC sermons excerpt

Jesus was a man on a mission.

He healed the sick, fed the five thousand, gave sight to the blind, raised the dead, washed the feet of the disciples, commanded them to love one another, and showed them the way to God.

His mission was clear. But did he have a “mission statement”? A short and memorable expression of his purpose?

Something like: “To inspire and nurture the human spirit”?

No, that can’t be it — that’s the mission statement of Starbucks. This coffee company is on a mission “to inspire and nurture the human spirit — one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.”

That sounds awfully spiritual, doesn’t it? In the inspiration business, we Christians have some serious competition.

Mission statements have become big business, with a wide range of organizations crafting them in an attempt to capture their core values, purposes, and goals. The problem with most of them is that they wind up sounding complex and boring, such as the one that reads: “Our challenge is to assertively network economically sound methods of empowerment so that we may continually negotiate performance-based infrastructures.” What does that even mean?

Jesus would never want his mission to be so complex and boring. As followers of Christ, we can do better.

A man named Kevin Starr has seen a ton of mission statements. He is executive director of the Mulago Foundation, which matches investment dollars with socially-minded businesses. “Most companies, regardless of their sectors, have a mission statement,” he tells the Harvard Business Review (October 22, 2010). “And most are awash in jargon and marble-mouthed pronouncements. Worse still, these gobbledy-gook statements are often forgotten by, misremembered, or flatly ignored by frontline employees.”

If you want to receive some investment dollars from Kevin Starr and the Mulago Foundation, you better have a clear and compelling mission statement. Fortunately, Starr gives some excellent advice: You must express your mission in no more than eight words.

That’s the max: An eight-word mission statement.

He also requires that applicants follow this format: “Verb, target, outcome.” Start with a strong action word, name the target of the work, and describe the outcome. Verb, target, outcome.

Some good examples:

“Save endangered species from extinction.”

“Improve African children’s health.”

And since this is Memorial Day weekend, a couple of examples from the military. The mission of the United States Marine Corps: “Win our Nation’s Battles. Develop Quality Citizens.”

And the United States Air Force: “Fly and fight in Air, Space, and Cyberspace.”

Clear and compelling mission statements, using eight words or fewer. Such statements are not likely to be forgotten, misremembered, or ignored.

So what should be included in a mission statement for the followers of Jesus, based on the words that Jesus spoke on the night before his death? “If you love me,” he says to his disciples, “you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). That’s a punchy start, but this first verse alone exceeds the eight-word limit.

“I will ask the Father,” promises Jesus, “and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever” (v. 16). Advocate comes from the Greek word parakletos — one who exhorts, comforts, helps, and makes an appeal on another person’s behalf. More than one English translation exists for parakletos, which is why one Bible will render the word “Advocate,” another will say “Comforter,” and still another, “Counselor.” All of these English words describe the “Spirit of truth” that God will send to the disciples, and Jesus predicts that “you know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you” (v. 17).

This is a good start to an authentic Christian mission statement: Love Christ, keep his commandments, receive the Advocate, Comforter, Counselor, Spirit of truth.