Mission

The Army spends a lot of time and effort teaching young lieutenants how to write mission statements. We were taught a deliberate system to analyze what needed to be done and to formulate a simple articulate statement to describe it--The Mission. The reason? To ensure that everybody under our command knew exactly what our objective was so that nothing was wasted, misdirected or misunderstood in its achievement. Without a clear and concise articulation of the Mission, we believed that it would be virtually impossible to unite the effort of the men and marshall the available resources in the accomplishment of  . . . well, anything. 

I contend that defining the Mission is equally important outside of the military context. Any individual, group or institution that hopes to accomplish anything needs a well-defined mission. This applies to the church as well. We are blessed with a very clear and concise mission in the Book of Common Prayer in the Outline of Faith Commonly Called the Catechism. There, on page 855, the Mission of the Church is defined as TO RESTORE ALL PEOPLE TO UNITY WITH GOD AND EACH OTHER IN CHRIST.

Notice the action to be taken:  TO RESTORE, as in to bring back something that was once here, but has been lost.

Notice the subject of this restoration:  ALL PEOPLE--no person is to be left behind.

Notice the twin states to which this restoration of all people is to reach: UNITY WITH GOD and UNITY WITH EACH OTHER IN CHRIST. In other words, we are to be restored in a joined and unified state both with God the Father and with each other in His son. Implicit in this restoration is that we were once so joined but became unjoined in some way. The Mission of the Church is to facilitate this rejoining with the Father and Son, to restore a relationship we once had and shall enjoy again. That is what we are called to do.

I am very thankful to know what the Mission is. I like knowing what God established the Church to accomplish so that I can do my part to see it through. It energizes my sense of purpose and hope for what we can do together in service of His ends. Instead of seeing Church as a place of boredom and obligation, I see it as God intended it to be, a driving force of restoration towards Him. Amen.