This week I want to write to you about a mission. Not the
church’s mission, although that is very important. The mission I want to talk
about is your personal life mission.
What do I mean by ‘mission?’ It is the foundational intention that provides meaning and direction to all of your life. If you have a well-defined mission, it provides the grounds for guidance, the choices you make, and the values you live by throughout your life.
Bill O’Brien, CEO of Hanover Insurance, talks about how people enter business as bright, well-educated, high energy people, with the desire to make a difference. Often as people grow older, they lose the commitment, sense of mission, and the excitement they had when they started. When asked what they want in life, they state what they’d like to get rid of. We ought to live our lives with a mission – one that clarifies the things that really matter to us and living our lives in the service of our highest aspirations.1
When you look at the men and women of the Bible, they show us the evidence of personal mastery of mission-driven living. Some examples include:
What do I mean by ‘mission?’ It is the foundational intention that provides meaning and direction to all of your life. If you have a well-defined mission, it provides the grounds for guidance, the choices you make, and the values you live by throughout your life.
Bill O’Brien, CEO of Hanover Insurance, talks about how people enter business as bright, well-educated, high energy people, with the desire to make a difference. Often as people grow older, they lose the commitment, sense of mission, and the excitement they had when they started. When asked what they want in life, they state what they’d like to get rid of. We ought to live our lives with a mission – one that clarifies the things that really matter to us and living our lives in the service of our highest aspirations.1
When you look at the men and women of the Bible, they show us the evidence of personal mastery of mission-driven living. Some examples include:
- Moses and his role in the
liberation of the Hebrews.
- Paul who spent his life
preaching Christ and teaching every person in all wisdom, that we might
present every person as complete in Christ-likeness (Colossians 1:28).
- Jesus seeking and saving the
lost (Luke 19:10).
Perhaps my favorite is the priest Ezra. ‘This was because Ezra
had determined to study and obey the Law of the Lord and to teach those decrees
and regulations to the people of Israel.’ (Ezra 7:10) I see a couple of principles
from Ezra’s mission statement that each of us should apply to our personal
mission statement.First, a
mission should include one’s devotion to God. His deepest desire was to please
and honor His God.
Second,
it should involve a commitment to God’s redemptive work, such as the proclamation
of the Good News of the Gospel. Now, for Ezra, this was done primarily through
teaching God’s word. But if you’re not a teacher, God still uses you and
desires to use your wiring to proclaim Him to your friends and those you know
who are far from a personal relationship with Him.
Third, we are called, given the mandate, to serve our own generation. Ezra returned with the exiles from Babylon and taught them the word, modeled the word, obeyed the word before them, not a previous generation. Whether we like our current culture or not, God has placed us here now to serve it- to point people to the redemptive power of Jesus.
Fourth, your mission should take into account a life of holiness that reflects the honor and character of God. Christ-likeness means we often will think, and act, counter-culturally. Obedience is the goal, not becoming the same as the culture (read Romans 12:1-2).
Your mission can be developed by communing with God through worship and praise and obeying His will. Your mission should follow and honor Jesus in your values, choices, gifts, abilities, and organize your life according to Biblical perspectives. Have you written out your personal mission statement? If so, would you mind sending it to me? I’d love to see it!
Third, we are called, given the mandate, to serve our own generation. Ezra returned with the exiles from Babylon and taught them the word, modeled the word, obeyed the word before them, not a previous generation. Whether we like our current culture or not, God has placed us here now to serve it- to point people to the redemptive power of Jesus.
Fourth, your mission should take into account a life of holiness that reflects the honor and character of God. Christ-likeness means we often will think, and act, counter-culturally. Obedience is the goal, not becoming the same as the culture (read Romans 12:1-2).
Your mission can be developed by communing with God through worship and praise and obeying His will. Your mission should follow and honor Jesus in your values, choices, gifts, abilities, and organize your life according to Biblical perspectives. Have you written out your personal mission statement? If so, would you mind sending it to me? I’d love to see it!
Blessings,
Pastor Mark "The Bru" Brunott1. Senge, Peter. (1990). The Fifth Discipline. Pp. 129-162
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