Dear Brethren and Friends,
The prime objective or the “mission statement” for a company, a team or individuals is a key component to staying focused and on track. Otherwise, one may start losing sight of the vision as to why one exists or works. For example, the Star Trek series had a mission statement at the beginning of each episode, which went like this: “Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.”
Captain Kirk was not confused or muddled as to what his mission was, and he stayed on track to achieve that goal (even though parts of that declared goal were impossible to achieve, since there are no aliens and no new life forms in outer space).
We, as a Church organization, and individually, have been given a mission by Christ. Some will fail and some will succeed.
Let’s look at failure first.
Matthew 7:21-23 tells us: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
Look at their works: they had prophesied, cast out demons and performed many wonders. These may be admirable things to do; yet, what went wrong here? Apart from the fact that they might not have done any of this in Christ’s name—that is, with His approval—they had practiced lawlessness. In other words, as verse 21 tells us, they failed to do the Will of His Father.
Just what was that “Will of the Father”? To live righteously, in obedience to God’s Law, and to carry out whatever mission and task God might have had for them.
In John 17:4, Christ stated: “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.”
Christ finished the WORK allotted to Him by the Father.
Look at what Paul said in this regard, in 2 Timothy 4:7: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
In other words, he finished the work given to him by God.
Our mission statement reads: “Preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God to all nations as a witness, to warn all nations, and especially the lost tribes of the house of Israel (mainly in the United States, Great Britain, certain Commonwealth nations and nations in Northwestern Europe) of impending danger, and to feed the flock of Christ – the Church – spiritually and physically.”
Our mission statement is not to “save” ourselves at any cost; to get sidetracked in wild speculations; or to focus on doing good missionary works in poor countries. While some of these tasks may be quite nice things to do, they are not the commission which God has given to His Church today.
What do we want to hear from Christ? Is it what we read in Matthew 25:23: “‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord’”?
The “few things” we have to be faithful in is finishing the work we have collectively and individually been given to do.
“What’s in it for me?” is a phrase used by some in order to know what they are going to “get” out of a task being given to them. However, this must not be our motivation and reason for doing God’s Will. Still, we read in 2 Timothy 4:8: “Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
This is the future for those who are not sidetracked, but who finish the work given to them: A crown of righteousness, eternal life in the Kingdom of God and becoming born-again members of the Family of God. How do you put a price tag on this incredible human potential?
In light of God’s great promise for us, it behooves us to stay on point and finish what God has given us to do.
With Christian love,
Rene Messier (Canada)
