A solid mission statement/business plan

Any business consultant will advise having a mission behind a company, a vision for where you’re going, and strategies to help make that happen.  When you create that vision, mission, and strategic plan, you aren’t there yet.   But you believe with all your heart that it’s possible and you’re dedicated to acting in whatever ways you can to get there, keeping your eyes on the end result and adjusting what you do along the way as you work toward it.  A good mission statement should remind you of why your business exists and why it’s important to society.  I am a proud retiree of one of the most successful companies of the last eighty years…U-Haul.  U-Haul’s mission statement is actually a “Management Bulletin” that I often heard referred to as “the U-Haul Bible”, because it is that important to their success.   One of the objectives stated in the very first paragraph is “to improve human lives.”   That one single objective was the reason I was able to stay focused on providing the best customer service I could for over 25 years, despite the many aggravations and obstacles—sometimes self-imposed—that popped up during my career.  Every time I felt discouraged or tempted to quit, I would go back and read MB197 and be reminded that we existed to “improve human lives.”  

As I reflect on Jesus’ recitation of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12), it sounds like a business statement, but one that seems totally unrealistic in today’s world.  The meek are inheriting the land?  Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are satisfied?  The merciful are shown mercy?  Peacemakers are called children of God?  And on it goes.  Sometimes people interpret the entirety of the beatitudes as referring to our “great reward” in heaven.  Yet didn’t Jesus tell us that the reign of God is among us right now (Matthew 4:17)?  Don’t we pray that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:5-15)?  So what’s the deal?

Just as with business, perhaps this is a case of “already but not yet”.  Jesus does indeed paint an ideal picture.  But it isn’t simply an explanation of what heaven will be like.  Instead, it’s our mission and vision statement, and we are to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, who dedicated His life to doing everything possible to enact it in this world.

So just as in business, we have to pause often and see how we’re doing.  In what ways do I fall short of God’s vision and mission for me and for this world?  When do I fail to notice and uphold the meek ones who can fade into the background otherwise?  When do I allow myself to become so disheartened and discouraged in my thirst for righteousness that I give up or sink into apathy?  When do I fail to show mercy to others?  In what ways do I feed divisions and animosity or cling to my own position instead of truly listening to another in a quest to find common ground, compromise, and go forward for the good of all?  And on it goes.

Make no mistake about it: This is a demanding vision, and it involves real costs.  For Jesus, it cost Him His life.  Our call is not to water it down or interpret it as merely God’s ultimate reward to us in heaven after we die.  Working individually and together as disciples of Christ, what steps can each of us take today or this week to bring God’s vision to fruition?