Love the Mission

Far too many churches and nonprofits exist today that serve a model of service instead of a mission to service. Consider the mission language of your church or favorite ministry. It probably hasn’t changed much over the years. Most would probably use similar words and phrases to describe it. Undoubtedly, the official motto would be quoted. But sometimes actions betray words, such as when institutions quote their mission but often serve their model instead. What’s the difference? The model is the method the organization’s founders decided was the most effective way to accomplish their mission. Problems, however, manifest years later when the model no longer works. Confusing the model with mission, the current leadership works harder, tries to do more, twists and turns in every direction trying to get the model to work again. They fail to understand that models have expiration dates. But the mission doesn’t. Leaders must learn to be infatuated with a model, but be unconditionally in love with the mission.