Be careful if you walk up on a conversation that has already started. You might be asked to join in, which puts you at a disadvantage if any type of momentum has already built up. I learned this lesson the hard way last month when I was making the rounds in a room and walked over to greet a couple of friends who were talking.
The topic de jour was purpose in life, from what I can tell. In an effort to politely reach out and fold me into the conversation, one of the ladies asked me what my personal mission statement is. Problem: I didn’t have a personal mission statement yet. I thought for a second before informing her that I hadn’t had time to assemble my own personal board of directors to craft a statement in a committee meeting making something up off the cuff. I don’t even remember what it was. Probably an adequate statement, but certainly not my mission statement.
The question was good food for thought. I turned it over in my head over the course of the past month. Mission statements need to be short. They need to be to the point. They need to be catchy. In the end I could only think of one statement that could adequately sum up my life mission.
just be christian
Sorry to go all Rickey Henderson up on y’all there, but it’s what makes the most sense to me. Two statements in one. A desire to follow Christ while at the same time doing and being all of the things that God has called me to do and be. It includes what I say I believe. It includes how the way I act shows what I really believe (because we all make ourselves out to be caricatures of our true selves). It includes how I am able to articulate that story, and how well I am able to listen to others as they articulate their faith and their story.
So let’s have a conversation. A conversation that has to do with how funexcitingfrustratingsadamazingenvigoratingsuckyflabbergastinggreat it can be to live life. Let’s talk about hopes, dreams and disappointments. Let’s tell stories that highlight what we believe and why we believe it.
If you agree with a point I might make, let me know. If you disagree, let me know. You won’t hurt my feelings. You’d have to try really hard to earn the mantle of “Meanest Comment Ever Made In Response to Something Christian Dashiell Has Written on the Internet”. The Grinch beat you to the punch. Sorry.
Renew and Restore
