Is it in the best interest of Jesus?  That’s the question.  The very nature and challenge of being a Christian is disabling our own personal desires and ambitions in order to become spirit-centric ambassadors of Christ.

Our mission and purpose is Jesus

Church is not something we do for personal earthly gain.  We don’t seek glory, honor, fame, praise, reputation, respect, status, leadership, money, or pride for ourselves.  We don’t strive to create a legacy.  We desire to be Christ’s legacy.  In fact, our concern is not the success or failure of our congregation in particular, but the overall advancement of the gospel.  We continually examine our thoughts and motivations to ensure that our actions are being done for the purpose of advancing the cause of Jesus Christ and his kingdom.

I Corinthians 1:31 reads, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

Our glory is the cross

We strive to be Christians.  We stumble.  We fall.  Without the grace and mercy of God we are nothing. Our goal is to love God, be like Jesus, and live by the Spirit more and more every day.

Galatians 6:14 reads, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

A mission statement is a rallying cry; a theme to keep every member of an organization working towards the same common goal.  At Washougal we’ve adopted the following theme:

We are disciples of Jesus; teaching and preaching the good news of the kingdom

Those words based on Matthew 9:35 are wonderful because they emphasize a desire to be students of Christ and follow his command to tell others about him.  Here are some of the other themes we’ve considered:

United in Spirit

Too often, churches are divided by opinions and man-made issues.  This theme represents the idea that Spirit-guided people are willing to put aside egos, opinions, and personal desires in order to work together for a single-minded purpose.

Free in Christ

Spiritual freedom is one of the predominant themes in the bible.  It is also one of the least understood concepts in the church today.  Freedom and legalism are incompatible.  The bible absolutely teaches that our faith enables us to be free from sin, but Christian liberty means so much more.  Spirit-filled lives don’t need law because law represents the minimum requirements of success.  In God’s kingdom the minimum is just not good enough.  The bible is not a book of rules.  It is not a legal document.  It is the perfect and beautiful story of God’s plan for mankind’s salvation.  With lives dedicated to Christ, we are free to excel in his service.  We are not bound by traditional methods or preconceived notions.  Instead, we are empowered to find thoughtful, creative, and radical ways to serve our Lord.

Strengthened by God

Our society recognizes and honors physical strength.  Yet Christians are called to be meek lambs; willing to turn the other cheek when we are hit, and give our shirts to those who steal our coats.  By any modern definition we are called to be weak.  And on our own, we are.

But with God, all things are possible.  We have access to the power of God.  There is very little we can do on our own.  The strongest, richest, and most powerful people on earth are mere footnotes of history.  Yet with even the tiniest faith in God we can move mountains.  Our strength is immeasurable because it comes from the creator of the universe and the designer of our salvation.

In love with his word

The bible is the perfect, literal, inerrant, and simple word of God.  Every word in the bible is relevant to our salvation.  As Christians, we meditate on his word and are addicted to studying it.  His word is our light.  It directs us.  It teaches us about the nature and character of God.  It is the awesome story of our salvation.  It teaches us about God’s love for us and his willingness to sacrifice his son to give us our hope.

In the end, our mission is all of the above.  Our goal is to follow every command of God, live like Jesus in every way, and enable the Spirit to guide us every day.  This means desperately seeking and saving the lost, urgently desiring peace with all men, completely devoting our lives to Christ’s purpose, helping people, loving one another, fearing God, and giving every bit of our heart, soul, and strength to him.