Stealing back “mission” from business?

"Mission is a word that originated with the Church. Business has stolen it. We need to take it back." I've lost track of how often I've heard or read this recently. I heard it again during a workshop at the Presbyterian Big Tent event in Atlanta. The speaker mentioned seeing a business mission statement at Taco Bell. He quipped, somewhat incredulously, "Who knew Taco Bell has a mission statement?" He then noted that mission was an idea that originated with the Church, and we need to recover it within the Church.

While this instance was rather benign, such remarks often are not. "Stealing back mission" isn't just about recovering it for the Church. It is about getting it out of the hands of evil. There is a strong intimation, if not an explicit declaration, that the idea of mission has been co-opted by something profane. The idea that a business would have a mission statement is mocked. After all, we all know that businesses are rooted in greed. Business mission statements are ultimately disingenuous attempts to dress up sinful motives.

 It strikes me that this frame of mind is rooted in sacred versus secular dualism. Let me explain. As John Stackhouse so eloquently notes, God has given us two sets of two commands:

Creation Commandments

• Cultural Mandate – Exercising dominion over the earth and bringing all of creation, including human culture, into fullness and abundance.
• Great Commandments – Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind," and "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Redemption Commandments

• Loving Community  – Jesus taught that the world would know we are his disciples by the love we show for one another.
• Great Commission – We are sent into the entire world to make disciples.

Creation commandments are permanent, while the redemption commandments only apply to this side of the consummation of the Kingdom of God. The redemption commandments are about redeeming humanity and recreating a world where flawless obedience to the creation commandments is a reality.

Business is a critical component of living out the cultural mandate. Economic activity is largely about transforming matter, energy, and data from less useful forms into more useful forms. This activity is integral to bearing the image of God. But like every aspect of our human existence, business has been corrupted by sin. Some businesses' mission statement is a bit like putting pearls on a pig. But in my estimation, those who pejoratively dismiss the idea of businesses having a mission betray their own dualistic mindsets. For them, mission is confined only to the redemption commandments … spiritual and relational matters. To the degree that mission touches business or economic matters, its role is one of prophetic denunciation, restraint, and suspicion.

Greed has been present with humanity throughout recorded history. It is present in our modern economies as well. But at its core, business is not about greed. Business is about people creating goods and services and then participating in endless win-win exchanges. It is about people irrepressibly exhibiting the image of their creator. The idea of businesses being intentional and focused on their mission as they corporately reflect the image of God (which they do despite their intentions) should prompt affirmations and encouragement from the Church. Sadly, for all too many church leaders, it merely elicits ridicule and scorn. It is viewed as the defilement of something sacred.