As we draw close to the end of the year, it is common for many organizations to be in the midst of reviewing their past year and preparing for what’s coming in the year ahead. This is a great opportunity to set goals and look to the future with hope, but it is also another chance for mission drift to pull us off course, often without us even recognizing the danger.

Mission drift is one of the greatest threats for Christian leaders and organizations. Whether in church ministry, compassion ministry, or the corporate world, leaders will regularly fight the temptation to become focused on things—even good things—that are not in alignment with the organization’s primary purpose. Many organizations that are productive are adrift from their mission. Mission drift does not mean an organization is not producing anything good, but it does mean they have left their first love. 

The Ephesian Drift

For a brief case study, consider the church in Ephesus. Look at the message given for the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2: 

I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. (Rev. 2:2-4, ESV) 

Notice the church in Ephesus was productive in many ways. They were doing good works, enduring, and they were not tolerating evil influences. Yet they were experiencing a sort of spiritual mission drift as they became increasingly distant from their primary love. If you were to survey people in the church and ask them how the church was doing, they probably would have thought things were going well because lots of good stuff was being accomplished. The key performance indicators looked pretty good. 

However, the wrong questions were likely asked, and this is possibly true for many organizations today. Instead of focusing on good works alone, leaders and organizations regularly need to ask, “Are we remaining faithful to our calling? Are we fulfilling the primary reason for why we exist?”

How to Course-Correct

Here are two principles to help leaders and organizations remain faithful to their calling. 

First, don’t replace the root with the fruit. Many organizations do a lot of good that is a byproduct of their primary mission. However, organizations will go astray if they become focused on the fruit at the expense of their primary reason for existing. 

For example, take a local church that does tremendous good in their community by addressing poverty and meeting tangible needs. These are biblical matters that deserve our utmost attention, but if these matters become divorced from the gospel, the root is separated from the fruit. We love others because God first loved us (1 Jn. 4:19), and everything we do should be the fruit of our relationship with Christ. It might not seem like this is a very different mindset, but it’s actually vitally important: the closer we follow Jesus, the more we will serve those around us, but if the fruit and the root are separated, over time burnout will set in. 

Second, leaders must be willing to have difficult conversations. When an organization has a clear mission, and when individuals in that organization begin doing or saying things that depart from the mission, leaders need to be willing to love these employees with graceful and truthful conversations. Avoidance is not a leadership strategy and will only allow for distractions to grow. Most leaders do not enjoy having these types of conversations with employees, but they need to view these conversations as opportunities for growth and clarity. Additionally, Christian leaders should recognize they are not alone. They can walk prayerfully into these conversations knowing the Holy Spirit is with them.

Like the church in Ephesus, organizations experiencing mission drift may be doing a lot of good things. They may have key performance indicators they can point to as reasons for why they think everything is going well. Mission drift is not something that has to happen overnight. It can be a very slow process where small decisions divorced from the counsel of the organization’s mission and vision become large problems. 

In today’s fast-paced world, there are countless ways leaders and organizations can find themselves distracted from their primary calling. They can become consumed with things that are good but not best. If leaders want to avoid burning out, they must remain connected to the vine (Jn. 15). For organizations to remain on mission, they need to have a culture where employees take ownership of their mission.

Every leader and every organization needs to cherish their first love. For the Kingdom-minded, their first love should always be Christ. In Christ, they can change the world.