The Role of a Mission Statement

Because of a recent conversation it seems to me that a little reflection upon the role of a Mission Statement in an organization might be significant.
During the last part of the 20th Century people in all areas of life; business, non-profit, education, religious organizations, even individuals jumped on the importance of clarifying goals and process. In this time, terms such as Mission Statement, Vision Statement, Core Values, Guiding Themes, BHAGs, Strategic Planning, etc. all took on a sense of urgency. But it wasn't' long before the confusion began.
Is that a vision statement or a mission statement? How can you measure that? It isn't specific enough! It is to specific! The litany goes on and a whole industry of business coaches and seminar leaders have grown up to walk people through the confusion.
The reality is that many companies, churches, and other organizations went through the process of developing and refining all these slogans and then did nothing else with them. The result for many people were hours spent talking with little to show for it. There are of course exceptions and those were organizations that not only did the hard work of development but then grabbed hold of it like a bulldog and would not let go. These success stories are ones that are lifted up as examples of what is possible if only everyone had a Mission Statement, if only everyone had a Vision Statement, if only everyone had a strategic plan, etc.
In the midst of this debate let's stop and look at what might be considered a personal mission statement:
(My mission is) to preach good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
It might sound familer because it is what Jesus says in Luke 4:18-19 as he is reading from the scroll of Isaiah. If you look at everything that Jesus did in light of this statement it is clear that he never waivered in his focus of living this out. Because of Jesus focus' the course of history and religious belief was forever changed.
One could say that the current mission statement of the church as I have discussed in the previous several posts is really the mission of the universal church. Living out the way of the New Testament, reaching those far from God, and building people up into the likeness of Christ should be the goal of every faith community following the teachings of Jesus and his disciples. It could be my point of view, but I don't know how you could read the Bible and not include these points as the key role of being the church.
For me I think the confusion arises around how specific a local church needs to be in their mission statement. Does God call an individual part of the universal church to a specific way of accomplishing the greater goal of the Kingdom? If so in what ways will the local church specialize or focus their mission in a way that will allow them to fulfill the larger mission of the church? I think that is really the question, Does God call each church body to be everything for everyone, or is the local church body called to reach a slice of the population and encourage and cheer on others who are reaching other slices. Until we get that answer firmly in mind a mission statement will either be ignored or will lead to competing demands and expectations.
May the conversation and prayers go on for the glory of God and for our neighbors good!