UNWRAP HIS GRAVE CLOTHES

I have been considering the function of the local church lately and doing some study and prayer about what the church in the 21st century should look like. We seem to get caught up in the busy schedule of the organization and, if we were truthful, find very little of the fruit that we all long to see. By God's grace I am involved in a local church that is seeing fruit and is struggling to fight the pressure to just "do church." Our mission statement is "Changing Lives to Change the World." My masters thesis was "The role of mission statements in service organizations." I found that there is usually a disconnect from the mission statement in the day to day operation of the organization. This leads to people and leaders pulling in different directions instead of the single direction of the original vision found in the mission statement.
While I was focusing on what we should be doing, I attended my connect group which was studying the book of John. I was once again inspired by the power of Christ's resurrection of Lazarus but was also made aware of what Jesus said after He performed the miracle of bringing a dead man to life.
Here is how it went: When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." John 11:43-44 NASU
Jesus gave him life and then ask those around him to unbind him and set him free. We need each other to assist us in removing the grave clothes of our lost lives. Changing lives seems to be the process of helping those who have been made alive by Christ to get untangled from their grave clothes in order to be free to serve. As a matter of fact, we are all about putting off our grave clothes and being clothed in Christ.
What is your "mission statement" (The thing you really want to accomplish) ? Is there a disconnect from it? In my research I studied a city police department. After doing my preliminary internal and external audits (surveys) I had the police read their mission statement at every shift briefing. A different officer read it each time. We also put the essence of the mission statement on the bumpers of the cruisers. After six weeks I redid the audits and saw a significant realignment with the mission of the department that was even demonstrated in the external audit (people outside the organization). Maybe the command of Christ in John 11 to help people get out of their grave clothes would be a worthy calling. Whatever your mission statement is, it should guide today and not just be a dream of yesterday.
Just thinking.