On the top floor of a Houston high-rise, I sat across from a senior executive of a global oil and gas corporation. He led the company’s charitable giving.
For over two years, we had cultivated this relationship. HOPE International staff members spent late nights writing reports to meet their deadlines. We even sent a field director to visit their London office—offering an inside glimpse of our programs in sub-Saharan Africa. Until now, their financial support had been valuable but minimal.
But that could change.
The executive told me that he’d caught the vision. He wanted to help HOPE provide business training, create savings accounts, and give small business loans to more underserved entrepreneurs around the world. We had almost wrapped up our meeting, and the foundation was prepared to write a very large check. “There’s just one remaining issue,” he said.
I held my breath as he continued. “We are a publicly traded company, and we cannot fund organizations that are so overtly faith based.”
If our organization would tone down our Christian mission, his foundation would champion our cause. With their support, we could help thousands—perhaps hundreds of thousands—of entrepreneurs break the cycle of poverty and pursue their dreams.
Instead of giving an immediate response, I thanked him for the offer and headed to the airport.
I didn’t know what to do.
Everything in me wanted to make it work. We had spent years building this relationship, and the company possessed enormous giving potential. Plus, we were strapped for cash.
Was there a creative way to develop the partnership? For the good of our mission, couldn’t we just “tone down” our Christian identity? These questions began a critical conversation within HOPE about the dangers of mission drift.
And we learned that drift wasn’t just threatening us. From Harvard University to the YMCA, numerous organizations that started out with deliberately Christian missions had drifted from their core purpose—becoming vastly different organizations than their founders intended.
Though we didn’t know it at the time, the conversation with this senior executive was a gift that shaped the course of our organization more than any financial donation ever could. While we turned down the funding, we turned toward greater clarity and conviction about our mission. Instead of trying to be everything to everyone, we defined our purpose and remained faithful to what God had entrusted us to do.
Every day, faith-based organizations face the pull away from the Gospel. Increasingly I’m convinced that we don’t just need leaders who know the right thing to do; we need leaders who are committed to taking action—graciously and relentlessly focusing on the mission. As we invest in accounting systems or marketing collateral, are we making similar investments in building Mission True organizations?
————
The Invitation
Starting on February 1, 2022, my friend Kurian Babykutty of 40 Parables, a strategic MarTech partner for ministries, is launching online cohorts for leaders who want practical support in building Mission True organizations. These cohorts will equip leaders with the postures and practices needed to combat mission drift. I’ll join these sessions, too, and will have conversations with a small group of intentional leaders of nonprofits and for-profits.
If you’re interested in connecting with and learning from other leaders as well as discovering practices to help safeguard against drift, join us in taking part in these cohorts in the new year. (Proceeds support HOPE International.)
And if you would like to learn more about Mission Drift, consider taking the Mission Drift survey or downloading the Mission True Workbook as a complimentary first step.
Let’s work together to protect what matters most.
