“When the days drew near for him [Jesus] to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:51, ESV).
Mission-Focused is the fourth and final core value of North Greenville University. Jesus Christ exemplified keeping his focus on his mission. As the days drew near for Christ’s arrest, death by crucifixion, burial, and resurrection, Jesus was resolute in keeping his focus. He came to seek and to save the lost by offering his life to bear the sin burden for all humanity. He knew what awaited him in Jerusalem, but still set his focus resolutely on his mission. Nothing, not even the enemy, could deter him.
At North Greenville University, we must be resolute in keeping our focus on the mission. It is so easy for Christian institutions, including the church, to drift away from their mission. Many times, the drift is unintentional. However, drift is always away from the mission. The current flows in only one direction. A mission is a specific task that a group or individual is charged to pursue. Focus involves adjustment for distinctly clear vision. The mission of North Greenville University is to build graduates who are transformational leaders for church and society. Spiritual formation is essential to the process. Jesus commanded the church to make disciples through evangelism and disciple making (Matt 28:18-20). You have to be a disciple before you can make disciples. Believers must be disciples who are growing in the faith and modeling a Christian lifestyle before they can effectively pour their lives into others. Therefore, at the core of our mission, we must be disciples who make disciples. With Christ as our example, North Greenville University is Mission-Focused and intentionally insulating the institution from mission drift.