Marks of a Worthy Mission: Part 5, A Growth Mindset

When we’re invited to adopt a growth mindset, we’re open and eager to subscribe. Whether it’s relational, intellectual, or financial, growth sounds great! There are actually very few areas of our life where we would consider it a bad thing. And yet, our commitment to growth is open calculated. Meaning, our intentions for growth and the effort required to obtain growth will open have an expressed aim, a desired endpoint. As long as an effort is required, we hold a metric in mind that would qualify as “enough”. There is a concept of comfort that we’re willing to work toward, but it’s with the intention of eventually ending the effort. For example, we’re willing to build a house so that we would have a house to live in. And we’re willing to invest in retirement so that we would one day be able to retire. However, the growth mindset that we endorse and embrace at FCA, pushes beyond any cradle of comfort. In this final post of my five-part series, I’m leaning into the perpetual posture of growth that consciously resists a destination. It’s our commitment to a continual cost, an ever-reaching arm, an eternal impact. Spiritually, this concept is known as perseverance and Paul speaks to its effects in Romans 5:3-4.

We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

At FCA we’re convinced that anything less than a growth mindset would become a guaranteed, eventual end. Our continued existence and impact as an organization stands testament to this belief and commitment. We’ve refused to view a first down as a Super Bowl victory. We know that there will always be more effort to exert, more cost to consider, and more people to impact, and we also know that it will always be worth it. The metrics of our growth mindset embrace an ever-expanding scope that will continue to invite more investment and more involvement from more individuals. This growth mindset is the final mark of a worthy mission.