UCG's Latest Assignment: Write Your Own "Vision Statement" to Discover Who You Are

Just when it seemed the United Church of God had run out of ways to turn simple faith into another endless task list, President John Elliott introduced a new one. Society, he says, is racing toward destruction (Proverbs 14:12-got it), and the urgent answer is ... personal vision statements. Not resting in Christ's finished work. Not the once-for-all sacrifice that has already secured the believer's identity as a child of God. Instead, members are asked to sit down, reflect, and write a clear declaration of who they are "in process of becoming."

Nothing says "New Covenant rest" like assigning members a corporate-style exercise in self-definition. 

Elliott begins by reminding them that they are citizens of the Kingdom (Ephesians 2:19), members of God's family, and children of God the Father and Jesus Christ. True enough. Then comes the turn: "Who exactly am I in God's eyes at this moment?" The answer is apparently not "Already complete in Him" (Colossians 2:10), "No condemnation" (Romans 8:1), or "Accepted in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:6). Instead, identity becomes an unfinished project: the bride must be "diligent in making herself spiritually ready" (Revelation 19:7-8). Responsibility lands once again on her effort, her level of commitment, and her own picture of how the process should unfold. 

Paul is then brought in as Exhibit A. Elliott assembles a sample "vision statement" from Romans 8, 2 Timothy 1, Galatians 2:20, and several other verses. Paul did write about being a child of God and a joint heir; he also said that Christ lived in him. He counted everything else as rubbish, he said, because gaining Christ mattered more. He wanted to be found in Him-not claiming a righteousness earned through the law, but receiving the righteousness that comes through faith in Christ (Philippians 3:8-9). Elliott's quotations describe what grace has already made true. They are not instructions for members to invent a personal identity statement so they can "stay focused." Paul was not building a personal brand for the coming Kingdom. He was resting in the fact that Christ had already taken hold of him.

The letter then asks each member to write a version of that statement: a clear account of "who you are in process of becoming." The purpose is to stay anchored while "endeavor[ing] to keep growing... toward the goal pictured in the plan of salvation we just celebrated in God's annual Holy Days." There it is again: salvation is still being linked to the annual Holy Days, even though Colossians 2:16-17 describes those observances as shadows fulfilled in Christ and says they should not be used to judge anyone. Under the New Covenant, believers do not need to measure their faithfulness against an Old Covenant festival calendar to prove that they belong. That question has already been settled. We are children and heirs, seated with Christ (Ephesians 2:6). Spiritual growth follows, but it comes through the fruit of the Spirit; it does not earn our place or force us to keep declaring that place over and over.

This is classic Armstrongism dressed in legalistic corporate language. Everything becomes a matter of personal effort, self-monitoring, and repeated confirmation, as though people might lose their standing simply by forgetting to reaffirm it. The New Covenant says something plainer and more secure: "It is finished" (John 19:30). Revelation 19 presents the saints' righteousness as fine linen given to them-not fabric they painstakingly produce through vision statements or renewed resolve on each Holy Day. You do not need a personal mission statement to know that you are God's child. The Spirit Himself bears witness with your spirit (Romans 8:16), and the Father has already said so. Rest there. Destructive lifestyles exert real pressure, but writing more declarations about yourself will not answer it. Christ is in you, the hope of glory. That is already true; it is not a goal you must keep revising.