Core Values

I've recently been thinking a lot about my core values and what they are. I believe that everyone has a set of core values that informs everything they do and every decision they make. As a leader I know that I need to be aware of what my core values are and that they people I am leading need to know what those core values are, in practice if not in word. So I'm going to write down here what I know my core values to be here today. This is the beginning of my list and may get added to or edited later but for now here it goes:

1) The local church is the hope of the world - By the power of the Holy Spirit and through Jesus Christ, the local Christian church is the medium through which God has chosen to change hearts, lives and destinys. As such, the work of the local church is the most important work done on earth and so the work of the church should be that work which is done with the most care because the stakes are so high.

2) Everything thing the church does should be done with as much Excellence as it can muster - if the local church is the hope of the world and the work we do is of such high stakes then I believe it should be done with more excellence than any other agency on the planet. Excellence, in my opinion, is doing the best you can with what you have. So our goal should always be to spur one another on to give our absolute best, even when it's tough or stretching.

3) The ARTS have a unique and vital role in the church - The arts can convey stories, stir emotions and engage the mind in ways that preaching simply can't. These days, the arts need to be playing a hugely significant role in the telling of the story of God and artists need to take risks in order to reach and increasingly distant culture.

4) People matter to God - There is a fine balance between pushing and loving but we need to walk it. We shouldn't be so focused on getting better that we are unduly hurting each other on the way. We also shouldn't be so fragile that we get hurt WAY to easily and thus never get better because we can't take criticism. As I said, it's a fine line.

5) Lost people matter to God - way too many churches ignore the lost and become insular. God started the church by saying "Go...make disciples". We can't be happy with who is in the fold...we must leave, find the lost, and bring them back with us.

6) The church needs to be culturally relevant - This might get me into trouble but the church must communicate on a level that the common man can understand. Just as the apostle Paul used teachings from Greek culture so must we use examples from everyday life to bring the never changing truth of God into the 21st Century. (See core value 3 for more)

Like I said, there's more but this is a good start. If you want to know what gets me fired up, here it is. I'd invite people to dialogue with me regarding these things so I can refine them and help others to understand them and to learn from them about their core values.