| Our Values |
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Authentic Community We believe that relational community is the essence of what it means to be human. The basic craving in every soul is to be deeply connected in rich, meaningful relationship. It is only through community that we discover our design, and ultimately our Designer. Therefore we share our resources, our burdens, our fears, our pain, our joys, our sadness; we build on each other’s strengths and embrace our weaknesses. The story of me is a tragedy. The story of us is an epic. The diverse community of the Spirit is to be marked by commonness. Out of the many, He is making one new man.
Life-Giving We believe that the new community of the Spirit is called to radiate the undeserved grace and new life it has received from the Spirit. Since we have received life from God – undeserved, unearned, unmerited – we now choose to give this same life to others… no matter what. Since God has made us innocent; we now choose to see others through innocent eyes. Since we have been accepted and embraced despite our unacceptability; we now choose to humbly accept others…. even unacceptable others. Since we have received grace & dignity from God; we now choose to respond to the sin of others by offering dignity and grace.
Outward-Focused We believe the community of believers should be irresistibly attractive to spiritually unconvinced people. As the Body of Christ, we will continue the ministry of Jesus in a manner consistent with the personality of Jesus. We will pursue & embrace not-yet-forgiven people in order to portray the goodness & mercy of God. The gathered church will be a place of acceptance & common ground, where the message of ultimate hope through Christ is presented with respect. We strive to make the redeeming grace of God emotionally & intellectually accessible to those not yet familiar. The ultimate purpose of our community is to invite outsiders inside.
Culturality We believe that the Gospel should be translated into new terms for each generation. We recognize that we are part of a long historical stream of redemptive history. God-followers for millennia have engaged the Eternal God and given Him voice to their people, in their place, in their time… now it’s our turn. The message of God’s irrational love through Christ should be distilled to its essence and portrayed in language & forms that can be understood & embraced by our culture in this generation. We believe that Christ-followers are called to embrace culture in order to leverage it for God’s redemptive purposes. We are comfortable in our own cultural skin. Because the Eternal God is the ultimate desire of every person, the Church is called to answer questions that people are actually asking. The community of faith should be a refuge, but not an island. If we ever catch ourselves trying to be relevant to our culture, we aren’t.
Strategic Service We believe that the community of believers is a kingdom of priests… every one of us. The church is at it’s redemptive best when each one of us does our part and lacks something without it. We were created to live for something larger than ourselves. It’s not about me. Since well-being cannot be bought or achieved, but only experienced as a gift, we choose to embrace our interdependence. The heartbreak in our world can only be relieved through bold generosity.
Friendship With God If we learn to speak the language of our culture but fail to love, we are meaningless. If we have impeccable doctrine and faultless wisdom, but don’t have love – love for God that overflows into love for people – we actually have nothing. Even if we have faith that can trust God for anything imaginable, without love we would be no good to anybody. If we engage in religious sacrifice to the point of giving up our very lives, still, if we don’t love people, it will all add up to nothing… and would likely cause harm. If we have meetings, sing songs, pray prayers, hear sermons, join small groups, serve on ministry teams, offer programs, go on mission trips, build buildings and share meals together… lots of meals, but do not have love for God and love for people, it all means nothing. Religious activity that lacks loving friendship with God is less than empty… it is dangerous. We can only offer redemptive friendship to our world because we have first become loving friends of God.
Succession We believe the community of believers is called to recover the lost art of succession: Teaching others what we know so that they can do what we do… and hopefully better. Significance cannot be measured by success, but only by succession. The significance of our lives is ultimately measured by our impact on future generations. |
