On July 17, 2011, I stood before the 40 people who had come to the very first meeting of Grace Hills Church and shared the vision and values that God had placed within our hearts. I define vision as seeing what God wants to accomplish in our context while values are the parameters within which we carry out the vision. I stated our values clearly, and they haven’t changed, but I’ve re-written them.
Last week, a few of us attended Catalyst One Day at CrossChurch, a conference featuring Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel. They spent the first session talking about creating the culture of an organization and expressing values in a way that inspires passionate adherence. It dawned on me that while I had listed our core values, I had failed to verbalize them in a way that reflected my passion about them.
So last week, I spent a day praying and writing, and behold, Grace Hills’ Core Values, re-written:
- The Bible is totally truthful and uniquely powerful. It is a complete and perfect guide for life. We will trust, teach, obey, and live it out loudly.
- We will attempt big things for a big God. We will go “all in,” choosing to take risks in faith over playing it safe.
- We will do whatever it takes, short of sin, to find people far from God and lead them to life in Jesus.
- Everybody belongs. When we say everybody, we mean every color, every shape, every personality, and people with every kind of story imaginable. Everyone belongs, even before they believe.
- We are crazy about broken people. We hunger to see people healthy and growing and we’ll get our hands messy to make it happen.
- We won’t hold back when it comes to worship. We will express our love for God freely so that our passion for him is obvious to a watching world. Jesus is worth it!
- We move people forward, a step at a time, to be just like Jesus.
- We will bring out the best in people. We don’t use or control people. Instead we will involve, empower, and release people to do great, world-changing things for God.
- We stay fast, fluid, and flexible. There are no sacred cows. We embrace the pain of change for the win of seeing more people meeting Jesus.
- The local church is the hope of the world, and the kingdom comes first, even before our own success. We will multiply as believers, as small groups, and as a church to fill the world with God’s glory.
Same values. Different angle. I hope you feel these, and if you do, I hope you’ll consider joining me in living them out as we grow together in the community we call Grace Hills Church of northwest Arkansas.
