Introduction
The relationship between mission, vision and core values is vital to the overall success of a church. It is easy to drift off the purposes and plans of God if individuals, leaders or churches have not established biblical core values. The core values of individuals and a church need to be in alignment to move the vision forward and accomplish the mission. Discovering core values before creating a strategic plan is key to successfully implementing the strategic plan. The core values will keep people and the church on track as they navigate the challenges that come their way. When opportunities arise for the church to participate in, their core values will tell them if they should or should not participate in the opportunity. Enviably, core values will help produc- tivity rise and make the best use of all the available resources. Jesus desires that his disciples are productive in their daily life. He said in John 15:8, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” 1 To bear much fruit requires guiding values that keep one on course to fulfill Jesus' desire for his disciples.
Content
Discovering core values needs to start with spiritual leaders first. Leaders have to come to an understanding of who they are in Christ in order to accomplish God’s desires for their life and ministry. Knowing one's identity in Christ creates core values that will guide individuals throughout life. There is a change in an individual's life when they come into a relationship with God through Jesus. Paul tells the church in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” Core values change when someone comes into a relationship with Jesus. Old ways of thinking and old desires begin to shift from personal passions to God’s passions. Perman states in What's Best Next, “To be God-centered, then, is to make God the source of your guidance, security, and meaning. It is to put Him first in your life, to regard him as more important than anything else, to make his glory the chief aim of your life, to do everything you do to please and honor him, and to live your life in relationship with him.”2 What was once a driving force in an individual's life becomes meaningless in the light of what Jesus has made available to them.
When reflecting on his life and the changes in his core values, Paul stated in Philippians 3:7-8, “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” A core value for a Christian leader needs to be knowing Jesus is the most essential thing in their life. Charles R. Erdman in The Epistle of Paul to the Philippians, when talking about Pauls change of core values, describes an individual that “suddenly see another prize, and with this, in view, he looks upon all his previous treasure as refuse, as worthless rubbish, while he seeks to grasp the new prize and to make it his own.”3 Christian core values come from the awareness of how precious knowing and growing in God is. Experiencing the life-changing presence of God in a leader's life will change the way others perceive them. “More than anything else, people are looking for spiri-tual leaders who clearly demonstrate God's presence in their lives. There is no greater source of influence for spiritual leaders than the manifest presence of God.”4
A Christian leader needs to tap into the will of God for their life. In Romans 12:2, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” The word transform means “to change, transform the essential nature of something.”5 The trans- formational process gives one a new set of core values. The reference to the renewing of the mind “implies that we are to be constantly in the process of being metamorphosed by renewal of that which is the seat of thought and understanding.”6 Having core values that God first estab- lishes will direct the kind of steps one will take to accomplish God's purposes. Ephesians 2:10 expresses that “we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Christians are God’s handy work. They are created by the work that Jesus did on the cross. Jesus took the penalty of sin on himself on the cross so humani- ty could step into a new life with God. He allowed humanity to be born again with a new set of core values. In Advanced Strategic Planning, Aubrey Malphurs states, “Values dictate every de- cision and influence every action right down to the way we think and the manner in which we execute those actions.”7 A Christian leader must have their core values set by their identity in Christ and their actions being lead by the Spirit of God. This will enable them to accomplish the plans and purposes God has in store for them.
Once a Christian leader's core values are formed and their purpose is discovered through their relationship with God, they can help others discover God’s purposes for their own life. Hen- ry and Richard Blackaby in Spiritual Leadership note that “Spiritual Leadership is moving peo- ple on to God's agenda.”8 Spiritual leaders have the responsibility and opportunity to help others find a new identity in God. 2 Corinthians 5:18 states that those who have been reconciled to God through Christ have been given “the ministry of reconciliation.” Meaning they have the leader- ship role of leading others to have the opportunity to know Jesus personally. Blackaby states, “Leadership occurs when you move people from where they are to where they ought to be. The result of Leadership is that people are not in the same place they were before they were lead.”9 Jesus commissioned his disciple in Mathew 28:19-20 to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Christian leaders have this same mandate to- day to lead others from where they are to where God intends them to be.
When Spiritual Leaders find themselves with a group of people following them, they need to make sure they have clear core values established to help guide the group. Aubrey Mal- phurs notes in Advanced Strategic Planning that he defines “core values as the constant, passion- ate, biblical core beliefs that go deep and really, truly empower and guide the ministry."10 As a church is started, its mission will be to accomplish Jesus commission that he gave to his disci- ples. In order to do this, they will need to establish core values to keep them on course as they endeavour to accomplish the vision to fulfill the mission. Accomplishing the vision or being pro- ductive can be a challenge. Core values will help keep people headed in the same direction, and they will tell people what the Church is all about before they commit to the vision. Malphurs states, “Core values declare to people “This is what we stand for; this is what we are all about; this is who we are; this is what we can and cannot do for you.”11 When people have a clear pic- ture of what a Church or ministry's guiding principles are, they can understand if they will fit in the community or not. People with the same core values as the Church will invest their time, tal- ent, and treasure into the ministry to fulfill the mission and vision.
Most Churches want to move forward and fulfill the mission that Jesus has given. There are different opinions on what moving forward looks like, but there is a sense of productivity. Some think productivity is the depth of people's relationship with Jesus. Some say a church is productive if they see increasing numbers of people coming into a relationship with God, and others look at the numbers of people in the seat and finances. Some would go as far as to say a productive church is a church that sees community transformation. Matt Perman notes that “To be productive, in fact, glorifies God because when we are productive, we are not only obeying him but imitating him.”12 No matter how it is defined, productivity is essential. Throughout scripture, God instructs his people to be productive and move forward in life. Ephesians 5:15-17 give a warning to “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” Proverbs 6:6-8 encourages individuals to “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provi- sions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.” Perman comments on this verse in What’s Best Next that God “is also calling us to be wise in relation to how we live in this world — specifical- ly, to be wise in how to lead and manage ourselves, just like the ant.”13 Core values help keep people and ministries moving forward in a productive way by keeping them from spending their time and resources on things that will slow them down or get them off track. Core values help people keep the main thing the main thing. Aubrey Malphurs put it this way “Core values signal a ministry’s bottom line. They communicate what really matters.”14
When people typically find a home in a church, they feel the Lord is leading them there, and their core values are similar. It is vital that those values are so there can be unity in the church. Malphurs notes the “Values alignment is critical for people joining the church and staff as well as pastors.”15 Not only is it essential that the parishioner's core values aline, but the staff and the Church's core values must align. The senior pastor must have the same core values as the church if the church will be able to move forward in the church's vision. If a lead pastor has a passion for the homeless and his core value is helping and reaching the marginalized of society, he will not fit well in a suburban setting where their core value is reaching the white-collar exec- utive. A few may join in on the inner-city initiative, but the progress will be slow, and people with a passion for reaching the suburb will eventually find a place with the same passion or core value.
Philip D. Douglass, in What is Your Church’s Personality, notes that “Assessing the per- sonality of your church provides measurable data about the values and norms that give your church its shape. The data will, in turn, provide helpful assistance in leading the church in accor- dance with its specific mission.”16 Knowing the core peaces of what makes the church unique will help people understand how to work together in the ministry. Knowing core values will help reduce conflict and keep the church unified. In John 17:23, Jesus prayed for the future church to operate in unity as he did with his Father. Jesus could do this because he knew what his Father valued. Jesus said about his followers that he was “in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” Understanding the core values that make-up who the Church is and how it functions will help keep unity in the church.
When the core values align, Church leadership and pensioners can become very produc- tive in accomplishing the mission and vision God has given them. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 states, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.” Core values bring people together. John Maxwell in his book “The Winning Attitude, notes, “We need each other! Few People are successful unless a lot of people want them to be.”17 Core val-ues bring people together. Individuals with the same core values based on scripture and follow- ing the leading of the Holy Spirit can accomplish great things together for the Kingdom of God.
Conclusion
Core values in a Christian leader need to come from their personal relationship with God. Discovering who they are through Jesus will give Christin leaders the foundation they need to fulfill the purpose and plans God has already prepared for them to do. Well-defined core values will help direct individuals and churches in the directions God desires them to go. Shared core values can bring people together around a vision and give them a passion for working together to further a shared goal. When that goal is to fulfill the great commission Jesus gave his disciples, people begging to walk out the purpose and plans God has in store for their lives. The Leadership and the parishioners of a church must have the same core values if they want to be productive in the Church's mission and vision. Core values act as a guidance system to keep the church on track. They will direct resources and attract resources from individuals with the same core val- ues.
Refrences
1 . 1 Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011).
2. Matt Perman, What's Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done, Expanded Edition. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 54.
3 Charles R. Erdman. The Epistle of Paul to the Philippians: (Philadelphia PA: The Westminter Press. 1932), 105
4. Henry and Richard Blackaby. Spiritual Leadership: Moving People Onto God’s Agenda: (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group. 2012), 157.
5. J. Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament): (elec- tronic ed.), Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc. (1997).
6. John Murray, The Epistle to the Romans : The new International Commentary On The New Testament: (Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans Publishing Co. 1982), 114.
7.Aubrey Malphurs Advanced Strategic Planning: A 21st-Century Model for Church and Ministry Leaders, 3rd Edition. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan 2019), 148.
8.Henry and Richard Blackaby. Spiritual Leadership: 148.
9.Henry and Richard Blackaby. Spiritual Leadership, 34.
10. Aubrey Malphurs, Advanced Strategic Planning, 150.
11. Ibid, 147 .
12.Matt Perman, What's Best Next, 63.
13.Ibid, 66 .
14.Aubrey Malphurs. Advanced Strategic Planning,147.
15. Ibid, 147.
16. Philip D. Douglass, What is Your Church’s Personality: Discovering and Developing the Ministry Style of Your Church: (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing 2008), 4.
17.John C. Maxwell, The Winning Attitude: (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers. 1993), 165.
