HILLS TO DIE ON
It’s an old phrase: Which hills are you willing to die on? Meaning, which stands are you going to take no matter the cost? For what are you prepared to die? Your answer will determine your core values.
If you were to compare the Christian churches (across all denominations) in our city by their doctrinal statements, there probably wouldn’t be much disparity, and there shouldn’t be. Most will not veer from the doctrines stated in the Nicene Creed established by the early church (in A.D. 325). Furthermore, if you were to compare the churches in our city by their purpose statements, again, you won’t find too many wavering from evangelism/missions, ministry, discipleship, fellowship, and worship. Sometimes we all get cute with our verbiage, acronyms, and nomenclature, but we don’t drift far from these five core purposes. Even comparing our church to other churches in terms of a mission statement won’t reveal much to the average observer. The Great Commission is pretty clear and the lesson about sheep and the goats is apparent.
So what separates churches? The hills on which they are willing to die! Let me give you three core values that would fit this category for us here at Northway Community Church.
First, the Bible is true. We believe the Bible is trustworthy in every area of reality and is the catalyst for change in our lives. From day #1, whenever it comes to what we believe, how we think, how we operate, or where we should land on a particular position or issue, we’ve had one simple value: go to the Bible and then go with the Bible, no matter what anyone else or any other power structure thinks!
Second, loving relationships should permeate every aspect of our church life. This value drives me to be a zealous defender of the community of our church. We do everything in our power to relate to one another lovingly, truthfully, respectfully, compassionately, and graciously. And when there is conflict or tension, stress or misunderstanding, we tackle it head-on within the context of love. We’re not going to let it go underground, much less let it become cancerous so that it infects the entire body of Christ. I know that we won’t all be equally close to one another, of course, but we can all be loving in our spirits, gracious in our hearts, and fiercely loyal to each other.
Third, evangelism/outreach/missions happens best through relationships that are led by the Holy Spirit. For over 30 years, my wife and I have been involved in established churches and we have been guilty of trying to reach others with the gospel through several gimmicks that other sincere Christian leaders had encouraged us to consider and emulate. But ultimately they didn’t work, because they were basically worldly strategies, rather than the model we find in the New Testament.
With this in mind, and as we have an opportunity to build a brand new church from scratch, may I ask you to join me in allowing these three core values be hills on which we are willing to die? And as we do so, may I ask that we all allow the Holy Spirit to lead us to build relational bridges with others within our respective circles of influence so that our numerical and spiritual growth is based upon the model of the early Church rather than upon the gimmicks of this world?
Devotedly your pastor,
Bill Blanchard