Defining and communicating values are critically important for your mission.
However, your values are irrelevant to your visitors and regular attendees when they are spoken but not felt.
Many churches post their values on their walls and their websites…and they stop there. Your values need to be felt and experienced, not explained. Talk is cheap!
If your values are aspirational (rather than actual), then promoting them isn’t just irrelevant; it hinders your mission.
It’s no good when a big sign in the lobby says, “WE WELCOME EVERYONE” and your guests don’t feel welcomed. Our world has enough broken promises. As ambassadors of the Gospel, God is making his appeal to the world through us: we don’t want to create stumbling blocks.
Even if your church EXCELS at expressing your values, I wouldn’t put them “front and center.”
First, it’s redundant: people are feeling it, they don’t need to read it. Repetition is essential for learning, but redundancy wastes time, resources, and attention. Steward these wisely!
Second, there are more important messages to communicate. When we put our values front and center, it puts the spotlight on us—who we are as a church and how we are different from other churches. We don’t need the spotlight.
Let’s make God famous in our community by focusing on His character, His work, and His promises.
One church website leads with excellent communication: “A place where you can stop pretending.” This is a beautiful promise! The world needs to hear about God’s unconditional love: all are welcome, even the sinners and tax collectors. This communication disarms a common assumption about churches being a place for people who have it all together.
A common message from Saddleback church was, “You matter to God.” I think this is excellent! With just 14 letters and four words it puts the focus on God (he is the one who cares), and it applies it to the individual (I’m the one being cared for). Rick Warren was brilliant at communicating the right thing, in the right way, at the right time.
Here’s the point: As it relates to your “front door” (signs, website, merch, etc.), communicating “GOD LOVES YOU” is better than “WE LOVE YOU.”
Values ARE vital! Great leaders maximize their influence through clearly defined values – they just need to be used in the right way. Let talk about what that might look like for you.
