Policy Statement
What We Believe
We believe in community, in social change.
We are committed to these things.
Literacy. Economic empowerment. Compassion Care ministry. Social Justice.
But we believe, first and foremost, that God’s House must be open and available to all people, a refuge from the world and not exploited by it. We believe change, real change, can only come from God.
We believe the whole bible
These days, many people scrutinize doctrinal statements to see where a church stands on a particular issue. Many church statements of faith are riddled with add-on specifics about how they feel about this issue or that agenda.
We believe the whole bible. All of it. Every sentence, every word. Without alteration, omission or compromise. We will not edit or re-arrange the eternal truths expressed there to satisfy any particular group or social agenda. We follow the personal example of Jesus Christ, Who offered love and hope to all people and Who valued everyone. Jesus pursued His ministry without compromise or distraction. He made no one pass a religious or political test but rather offered salvation freely to all. Jesus never had His disciples pre-screen the multitudes to see who was a leper or who worshipped pagan gods or who supported Herod Antipas (governor of Galilee) versus Pontius Pilate (his political rival, governor of Judea). Jesus organized no rallies, circulated no petitions, wasted no ministry funds on political causes. He never attempted to force change on people through a political system. He simply loved everyone, as they were, in whatever state they were in.
We believe transforming the kingdom of the world into the kingdom of heaven, by either compromising or forcing our values on people through political change, is not our purpose. Rather, our purpose is to be the salt of the Earth [Matthew 5:13], the light of the world [v14], to tell everyone Who Jesus is and to offer God’s free gift of salvation to anyone who wants it [John 7:37-39].
“Jesus organized no rallies, circulated no petitions, wasted no ministry funds on political causes. We believe transforming the kingdom of the world into the kingdom of heaven is not our purpose. Rather, our purpose is to be the light of the world.”
– Matthew 5:12-14
The Biblical Model
There’s a church not far from here that has set up a mock graveyard, a quarter-mile long, filled with miniature pink and blue crosses along with the sign “Pray For An End To Abortion.” Somebody actually thought that was a good idea. But, when we search the bible, we find no model for this behavior. When Jesus was born, Herod The Great, the paranoid Roman-appointed king of Judea, slaughtered every infant in Galilee. Did Jesus spend time and money erecting a mock graveyard or distributing flyers or organizing rallies? What is our biblical model?
The example set before us in God’s word is not an exploitation of the church for political purposes but a world-changing series of events implemented by a Man Who never traveled more than 100 miles from His home. Do we endorse abortion? Of course not. Should we spend ten thousand dollars of our membership’s tithes and offerings buying little plastic crosses and hiring lobbyists to mount ballot initiatives? And once we build our little graveyard out front, who’s coming into our church, now?
A House of Prayer for All People
We understand this policy will disappoint those who want to use us to distribute their pamphlets or support this candidate or that referendum or social agenda, who want us to kick these folks out or embrace these other folks. Christians who insist we release a policy statement on the issue of the day or align ourselves with a specific conservative or liberal cause before they can fellowship with us are missing the point of God’s church. The church was never designed to be the arm of God’s judgment, but the measure of His love.