Source, Minnieapolis
From 24-7Wiki
Source Values Defining Values / Returning to our roots
HOW WE GOT HERE Over the last couple years much thought and prayers have gone into these values. Most of you are aware of our connection with 24/7 that begun in the fall of 2005. 6-7 of us went to KC in Feb of 2006 where Pete Greig and Andy Freeman, 2 of the key leaders from England, were part of a weekend gathering. There were plenty of Mad City peoples, (Joe and Angie Steinke who we have known since ’98 and have felt a family connection with… in 2003 and this last year we have done satellites of the Discipleship intensive with Staff and core people), also the Director of 24/7 USA is Jon Peterson, My base leader when I was in YWAM Amsterdam in 92-93. 24/7 and the boiler-room communities that have been birthed by 24/7 has been greatly influenced by celtic monasticism. Oddly or not so oddly, Celtic monasticism (northumbria community to be specific) was a life changing influence of mine in 1993 and thus came to greatly influence Source. So feeling like boiler-room communities and 24/7 was a divine connection and similar DNA, even though we have just been in contact with the organization for 18 months (though Steinke’s and Jon Peterson for years), really is not much of a surprise. When we were in KC Feb. of ’06 it felt like a room of new and old friends. This feeling was emphasized even more as Pete Greig started to share how celtic Christian monastic values changed Europe and how they have influenced 24/7 and boiler-room communities.
They would state their three principles as being: 1) true to Christ 2) kind to others 3) gospel to the nations
And their 6 practices as: prayer, mission, learning, creativity, justice/mercy, hospitality
From the beginning we have seen Source as a mission organization, that highly values relationships and community… that desires to be a friend and a voice to young people and bring the light of Jesus into darkness… When I first read the boiler-room rule, I was amazed as it was the first time I saw anything so much of our DNA.
So after 18 months of being impacted by 24/7. listening, praying, reading, experiencing, ect… there are a few directions I currently feel that are important to how God is currently leading us.
prayer based: prayer has always been important to us. From ’95-’00 we were fortunate enough to have some mature staff that championed this for Source. As a leader I took them for granted and didn’t realize how important it truly was until they were gone. 24/7’s influence of being prayer-based helped re-institute this value and I believe it is to be a foundation of who were are. What does being prayer based mean? Dependence on the HS (not a model of doing ministry or on our own skills), emphasizing that we want to join God in what he is doing, importance of prayer and worship for those ministering as well as the outreach, encouraging authentic relationships with God, being filled with the spirit, intercession, spiritual warfare, passion for the Gospel.. The simple telling people about Jesus and how to become a follower. Discipleship… Jessica and I were very impressed with seeing how much young adults we came in contact with wanted to learn. We saw there passion for Jesus and the gospel to be shared.
Wholistic I believe that these three values (missional, Disicpleship, prayer-based) are to be the core of Source. This does not devalue other values as creativity, hospitality, justice/mercy, or community/relational. Nor does it mean we will stop doing these.. ultimately I believe God calls us to be wholistic and being wholistic is the best way to see these three core values be successful. It obvious that if values of creativity, hospitality, justice/mercy, discipleship, prayer, and being relational would only enhance and be an asset of any missional attempts. All these values can be great assets to each other, but when and individual or community tries to embrace being wholistic natural tensions may easily override and eliminate any practical expressions.
There are natural tensions when desiring to be wholistic, especially trying to be a wholistic community. These tensions are not bad, but they can be overwhelming. For the most part I believe the practices of creativity, hospitality, justice/mercy and community are more highly regarded within our culture. This does not mean that they do not need to be nurtured, nor skill and energy should not be put into them. And we do not lift up the three core values of missional, discipleship, and prayer-based as core just because they are less regarded and may come less natural to most. But we should recognize that when attempting to be wholistic, tensions will be present, and the values that are less regarded, come less natural, have more baggage from the past, take the most discipline and are the hardest for us, are simply the easiest ones to ignore. It’s only natural to gravitate towards the values that come easier.
For some bodies of Christ or cultures where maybe mission (evangelism), discipleship, and prayer based comes more natural it would probably be best to emphasize the other values for the same reasons listed above. However, when asked “how can you be holistic” I do believe that you would need to start with the three core values I’ve listed. As a result making them foundational or core values that the others are built on.
Dangerous trends I believe there is a trend with young adults that has partly come out of a knee jerk reaction to mom & dad’s evangelicalism. It is somewhat present in the emerging church as well. Young Christians wanting community for community’s sake. Wanting to do justice/mercy benefits and help the poor but not wanting to tell people about Jesus. Their faith walk is void of discipline and whenever challenged and quick to pull the “you don’t understand me” card.
For Example, traditional outreach and evangelism have put a bad taste in many peoples mouth… so as a result they would rather convince themselves it’s not something for them, or it’s not their gift… rather than seeking out healing and a kingdom paradigm of evangelism. Evangelism is just one example (maybe the best example).
I believe if we emphasize the values of being missional (relational evangelism), discipleship (maturing in Christ), and being prayer-based the values of creativity, justice/mercy, hospitality, and community/relational will be enhanced. However, individuals, bodies of Christ, and communities that try to stand on creativity, justice/mercy, hospitality, and community will most likely become in grown, foster immaturity, and not produce disciples of Jesus.
Being who we are we attract many that are on a journey that are susceptible to these trends. They are drawn to us because we are non-traditional, creative, emphasize community, live in the urban, like justice and mercy, ect… I take the warnings to be careful teachers in the Bible seriously, and with love, grace, and passion encourage people to be whole disciples of Jesus. The best teacher is one who models and we cannot teach what we do not do.
