From its outset we said there were a few essentials we were aiming for in our life together at Imago Dei Church. In place of core values, we preferred this language of “Things We Want to Be True.”
The semantic difference points to a few things. The first is that these are prayerful desires. They aren’t things that are necessarily or definitely true at any given moment, but we want them to be tangible nonetheless. Lord willing, this puts us in a posture of humility. Rather than saying, “We are a praying church,” we are saying, “We hope to be a praying church.” Furthermore, these things speak to something of the life we long to see flow through our fellowship. Should a guest walk into IDC we actually think it should seem “compellingly odd.” We are a counter-culture, even to the evangelical culture of our day. We want it to be strange how often we pray, how zealously we make disciples, how generous we welcome, and how joyfully we sing.
There are, of course, a lion’s list of other true things we want to be true, but we kept IDC’s list to four things: praying, disciple-making, welcoming, and singing. It is our belief that should these four things be true everything else we want to be true about the church would naturally flow in their wake. Here’s what I mean:
Four Pillars For Life in Christ
A Praying Church. The Christian life is one of war so we “pray at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication.” It is one of the first matters of church business for Paul in his initial letter to Timothy. “First of all then, I urge men everywhere to pray.” We thus make is our business at every gathering of IDC—formal and informal—to pursue a palpable posture of prayer. Implications of this being true include: dependence, power, faith, and persistence.
A Disciple-Making Church. Mankind was created in the image of God (imago Dei). He was commanded to be fruitful, multiply, and subdue the earth. The command still stands for His people today. We not only do this physically, we do it spiritually by going and making disciples of all nations. We want to see people from every tribe, tongue, and nation gathered before the throne worshiping the Slaughtered Lamb of salvation. Thus, we must be zealous in “baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (evangelism) and steadfast in “teaching them to obey all I have commanded you” (discipling). Gathered worship is the corporate engine for disciple-making that drives discipling efforts throughout the week in evangelism, bible studies, and small groups. Implications of this being true include: zeal, compassion, knowledge, courage, maturity, and diversity.
A Welcoming Church. We are to “welcome those as we have been welcomed in Christ Jesus.” In sovereign kindness weak and weary, stained and sinful people are adopted through faith in Christ into the family of God. We long to see this magnificent news spilling over into every area of our corporate life as we pursue the creation of a warm and inviting environment. Implications of this being true include: hospitality, humility, generosity, and love.
A Singing Church. God creates and commands His singing people. He sings over His children with great delight and calls us to sing to Him with the same fiery devotion. We are to “address one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, making melody to the Lord with all our hearts.” Singing thus has a vertical and horizontal orientation. It is to exalt our Majestic King and exhort His people. Implications of this being true include: praise, delight, joy, care, and reverence.
What things do you want to be true about your church?