State the Obvious (b/c it's NOT!), Pt. 1

In a recent meeting, the LHC Leadership Team was discussing hiring and hiring practices when I made the following statement: Whatever the skills may be, make SURE he/she fits in our culture. (Really insightful, I know.) At that, one of our long-time leaders and pastors asked, "What is our culture?"

I thought--privately--Are you kidding me??!! You've been here for 10 of our 12 years of existence and you're asking What is our culture??!!!! Thankfully, I didn't respond verbally with as many !'s. His point was that we had never articulated and stipulated what specific values comprise our culture.

So we did. Here are the values supporting who we're striving to be (with more to follow in coming posts):

1. Gospel. Period. Everything we are and do is tied to the fact that God so loved the world that He gave his only Son so that whosoever believes in Him will never die but will have eternal life.
2. Evangelism/Worship. We are radically committed to sharing Christ and worshiping Him because of #1.
3. Joy. May be the most obvious initial invitation to relationship with God. You can't overstate the power of joy.

The Culture Conversation is actually a fun, encouraging, affirming, challenging, and convicting one to have.

Have you stated the culture/values of your family/church/business/organization/team/non-profit/school/government agency?

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