What Kind of Church Do You Pastor?

It is a question I hear more than you think. As I am out doing something in the community - coaching, volunteering or just hanging out - people inevitably ask me the same question they ask everybody: "What do you do for a living?" I have to confess, I sometimes get a little nervous to come right out and say "I am a full-time pastor."

The reason I say I get nervous is not because I am the least bit ashamed about my calling. In fact, quite the opposite! However, I realize that while many folks still view the clergy in an honorable light - it can make others feel awkward. They suddenly start thinking, "Is this guy judging my every move? Is he one of those 'hellfire and brimstone' preachers? Have I ever accidentally dropped an f-bomb in front of him? Does he really like me for me or is he trying to secretly convert me?" And the list goes on.

But their question is a good one. And it makes me think from the perspective of a new guest or a person who is sincerely interested, "What kind of church DO I pastor?" Thankfully, I can say with confidence that I am privileged to pastor what I would call a "grace-saturated" community of faith in Jesus Christ. An article I read awhile back (which I have footnoted at the bottom) inspired me to write the following about the church we are....and are becoming....

At Valley, we desire to be more than just a church that talks about grace. We desire to practice God’s revolutionary grace in the way we do life and ministry together as a body of believers. The following is a summary of our aims as a grace-saturated community of faith in Christ’s finished work of redemption:

1 – We seek to teach and preach the grace message consistently. We believe that salvation is available only as a totally free gift from God – through faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the sins of humanity. This gift is to be viewed as precisely that – a gift! It is not a loan, a bribe or a conditional offer based on any good works humans might attempt in order to “earn” it on the front end or to “prove” it on the back end. We also believe that assurance of salvation is available to all who trust in the promise of the Gospel. Likewise, our subsequent spiritual growth is also based upon grace just as our initial salvation experience was and is. (John 1:12-16; Romans 3:23-24; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 2:11-12)

2 – We seek to encourage and equip believers to grow in grace. As we begin to truly understand and experience God’s unmerited, unconditional favor through Christ, we are motivated by gratefulness in response to His grace. Grace not only nurtures spiritual growth by creating a deep-seated sense of gratefulness, but also allows for believers to make mistakes in their growth process without fear of being condemned by the self-righteous attitudes of others. Contrary to what some may assume, a grace-saturated environment does not minimize a focus on discipleship – but actually magnifies it! We do not view the Christian life in terms of “debt-repayment” as so many Christians have been manipulated to believe (in other words “God gave everything for me, therefore I need to give everything for Him). We believe that this type of thinking is a recipe for burn-out. Instead, we remember that Christ paid the debt of our sin by giving us a gift, not a loan. He is not asking for us to pay Him back as though His sacrifice were a second mortage – nor could we come close to doing so even if we tried! He is simply desiring a response of thankfulness – gratefulness – which can then bear fruit in the way we live. (Romans 12:1-2; Galatians 2:20-21; Ephesians 4:1-16; Colossians 2:6-7; 1 Peter 2:1-3; 2 Peter 3:18)

3 – We seek to accept people as they are. We often remind our people that we are a church where it is “Okay to not be okay.” We welcome people to seek and explore the grace and truth of Jesus Christ no matter what background they come from, and regardless of the hurts, habits and hang-ups they bring with them. We seek to model God’s love and grace not only toward those who are in the exploration process of faith, but also after they trust Christ and enter the spiritual growth process through Him. We accept that there will be differences among us in various areas of culture, personality, opinion, giftedness, and individual preferences regarding secondary or non-essential matters of doctrine and personal conscience. (Romans 14:1-13; 1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

4 – We seek to allow love to guide our liberty in Christ. Because of grace, we are free to love and serve God and others. While grace frees us completely from the realm of legalism, we do not view our freedom as a license to live selfishly or sinfully. We affirm that in matters of personal conscience or questionable things, maturing believers should be mindful of how their actions may affect those who are not yet believers or are weaker in faith. Often our freedom to abstain from certain practices in specific situations for the good of others is just as important as our freedom to engage under other circumstances. By definition, grace is open to the possibility of abuse. If this were not true, grace would at that moment cease to be grace! However, those who are growing in their experience of grace do not view God’s unconditional favor as a license for sin and selfishness, but as a life-changing state of existence whereby we can truly love God and others. (Mark 7:1-23; Romans 6:1-23; 14:1-23; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; 10:23-33; Galatians 5:13-15; Colossians 2:20-23; Titus 2:11-12)

5 – We seek to emphasize “being” ahead of “doing”. Simply put, we believe that maturity is the fruit of security – not vice-versa. It is very common for Christians to become busy doing religious things, believing that their busyness equates to godliness. As a grace-saturated church, we desire for our people to serve the Lord as a by-product of their security in the new-identity He has given them through Christ. We are not to view ourselves as “sinners saved by grace” trying to repay God for all He has done for us. Instead, the Bible describes New Covenant believers as “saints”, “chosen ones”, “children of God”, “dearly loved”, “brothers and sisters”, “the Bride of Christ”, “the Body of Christ”, “new creations”, and in many other wonderful ways. Never is a believer in Christ referred to in the Bible as a dirty, rotten sinner. As we grow in the security of who we are in Christ (being), the fruit of His Spirit working through us begins to take care of itself (doing). We believe there is ONE Person in the entire universe who can successfully live the Christian life, and His name is Jesus Christ. Therefore, our life as believers is not about us "trying hard" to live for Him. Rather, it is about resting in His finished work and allowing Him to live His supernatural life through us. (Luke 10:38-42; Ephesians 5:1-2; Colossians 2:6-7; 2 Peter 1:2-11)

6 – We seek to deal with sin biblically. Rather than display a condemning or critical spirit toward believers who are caught up in some form of sin, we seek to handle this through loving and prayerful confrontation with the goal of restoring any relationships that have been broken by the sin, wherever possible. We desire to nurture a healing environment of humility, honesty and restoration. (Matthew 18: 15-20; 2 Corinthians 2:6-8; Galatians 6:1; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15)

7 – We seek to share the message of grace with the world! We believe that the “God of all grace” wants humanity to be saved through faith in Jesus Christ. In grateful response to the treasure we have been given in Christ, we desire to share that same hope with the entire world! While we seek to contextualize our approach to the diverse cultures in which we minister globally, we remain uncompromised in our presentation and demonstration of the Gospel of grace plus nothing through faith plus nothing in Christ plus nothing. (Matthew 28:18-20; John 17:18; Acts 1:8; 1 Timothy 1:12-16; 2:1-7)

So there you have it. The kind of church where I am privileged to serve as a pastor! Are we perfect in all these areas yet? YES WE ARE! (Just kidding....of course we're not!). But these are seven realities we hold dear and seek to allow Jesus to manifest in the way we do life together at Valley. If you have been wounded or disillusioned by the joy-robbing huffing and puffing of man-made religion and you're looking for something that reminds you more of the Jesus you were first attracted to, I would invite you to join us soon! I offer this invitation not because we always hit these seven marks for which we aim - but simply because we actually ARE aiming!

If you're starving for uncompromised grace, come check out the community here at Valley Church. We meet Sundays at 8:30am, 10:00am and 11:30am with great modern music and relevant Bible teaching that you can understand and apply to real life. We also offer a Traditional Venue service which meets in our Student Center simultaneously to our 8:30 service - where you will hear the same message live via video but can worship in a more traditional format with older hymns, etc.



(Many of the concepts in this document were inspired by the article "Characteristics of a Grace-Oriented Church" by Dr. Charles Bing. Permission to use the original document as a guide has been granted by the author).