A thought by John Townsend from his
book, Leading From Your Gut (p. 37). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click
on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)
And that means they will matter to us.
John says, “Since God is the originator of all values in the universe, it simply makes sense for leaders who
wish to work from an intuitive framework to begin with the following as their
primary value: Whatever
God values, I will value. Again, these are
values we don’t have to make up.”
John goes on, “Here are some examples:
• Love. We must follow
Jesus’ commands to love God and love others (Matthew 22:36–40), which are the
two highest values in God’s kingdom. The apostle Paul provides additional
teaching on what it means in practical terms to love others well (1 Corinthians
13:1–13).
• Stewardship. We are stewards of
the earth and the tasks God gives us to do in the world. The first command God
gives to Adam and Eve is to fill the earth, subdue it, and rule over it
(Genesis 1:28).
• Obedience. We must follow
God’s commands. For example, the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1–17) list
foundational directives to help us follow God and to treat each other well.
• Wisdom. We must learn to
live well by pursuing wisdom. The book of Proverbs provides many principles
about the value of skilled living.
• Character. We must grow in our
ability to live an integrated life. The prophet Micah described the
foundational requirements for character development this way: ‘To act justly
and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God’ (Micah 6:8).
• The gospel. We must reach the
world with the message of Christ, a charge often referred to as The Great
Commission (Matthew 28:19–20).”
John continues, “Whichever value is ‘the
one’ for you, then review the rest in light of that one. As you reflect on this
list, don’t allow yourself to get overwhelmed by feeling like you have to have
one ‘right’ set of biblical values. There are hundreds—and the goal is to end
up with a maximum of seven! Also, don’t give in to all-or-nothing thinking,
which says, ‘Now I’m leaving out the rest of the Bible.’ You are not. Whatever
value number is for you, it’s important to God and to you. But you have to stop
somewhere, and I think you’ll end up with a great direction in life—and in
leadership—by keeping your list of foundational values down to somewhere
between three and seven.
“At the same time, remember that
whatever the Bible says is most important is probably the most important for
you. So keep that in mind as you craft your values list. For example, when I
worked out my own internal value system… I was struck by the primacy of love in
the Bible and made sure it was primary in my own list.
He then says, “So, the key standard to
rely on as you begin with biblical values is this: Whatever God values, I will value. All your other aspirational values should serve
and support this one.
So, whatever God values, I will value, makes sense, doesn’t it?
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