Our 4 Elements

  • Sean Harrelson
  • 01/08/08

 

Our 4 Elements

Sean Harrelson, Pastor-Teacher
January 25, 2008


An organization's "core values" form what is central to the organization's existence and identity. In fact, a core value should be something which, if altered or abandoned, would change the organization's identity altogether. Ideally, these values express the passions that bring that organization's members together. Coram Deo Fellowship has four core values. We call them the "4 Elements" because they are elemental to our existence and identity.

D N A
Coram Deo Fellowship is a local church, and the church is the body of Christ - a living organism, not merely an organization, of course. And as a local church body we have DNA - that which programs, informs, pervades, and determines what we do as a church.

Whether gathered on Sunday morning, participating in a mid-week Home Fellowship, giving financially, extending God's mercy to the needy, or testifying to the gospel - in all that we do and all we pursue we are passionate about truth, worship, transformation, and community.

It is not that we categorize our endeavors and ministries around these values (i.e. Sunday's service does not fall under the "worship" category or home-fellowships under the "community" category). Rather these 4 Elements are all present in everything we do. This is true not only because we are passionate about these things but because each of the 4 Elements is related to the other three.

For example, when Coram Deo Fellowship gathers for corporate worship we are participating in community, and the worshiper can expect to find a focus on truth and a call to transformation. Likewise, we can say we are a community of transformed people. We have all been transformed by the truth of the gospel. Both transformation and worship are impossible apart from truth, etc.

But don't we just need the Bible?
Yes. But our 4 Elements are not supplanting the Bible. They are an attempt to summarize it. I suppose if someone asked, "What's your church about? What's the church committed to?", we could answer, "The Bible. Just go read your Bible and everything you find there is what we're committed to." But I'd rather not.  I'd rather say, "We understand the Bible to tell us there are four crucial points at the core of our identity. What defines Coram Deo Fellowship is an unflinching commitment to the absolute truth of the Scriptures, passionate worship of the Lord who saved us, a desire to be holy and keep being transformed into the likeness of Christ, and a love for this community of believers, the church." The extra effort and additional 2 minutes would be worth it.

They are tools.
So, the 4 Elements are no substitute for biblical truth. (No one should meditate on CDF's 4 Elements instead of the text of Scripture!) But neither are they obstacles to biblical truth. Being a member of Coram Deo Fellowship means holding a shared commitment to these values as expressions of what the Bible calls us to as a church body. They are tools. Familiarize yourself with them. They may even prove to be effective platforms for sharing the gospel.