The value-based approach
Cells are not based primarily on a set of beliefs, or a model of behaviour, but on a group of core values. That is because people live and act according to their personal values, whatever they say they might believe (we do of course have an evangelical statement of faith to which we adhere).
A person’s value system informs what they do far more than their academic beliefs. To get a person to change in a permanent way his or her values must be changed. Re-educating their beliefs is only one part of this, and trying to change people by addressing their behaviour alone is rarely successful.
“We do what we value and we value what we do.”
(NB. Some people use the word 'belief' exclusively for deep convictions, which would cause confusion in the diagram above. Deep convictions are essentially values, whereas we are talking about believing things on another level - the academic, mentally assenting level - which is often undermined by what is really in our hearts.
An example would be the cell member who believes, from the Bible, that she should do evangelism as a Christian. Yet that belief may not ever cause her to do anything about it. Why? Because she has not made evangelism a value in her heart, as it is in God's.)
What are values?
Our values are the unwritten principles that we are deeply convinced about; that we hold dear in our lives. They are the code that we each live by. They are like computer programs that have been installed in us so that we operate by them. Some we formed consciously, many we were unaware of as we picked them up. Our values are formed throughout our lives, from:
- Our parents
- Our peers
- Our own reasoning
- The world around us
- The Holy Spirit (in salvation)
Our value system will affect how we act – what we give time to, how we assess our priorities, how we behave in a given situation.
“We give time to what we love.”
The value-based approach
God’s kingdom is based on a set of values that are radically different to the world’s. Jesus often aimed his teaching at peoples’ inner attitudes, not their outward behaviour or their beliefs. Part of being a disciple of Christ is to co-operate with God in removing our old, worldly values, and having them replaced with His values, which Jesus demonstrated, and which are recorded in the Bible.
We have our values for valid reasons, but God calls us to examine them and to change. Some values can be unhelpful, others fine as long as they are given the correct priority.
So in discipleship, we aim primarily to change our values by:
- Recognising that values are behind our actions
- Identifying what those values are, and where they came from
- Acknowledging the need for our values to be changed by God
- Identifying the new values of His kingdom that we need
- Implementing the new values in our lives
"Discipleship is exchanging my old worldly value system for the values of God's kingdom"
Importantly, value change does not always occur just by receiving right teaching - that tends to satisfy us predominantly on a belief level. Value change comes from the example of others, from the work of the Holy Spirit, from conviction from the Bible, from putting words into action, and from much repentance!
FAQs
Tell me more about how values are changed!
Is there a discipleship resource which takes a value-based approach?
How does City Life Church outwork this sort of discipleship?
What are the values behind cell groups?
More on Jesus teaching being value-based?
Exercises
1. Think in values
List 3 values that you think are important in the Kingdom of God.
List 3 values that are prevalent in the world around us which may not be so Godly.
2. Identify your own value system
Can you identify your own values behind the following, and where you picked them up?
a. Your work ethic
b. Brushing your teeth
c. Standing up for your beliefs
d. Whether you show emotion
e. What your life is worth
f. How to treat the opposite sex
g. Attitude to food and drink
h. Desire for intimacy with another
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