Value # 1 “Biblical and Cultural Relevance”
As promised, over the next weeks I intend to unpack the vision and values Restoration church has adopted to become a healthy, Christ-centered body of believers.
The first of our five values is to be a church that is both Biblical and culturally relevant.
Let me explain what I mean by this.
The leadership of Restoration church places a high value on the Bible. We believe the Bible is essential to understanding and growing in the Christian faith. Earlier, I mentioned to you that our vision is to see people restored to God through Jesus, and to each other, by the life changing power of Christ. The best way to understand these truths is to go to the source their source…the Bible. Nothing I have told you, or will tell you, is stuff we are making up! All our vision and values are firmly rooted in the Scriptures.
The Bible is not a set of antiquated rules and regulations designed to make our lives miserable. Many of you (including myself) were taught this at some point in our lives. Rather, the Bible is a book filled with stories that show us a God who has always relentlessly loved and pursued the people of this world.
This is a story we believe needs to be told to others, which is why we also place such a high value on being relevant to the people we are communicating these truths to. As a church we are students of culture and we intend to present the truths of the Bible in such a way that all peoples, from all walks of life, can take a next step towards Jesus.
As we teach the Bible, we want people to know the Bible is a book for everyone. No one is exempted from its truths, or love. We don’t want people to see the teachings of Jesus in the Bible as academic stories disconnected from life, rather as truths which help us to learn how to love God, and the people in our lives, more deeply.
So what do you think?
outside the gate 
I like this value a lot. So much could be said but this is a preliminary thought from your point that we are students of culture. In his book Culture Making, Andy Crouch points out that the description of man as being made in God’s image from Genesis 1 has important implications for our understanding of culture. Basically, when God says “let us make mankind in our image” God is making that statement after He has put in a full work week creating the rest of the world. God sees his good creation, and yet does not see anything that reflects his image. One of the essential ways we as people reflect God’s image is through our drive to create. It is impossible to be human and not be creative – it is our nature. Culture then, he says, is what human beings make of the world. The reason we are students of culture is because culture making is our normal mode of operation. God used human culture to reveal himself and create his holy word and he uses it today to communicate that message. To be sure, we don’t just blindly accept or try to baptize every cultural creation we encounter. But the point is that all or our attempts to understand God’s word and communicate that message come out of a cultural context. This is why some attempts at evangelism can be correct in their message but fail to win the heart. One of the supreme ways to love people is by understanding their cultural background, their world, and entering into it the way Christ entered ours, with grace and truth.
That book should be on the Christian’s recommended reading list!