Sojourners’ values

Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God.
1 Peter 1:18 The Message

We of Sojourners Church consider these ideas to express the most important values of our church.

1. A scriptural foundation for everyday living.
   The teachings in the Bible straighten us out by showing us what is wrong with our lives, what is true, and how to do what is right. (cf. 2Ti 3:16 NLT) Every teaching of a true follower of God must fit together with God’s teachings in scripture. Everything we do, in all of life, needs to be based on the teachings of the Bible. God inspired His Word in such a way as to be relevant to everything, not just our religious practices.
2. Expressing the unconditional love of Christ.
   God commands us to love our neighbors (Ga 5:14) and Sojourners Church does this by reaching out to our neighbors in Scotts Valley first; then our county, our region, and the world. We share our lives and the love of our Lord with them, regardless of any way they might bless us back. We focus on the people and their needs. We meet those needs regardless of what anyone might expect would be the "usual" or "proper" way for a church to behave—what we do is for God, and not to improve our reputation.
3. A sensitivity and submission to the Holy Spirit.
   Every Christian has the Holy Spirit living within them. We must develop our ability to hear Him and follow His lead. We must learn how He behaves (by learning about Him from scripture, and by taking leaps of faith to see whether He’s truly leading us or not) so that we can recognize whether He’s truly speaking to us. When He interferes with our customs and traditions, we need to let Him do that, and trust that He knows what He is doing.
4. Meaningful relationships are priority.
   Jesus orders us to love one another, (Jn 13:34) and we can’t do that properly when we don’t know one another. We can’t correct one another if we don’t know enough about one another’s lives to see where mistakes are made. We can’t pray for one another if we don’t know others’ needs. We can’t grow closer if we hold one another at arm’s length. Sojourners Church must never become a church where needy people can hide in the crowd, but where the lost are found and the found are restored.
5. A safe environment for learning and growth.
   As we grow to become better Christians, we will make a lot of mistakes along the way. People make mistakes, and every one of us has bad behavior and wrong thinking to overcome. Sojourners Church must be a place where every mistake is forgiven, and where people are encouraged to keep growing—not encouraged to quit because they didn’t do it right the first time. Practice makes better.
6. An openness to broad participation in a lifestyle of worship.
   Worshipping God is not just for professionals or talented people. Every Christian is a priest of God; every Christian can and should worship, and must learn to lead others—even people who are not yet Christians—in worship. It is through worship that we learn the most about who God is. We must also not just worship God with music, but with obeying His commands, speaking with Him regularly, and loving others like He loves us.
7. Humility in heart, mind, and spirit.
   We recognize that God, not us, knows everything, and knows better. We recognize that God chooses to express Himself through humble people, not proud people; through weak people, not capable people; and through people who follow Him rather than people who study Him from a distance. We want to please God, not impress one another. We recognize that we would have no skills or talents whatever if God didn’t give them to us in the first place; so taking pride in them is stupid.
8. Honest people, transparent organization.
   We of Sojourners Church value people who do what they say they’ll do; who won’t try to hide their flaws, for every one of us are flawed. We want to fix flaws, and hiding them grows them—to the point that God has to reveal them before they destroy His church, and often in a way we will find completely embarrassing. God gives us grace when we are humble, (Jm 4:6) and we don’t ever want to drive ourselves away from His grace.
9. A commitment to flexibility.
   We recognize that God’s character doesn’t change, but His methods adapt all the time to whatever’s going on. We must never be more committed to a program, a custom, a building, a teaching, or even to another person, than we are to the Holy Spirit. Where He leads, we must follow.
10. Organization learning.
    It is not enough that we as individuals grow to be better Christians. Our church must grow to be a better church. We must learn to better love one another and serve one another, as the Holy Spirit leads us.