As we seek to put our faith into practice and fulfill our vision, here are ten philosophies we hope guide all of our actions in life.
1. All are made in the image of God
View Each Person with Love.
We want to treat all people with respect. We don’t believe in castes or racism. We don’t believe anyone is low or untouchable. We may not agree with people’s views but still see them as God sees them.
2. The Priesthood of All Believers
Everyone's Prayer is Powerful.
Everyone’s prayer is powerful. We believe that all have access to God. God hears the prayers of all of us. There are no special priests in the New Testament. All are priests. In our serving him we want to pray, we want to encourage everyone to pray and we want all to depend on God.
3. There is a Function for All
Every person's service is needed and valuable
We believe we are a body with many parts and we want to see every member of the body playing their role. We don’t want to disqualify anyone. To see our vision fulfilled we need all hands on the deck.
4. Leadership is Servanthood in Teams
Servanthood is a Priority.
We are not looking for leaders who serve, but servants who lead. As we serve we wanna make sure we protect ourselves from becoming self-sufficient and conceited. No one is a superstar, we serve in teams.
5. Dependence on Grace, not Rules
Walk in Grace and Extend Grace to Others.
We want people to serve because they want to, not because they have to. We don’t want to force anyone to serve. Rules trap us into legalism while grace fees us to serve diligently. We will seek to extend grace to others just as we have received grace.
6. Belong, Believe, and Behave
This is the order, however, all three are important.
We want all people to know they are welcome in Dwaar. Jesus related with all, the sinners and the outcasts. Along the way, they may believe in Jesus or not, but we accept people.
7. Bond and Bridge Communities
Building homogenous and heterogeneous groups
We naturally gravitate to people similar to us in culture, language, or interests - homogenous groups happen naturally. We don’t want to fight the bonding but rather encourage it for everyone’s growth. But no group should become exclusive. We want to relate and serve across congregations and bridge the diverse communities.
8. Values, Ethos & Culture
More is caught than taught.
We want to be authentic in our lives and service. There are biblical values that we hold onto and don’t want to sacrifice those values to fulfill our vision. People are impacted and influenced by what is true. The temptation is to fake it but we want to create a culture of being real.
9. Sacrifice and Suffering
True discipleship is costly.
We are a grace filled people, but grace shouldn’t make us lazy or casual. We want to be a radical people. As we step out to serve we need be willing to suffer and sacrifice for the gospel.
10. No Competition in Service
Some plant & some water, but only God gives growth.
Our purpose is to fulfill the goal and the goal is more important than the role. We are not competing with one another. We rejoice together with what we achieve together and we want to celebrate each other’s successes as we serve.
