This is the second in a series of seven posts explaining and applying GFA’s seven core values. The first post highlighted the foundational value biblical: We base all doctrine and practice on the inerrant Word of God and preach, teach, and defend the fundamentals of the faith.
Our second core value is conservative.
Core Value #2—Conservative: We serve a holy God and so strive for pure hearts in making careful choices regarding worship, affiliations, and conduct.
It would be nice if the word biblical were sufficient to define where we stand, but, unfortunately, there are multitudes who would use that label while defending all sorts of ungodliness and falsehood. The word conservative helps us get more specific about how we live out the Bible. Our identity as a conservative organization distinguishes us from many others who also use the Bible and claim it as their authority.
Something is in danger of being lost or forgotten, and we are very serious about conserving it. What is in danger of being forgotten? What needs to be conserved? Our explanation of conservative begins with the words we serve a holy God. God’s holiness is His uniqueness. He is alone in His category, and none can compare to Him. His uniqueness includes His absolute purity and separateness from sin. “In Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). The desire of the Christian is that God be recognized as holy, and the first petition in the model prayer of Matthew 6 is “hallowed be Your name” (Matthew 6:9). We cannot make God unique or increase His holiness, but we do pray that God would be recognized and known as infinitely holy.
Being a conservative Christian or organization does not start with standards (even right standards) or traditions (even good and long-standing ones). The word conservative does not primarily describe music or dress or ministry associations. We begin with the sad and sober reality that the holiness of God is being maligned, marginalized, and forgotten, and we long to protect and promote this essential truth about God and His character.
God calls us to be holy as well: “… like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY’” (1 Peter 1:15–16, NASB1995). We conserve a right conception of His uniqueness and separateness from sin by our own uniqueness and separateness from sin.
The world does have a direction, a “course,” guided by Satan himself: “… in [trespasses and sins] you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest” (Ephesians 2:2–3, NASB1995). Since the course of this world is according to Satan, it comes as no surprise that society’s movement is not toward God’s holiness but rather away from it.
Our enemy crafts the course of the world uniquely for different cultures. Attacks on God’s holiness look different in every place, and so conservative might also look somewhat different in different places. Always start with God. How is His holiness marginalized or ignored in this place, either through outright rebellion or through lack of knowledge? What is the course of the world on a particular issue here? Then, by God’s grace, discern what it would mean to conserve His holiness.
The core value conservative reflects our desire to conserve positions and practices that display God’s holiness rather than to be pressed into the mold of the world guided by God’s enemy (Romans 12:1–2). GFA’s statement identifies three specific areas where our choices should be guided by God’s holiness:
- Worship: Our worship ought to reflect by our reverence and joy the transcendent majesty and holiness of God. A worship service should not look or feel like a casual trip to a concert or club. Our spiritual offering to God through Jesus Christ ought to be other worldly, not plunging or tiptoeing into the current of the age that hates Him. For example, when the church gathers, God’s people should give serious and sustained attention to the reading and preaching of God’s Word. The proclamation of the Bible should not feel like a business seminar, a psychological pep talk, or a stand-up comedy routine. We must reverently give our minds and hearts to the words of the only true and living God! Services should also be marked by a seriousness about prayer, not as a formality or tradition but rather as the actual approach of God’s people to His throne and real communion with Him. In addition, some music is entirely inappropriate for the worship of a holy God. Some sounds reflect the course of this world that is going away from God. Maybe they are right in the middle of that course. Maybe they are nearer to the edge of that course. But those sounds clearly identify a direction not toward a unique, majestic God but rather away from Him. We must conserve God’s holiness by rejecting that music personally and in our ministries.
- Affiliations: We ought to love and appreciate all our brothers and sisters in Christ. There is a level of personal, spiritual fellowship we can enjoy to the glory of God with any believer on this planet, even those who hold positions and doctrines that we would consider way out of bounds. If the Spirit lives inside of someone, we do have something glorious in common. Praise God! But ministry partnership is another matter. Our ministry affiliations and partnerships must not in any way call into question the holiness of God. We need to conserve His holiness even by refusing cooperation with those who hold seriously aberrant doctrine or practice.
- Conduct: In our day-to-day lives, we ought to be reflecting God’s uniqueness and purity. The world, still under the authority of the evil one (1 John 5:19), has a direction on speech, dress, relationships, entertainment, and a host of other areas of life. But the way that we speak, the words we choose, our attitudes, modest and appropriate dress, our entertainment choices, and our interpersonal relationships must honor the Lord in every way. We must reflect the holiness of God!
There is one final and very important phrase in GFA’s statement defining conservative. We serve a holy God and so strive for pure hearts in making careful choices regarding worship, affiliations, and conduct. Our careful choices are not just traditionalism or we’ve-always-done-it-this-way, ornery resistance to anything different. A conservative first seeks the purity of heart that reflects God’s holiness. We want to make choices not merely to conserve but ultimately to please Christ Himself. This word calls us continually to be giving our hearts to the Lord. Only then can we have this as a core value.
May God give us grace to pursue pure hearts, fully given to Christ, desiring to honor Him above all. Then let us ask God to help us make choices that highlight His purity, His separateness from sin, His majestic holiness, and that push back on the course of the world while promoting and conserving the centrality of the holiness of God.