In 1887, a former miner and sweet maker from Burnley, called Ben Bullock, invented the first stick of lettered rock. Initially, his rock had the words ‘Whoa Emma’ written through it, after a famous music hall song of the time. However, having visited a local seaside town called Blackpool on holiday, he recognised the potential of the popular resort, changed the word in the centre to ‘Blackpool’ and began shipping his rock to be sold at stalls on the beach – leading to the infamous Blackpool rock. Whatever the word or phrase – be it ‘Whoa Emma’, ‘Blackpool’ or something entirely different, wherever you slice into a stick of Blackpool rock, you will find the same message running right through its core.

Like a stick of Blackpool rock, an important part of Flourishing is identifying our why and ensuring that it runs through the core of everything we do. Slice into it at any point and you’ll find the same values that inform our practice and shape our approaches throughout. When we understand our values – why we do what we do and what we are all about – it changes the way we do it.

According to the Cambridge English dictionary, Values are

‘the beliefs people have, especially about what is right and wrong and what is most important in life, that control their behaviour’.

Control can sound like a strong and unpleasant word – but essentially, we are talking about those core beliefs that inform and shape what we do. Another word for it might be ‘ethos’ – a greek word that refers to our character … our customs … our habits – our fundamental values and guiding beliefs.

The word ‘Values’ has become a bit of a buzz word in the world of wellbeing and when we look at the research we can see why. It has been found that when we live life in a way that is in tune with and informed by the values we hold, stress levels are lower, we are better at making decisions, we feel happier and more fulfilled, can build more meaningful relationships and we have increased resilience.

Sound good???

But, given that the word Values is described as ‘the beliefs people have’, as followers of Jesus, where does Faith fit in?

I thought I’d share a couple of thoughts and reflections I have had as I have explored and reflected on this myself!

1. Faith is foundational

Since starting Wonderful Me!, reflecting on what I was all about and the purpose of Wonderful Me! was something I had been bringing curiosity to and wanted to explore more and so, a little while ago, Ali and I carved out a day together to reflect on and articulate the values that we hold. We found a list of values words online, printed out a couple of copies, grabbed some highlighters and headed off to a coffee shop for our own version of a reflective practice day. Our initial aim was to narrow the long list down to 2 or 3 words that we could identify as our ‘core values’ – but it wasn’t quite that simple!!

The first hurdle that we hit was with the word ‘Faith’. Faith appeared in the list of values words that we were using – the problem was, for us, Faith wasn’t an aspect of our values – one word to choose from many – it was our values. We want our beliefs and faith to underpin and shape everything we feel is important – how we view life and how we approach what we are doing. Choosing it as one option of many didn’t feel enough somehow.

I came across a brilliant example of how this plays out as I was reading the book of Galatians recently. The book of Galatians is a letter written by Paul to the church in Galatia and, after introducing himself, Paul begins with a greeting … ‘Grace and Peace to you’. In fact, this isn’t the only time that Paul uses this greeting. If we flick through the New Testament, every single letter that Paul writes begins in this way – and Peter follows his example in his letters too! ‘Grace and Peace to you.’

If I am honest, I’ve read those words many times before without paying them too much attention. The introductions and greetings can feel a little like padding and I tend to jump ahead to where he really starts to get into it. But it struck me, as I read yesterday, just how important those words are. They form a manifesto for Paul – setting out from the very start what he believes and what his values are.

Grace – that awareness that we can’t earn God’s acceptance, forgiveness or love. It’s a gift, freely and lavishly poured out for us.

Peace – the knowledge that accepting that love and walking in relationship with Jesus brings a peace that passes understanding.

In the Old Testament, the original Hebrew word used for ‘peace’ is ‘shalom’, and in the New Testament, the Greek word is ‘eiréné’. Both of which have a much fuller depth of meaning than perhaps our English word ‘peace’ conveys. It means wholeness, wellbeing, prosperity. More than just the absence of war, it implies right relationships, security, quietness, harmony.

Paul’s greeting is a reminder of what he is all about – of what he believes and the values he holds that underpin everything he does … Salvation isn’t earned – it’s a gift – and it makes us whole. In every letter he writes, he is setting out his stall – being totally clear about his values and brilliantly summing up what he believes in a few words – ‘Grace and Peace to you!’

We wanted to recognise the foundational importance of our beliefs – and so, we put Faith in it’s own category and called it Passion –  recognising that Faith in Jesus for us is a foundational belief/value that underpins everything we are and do.

Once we’d done that, it was easier to think about other aspects of our values – and we went on to define 3 additional categories –

• The values that inspire our purpose – what we feel called to
• The values that inform our principles – the approach that we bring
• The values that shape our person and character

2. Values evolve

In Philippians 2:12, we are encouraged to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

Philippians 1:6 tells us that ‘He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion’.

2 Corinthians 3:18 reminds us that we are being transformed into His likeness.

There’s a sense in each of those verses that Faith is a journey. While it is true, as Paul so succinctly puts it, that through the Grace of God and the sacrifice of Jesus we are made whole and brought into right relationship with our Father God – fully acceptable and loved now – it is also true that we are on a journey – being transformed to be more and more like Jesus as we work out our faith each day.

John puts it brilliantly when he says ‘He must increase, I must decrease’ (John 3:30)

The more we discover of the love of God – the more we allow his love and light to fill our hearts – the more it illuminates areas in our lives that we are still holding on to – space for more of Jesus!

It was this issue that caused a problem for the rich young ruler in Matthew 19. He seems interested in hearing more about Jesus and approaches him with a question – essentially, what do I need to do to experience life in all its fulness?

Jesus answer is – follow the commandments.

Great, I’ve done all that, says the rich young ruler – it doesn’t quite seem to be enough – what am I missing?

In a nutshell – Jesus reply is to follow the commandments in your heart. Don’t just jump through the hoops, complying with all the rules. Believe it … act on it … let it shape your values. Jesus then shines a spotlight on an area of his life that this rich young ruler is holding on to – wealth. For him, being rich was an important value that he had – and it was a value that he was unwilling to let go of. His reluctance to allow his heart and his values to be shaped by God means, as the bible describes it,  he walks away sad.

So, while I have found it empowering to reflect on, define and articulate the values that I hold … while it has been helpful in shaping what I do and informing my yes’s and my no’s as the work of Wonderful Me! evolves … I want to be open to recognising areas where the values I hold need to evolve. Where, perhaps, they aren’t yet fully shaped and informed by the love of God. Because my values are linked with my character – and that is a work in progress!

---

If you would like to explore this area of values for yourself – then check out the brand new Wonderful Me! ‘My Values’ resource! We’ve created a tool to help you reflect on, identify and articulate 4 aspects of your values – Passion, Purpose, Principles and Person. And we’ve made it even easier to work through by creating a card deck to go with it.

You’ll find all the details on the Wonderful Me! website – along with information on how to purchase the card deck in the Wonderful Me! shop.

If you find Wonderful Me! resources helpful – then perhaps you could consider buying me a coffee?! Your support enables me to continue creating free to access resources for churches that supports them in creating safe spaces where every child feels seen, heard and valued.