Core Values
What convictions make Redeemer Montclair distinctively what it is? The first way to answer that question is to look at the church’s doctrinal commitments. Those are the creeds and summaries of what we believe the Bible teaches about God, humanity, salvation, the Bible, the church, the world, and so on. Redeemer Montclair stands with all churches in affirming the Apostle’s Creed, and with the Protestant and Reformed churches in affirming the teachings of the Westminster Confession of Faith.
But in every time and place, a church has to determine how these doctrinal commitments are to be propounded, embodied, and applied to the particular issues and minds and hearts of the people where the church exists. This can be called the theological vision of the congregation. This is also called its “core values” or “philosophy of ministry.” At Redeemer, Montclair these basic guiding values can be broken down in a number of ways. The following is a simple summary:
1. The Gospel’s Centrality
The gospel is not just the A-B-C’s, but the A to Z of Christianity. The gospel is not just the minimum required doctrine necessary to enter the kingdom, but the way we make all progress in the kingdom. We are not justified by the gospel and then sanctified by obedience, but the gospel is the way we grow (Gal. 3:1-3) and are renewed (Col. 1:6). It is the solution to each problem, the key to each closed door, the power through every barrier (Romans. 1:16-17).
The Gospel’s core
The gospel is not that we develop a righteousness to God and then he owes us, but that he develops a righteousness through Jesus Christ and gives it to us, and then we owe him (II Corinthians. 5:21). The gospel is not that “it doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you’ve been good,” but that “it doesn’t matter if you’ve been good, as long as you believe in Christ as your savior.” The gospel is not that we go from being irreligious to being religious, it’s that we realize that our reasons for both our religiosity and our irreligiously were essentially the same and essentially wrong. We were seeking to be our own saviors and thereby keep control of our own life. When we trust in Christ as our Redeemer, we turn from trusting either self-determination or self-denial for our salvation - from either moralism or hedonism.
Redeemer assumes that most people have not heard or thought out the implications of the gospel. We exist to bring things “in line with the Gospel” (Gal. 2:14) which renews us spiritually, psychologically, corporately, socially. The gospel avoids both legalism and liberalism, moralism and relativism yet it does not produce “something in the middle,” but something different from both. The gospel critiques both religion and irreligion (Matt. 21:31), and shows us a God far more holy than the legalist can bear, and yet far more merciful than a humanist can conceive. Simply stated Christ had to die because we could not satisfy his holy demand, and Christ had to die because he loved us. This gospel affects everything we do at Redeemer.
2. Gospel Respect
The gospel teaches us to have deep respect for non-Christians. Since we are saved only by grace, we expect them to exceed us in many ways and become the sources of wisdom, goodness and insight.
Gospel Hope
The gospel teaches us to have the greatest hope for non-Christians. No one is ever seen as “too far away,” since every conversion, including your own, is a miracle.
Gospel Courage
The gospel keeps us from over-dependence on the approval of others. This clears the way for speaking directly, as (see above) it has also presented us from speaking haughtily.
Gospel Love
The gospel prevents us from defensiveness and the need to win arguments and prove ourselves through witnessing. We no longer take things personally. We do not love people now in order to evangelize, we evangelize only because we love them.
3. Gospel Reconciliation between Individuals
In the gospel, Christians become a new people of God, united to Christ and to each other. Since the gospel has both humbles us and yet has assured us of our loved-ness, now we are free from either envy or pride, either inferiority or superiority. We no longer receive our sense of worth through approval from people nor through power over people. This makes our relationships things of beauty, driven by love (Gal. 5:6) in which we are neither using people nor overly “needy” them. Instead we are freed to serve, affirm, or confront - whatever is best for the other.
Gospel reconciliation between people
The gospel removes cultural pride and brings down racial identity as a component of identity, making it possible to avoid idolizing one’s cultural strengths and appreciating those of others.
4. Changed Lives
Psychologically, all despair, guilt, fear, anger are present to the degree that something besides Jesus (career, family, moral performance, romance) is operating as our functional savior:
New way with Lordship
If we are saved by his grace at such an infinite cost to him, then he can ask anything and it can still be a “deal” and a joy!
New way with the self
We no longer take our identity from what others think of us or what we think of us but from what God thinks of us in Christ (I Corinthians. 4:3-4). The gospel produces neither an inferiority complex nor a superiority complex. This unique boldness and humility at once is a sign of the unique gospel-psychology.
New way with problems
The moralizing approach says: “repent, you are not living right.” The psychologizing approach says: “you must accept yourself just as you are.” The gospel says: “something besides Jesus Christ is your functional savior.”
5. Social Healing
Sociologically, all injustice, violence, strife, dependency, intolerance are present to the degree that something besides Jesus (wealth, race/blood, the state, human reason) is operating as our functional savior.
Racial brokeness
The gospel makes us humble - which heals the racial/nationality brokeness (Gal. 2:14, Acts 2:1-12). We no longer use our culture’s strengths for self-justification (racism.) We now can look at others who are not like us and who are not even Christians and know that we can learn from them (since we are not saved because of our wisdom or performance, but because of our record.) Christianity becomes the greatest basis civil relationships in a pluralistic society.
Economic brokeness
The gospel makes us generous - which heals the class brokeness. On the one hand, for people with means, it gives us a model of sacrificial giving in Christ (II Corinthians. 8:2) which we now owe to others (Matt. 18:21-35), even to those who were undeserving, like we were (Is. 64:6; Luke 6:32-35.) One of the marks of a heart which is really touched by grace is a life poured out in deeds of mercy and justice (Is. 1:10-17; Matt. 25:35-36; James 2:12-14.) On the other hand, the gospel empowers the poor to self-sufficiency through its hope (Luke 1:52.)
6. All of our work matters to God
When the gospel clears out religiosity which makes religion and church itself into an idol, then so called “secular” work is as valuable and God-honoring as Christian ministry. When you use your gifts in work - whether by practicing law, tilling the field, mending broken bodies, or nurturing children - you are answering God’s calling to serve the human community.
God matters to all our work
That is, we also believe that the gospel shapes and effects the motives and methods we use in our work. In every field, there are idols that distort the work offered in that secular (relativistic) world-views both produce a different cultural product than the gospel. We encourage Christians to transform their work by offering it up t the God who saved them, and by working in line with the gospel. We do not want Christians to privatize their faith away from their work, not to express it in terms of subculture. Rather we want to see growing Christians working in their vocations both with excellence and Christian distinctiveness, thus transforming the culture from the inside out.
7. The Gospel Breaks Out
Paul says that the gospel does not just have power, but rather it is the power of God (Romans 1:16-17). The kingdom of God is gradually but inexorably growing (Matt. 13:1-23; 11:12). Every believer is a prophet, priest and king - we are a “royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9). At Redeemer all within the church are released to nurture and minister.
What is Redeemer’s Basic Strategy and Structure?
With those core values, Redeemer Montclair has carefully organized the ministries of our church so that we can work together, by the power of the Spirit, to effect great change in Metro New York.
- We are a worshipping community. Our worship services are designed to both build up those who believe and to challenge and help those who doubt or seek.
- We are a loving community. The heart of our church is a network of small groups, in which face-to-face friendships, encouragement and caring develops.
- We are family community. Christians are to provide the support of family relationships for one another: as singles, couples and families. Our children are also nurtured as we pass along the heritage of our faith.
- We are a supporting community. Through our network of support groups, classes and seminars we provide a context for spiritual growth.
- We are a learning community. Many of us become followers of Jesus with a lack of familiarity with spiritual truth, and rarely a prior Christian background. Our classes are designed to teach the basics of the faith and help Christians grow into servant leadership.
- We are a praying community. Without prayer and reliance on God’s grace, all of our plans are hollow. We have weekly prayer times to seek God’s favor and praise him for what he has already done.
- We are a giving community. Ministries of administration, Sunday service ministries and hospitality, assimilation, and financial development match resources (financial, people, skills) with the best place of service within the church.
- We are a community in the marketplace. We seek to work with excellence and Christian distinctiveness in our vocations.
- We are a community of mercy. Community development and ministry of social service help reweave the physical and social fabric of our community.
- We are a witnessing community. We share the good news through our witness here and in major cities worldwide.