People are a BIG deal!

I want people to be a really big deal at Trinity Life. Of course that is easy to say and anyone worth their salt would say the same thing. The question becomes, "So....what does that actually look like in real practice?" Let me list six values (3 now, 3 later) that I think capture the essence of how people are a big deal to Jesus and will be to Trinity Life Church.
1) Substance over Surface = Luke 18:9-14 "Two men went to pray...one an evangelical, the other a bar tender. The evangelical prayed, 'God thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterous, or even like this bar tender. I go to church every week and even follow Dave Ramsey's financial strategies.' But the bar tender would not even go into the church building, but buried his head in his hands saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'" I tell you, this man went away justified rather than the other.... [modern equivalent version].
People are a big deal in that what is going on beneath the surface is more important than what is going on at the surface. At Trinity Life, how one dresses and whether they smoke is not going to be on the list for discipleship 101. There are bigger things to worry about like bitterness, rage, and pride. Even then, people need help and not someone telling them that they are on a quick road to hell (at least not so unsympathetically). Take time to know their story. Knowing their story I bet that we would love them. Loving them I suspect we would serve them (like helping them know more about Jesus' love for them).
2) Relationships over Ideals = Mark 14:27-28 = "And Jesus said to them, 'You will all fall away ... But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.'" Fascinating! Jesus knows they will fall away and deny him but looks ahead to their ministry anyway! When we choose ideals over relationships people get smashed. In choosing relationship over ideals we find that things get messy, and that lots of mercy and stamina are required. People are a big deal in that messiness is okay. We will mess up. Discipleship will look ugly sometimes. It will be slow and stubborn but we look ahead to the progress of God's Spirit in us that awaits as we stay faithful to one another. At Trinity Life, victory over some list of sins is not the litmus test for joining. Sanctification looks like struggling against the flesh. Do we want failure? No. Do we want broken, single parent families? No. But IT IS OKAY! Do we want people to be alcoholics, addicts, or homosexuals? No. But we want to come beside them and help them through it with the transforming work of the Gospel, recognizing that these battles or circumstances are sometimes life long war zones b/t the flesh and Spirit.
3) Essentials over Non-Essentials = Romans 14:5ff = "One man esteems one day as better than another, while another man esteems all days alike. Let everyone be fully convinced in his own mind." People are a big deal in that we recognize their freedom of interpretation within the body when it is not related to what we believe essentially (such as the Trinity, or resurrection, or incarnation, or eternity, etc.). Non-essential things are of little concern, such as how you understand the book of Revelation (pre, mid, post, or whatever). Or what version of the Bible you read. Or whether you think homeschooling is the biblical mandate. What we are concerned with is essential Christian faith as historically maintained. It is not that I do not have a detailed theology (I do in fact) but that being a part of Trinity Life is more about the vision of the Gospel and Mission than it is about whether you're pato-baptists or credo. Sorry, I'm just not going to die on that cross! "Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls" (14:4).
We want Trinity Life to be a place where it is okay to mess up and be messy and come from messy situations but where apathy is fought hard against through the Gospel of Jesus. We want victory over sin, but we want to be patient. Don't be afraid of your sins, confront them in the name of Jesus. We will listen, pray, and walk with you through the mess.