The14 Principles

That’s because all of life, our existence, and the purpose of the cosmos is about God.

Every person and organization has "Principle Zero" (whether they talk about it or not). It’s the overarching principle that all other principles must connect to in order to be viable. You must adopt this (often unspoken) principle to effectively live well in the ecosystem created by the other principles of said organization. Forgetting this principle could make you feel like you are swimming upstream. For instance, most for-profit corporations have the "Principle Zero" to maximize shareholder value. Sure, there are lots of other great slogans and principles that lead to this, but if any principle deterred from principle zero it would quickly be thrown out.

At Sideris, we believe the overarching and foundational truth is this: ALL creation and ALL history revolves around the triune person and work of the one true God. This God has been self-revealed in Creation, the Scriptures, and in the person of God the Son, Jesus Christ. As such, the chief purpose of every human life is to glorify God in all His majesty. We do this in a multitude of ways, but each way must begin with the reminder that "It's not about me."

God's plan has always been to make human salvation and the restoration of all created things flow through the person and work of Jesus Christ, alone. We have the privilege of lifting high that name and exposing Christ for who he is and the reality of His loving actions to the world. This begins by centering our life on Christ and sharing His truth in word, deed, and our own becoming. Our embrace and “delight in” the manifold blessings of grace given to us by God in Jesus is our chief purpose as human beings.

This truth teaches us that I do have meaning and purpose, but that I cannot live in it unless I surrender my own agenda at the foot of the cross. It is there that God purchased my life with His. Now my story is attached to His story, which is the cosmic, everlasting story. In accepting this as my new reality, I must also accept God’s recommissioning as an agent of his grace and goodness in the world. This new plan God has for me is once again not about me. Luckily, when I live into it I rediscover what true enjoyment really is.

Perhaps it is now clear why our "Principle Zero" is so important. None of this can or will come to pass if I continue to believe that my life is primarily about me — my happiness, my comfort, my pleasure, my autonomy, my money, my legacy, my effort. The loving and tender voice of God is trying to whisper to us the kindest words of all: "Dear child, don’t worry so much, it’s not about you."

If our gaze remains inward, it will infect how we experience and interpret everything around us. We live in an age that is apathetic to the transcendent — we've stopped looking up to the heavens, both literally and metaphorically. We have forgotten our unique place in the physical and moral universe, and it is eroding us from within.

How do we reverse this tide? We pause to consider the things beyond us. We contemplate the peculiar space we find ourselves in as moral beings with real agency in a world we didn't design but can only discover. We stand trembling in the face of the grandness and awesomeness of this world and the duty we inhabit.

If we dare to stand like this and deeply consider what it means and how to move forward, then we have taken a vital step back into our original design — as worshippers.

Is merely "looking up" an act of worship? Yes, because it is an admittance that we don't and can't know everything on our own. It is a gesture and posture of dependence on something greater than ourselves. It is the essence of humility to ask someone or something outside of ourselves to help us, to reveal truth, and to save us from ignorance, impotence, or inadequacy. The simplicity and profundity of this reorienting rhythm serve as the unavoidable precondition to divine worship.

So what should the people of God do whenever they witness an authentic expression of "looking up"?… Celebrate! Just as you would celebrate a child's first steps or first words, even the most basic questions like "Is there more to life than this?" or "God, are you even there?" are occasions for celebration.

Whenever a fellow human being removes themselves from the center of knowledge and authority (which is our default setting) and begins the hard and painful work of rebooting the operating system, it is cause for joy and encouragement. This unending community breathing pattern of consideration, followed by celebration, is what leads to the recovery of our collective God-given posture of receptivity to His Word, which is beyond us and other than us. Without this posture, we will not be able to hear from the truly transcendent God who is there and speaking.

So PLEASE! Do not scoff, criticize, or critique true consideration. Don't be obnoxious. Don't ask for more before the time is right. Don't impatiently question the pace or breadth of discovery. Just celebrate, help, and be in awe that you are witnessing a fellow stiff-necked creature — predisposed to naval gazing — break free from the old posture and begin to realign their spinal column into the original God-designed posture of receptivity to the mercy, grace, love, truth, and beauty that God wants to shower upon them.

If you are the new considerer, be optimistic! Whenever new muscles are discovered, there can be a season of struggle, false starts, and questioning whether the effort is worth it. Don't give up; it will grow on you because it is supernaturally natural. You were made for this.

As a community that celebrates the ‘looking up’ in every stage, form, and iteration, we strengthen ourselves against two prevalent pitfalls in our society. The first is called "Willful Agnosticism" — being perfectly content with not knowing the specifics of transcendent matters. The second is called "Repressive Dogmatism" — being perfectly content with not knowing the reasons behind transcendent matters. One is more common in secular circles, and the other in religious circles; both are enemies of God and Truth. Removing either error from society or a community can begin by applying the sunshine of celebrating ‘looking up’. The unignorable joy of a community bursting with consideration and celebration might just draw those isolated by apathy and dogmatism into the glorious light of the Truth. Let's jam!

Every journey begins with a single step, but the greatest discoveries are often found many miles from the trailhead — so too with the glory of God. The splendor and magnificence of our God is far too great a thing to be fully uncovered in a matter of months, years or lifetimes.

This is why the joy-filled process of consideration never ends. Each new bend in the road uncovers a new realization, fuller appreciation, clearer vision or experienced truth. Any truly Christian life will be marked by continuous consideration of God’s revelation in nature, ourselves, and especially the Scriptures —as they all testify about the person and work of Christ Jesus our Lord.

At those moments when you are tempted to think that you’ve arrived and pretty much figured it out, let that apathetic thought be an alarm clock in your ear, pinching yourself back into the realm of reality and driving you back into the Word and into deep consideration. You have not arrived, but instead you have been lulled to sleep by the most dangerous of lullabies. To say it another way, boredom in your faith journey is a flashing warning sign that danger is ahead. Take a cold shower and begin to examine your patterns of worship and intimacy with God. Something must be amiss, as God is never boring.

Having said that, recognize that no two seasons are identical and not every season is a mountain top. There will be valleys and deserts and mud-fields, but it will not be boring. Avoid the impulse to chase after “spiritual highs” while still hopefully lamenting spiritual lows. Like a good marriage, full knowledge of God is the aim, but never achieved. Embracing this will lead to great excitement and surprise in your relationship with Jesus Christ. God’s mercy and grace are new every morning and so too should be our consideration of them.

“We must never rest until everything inside us worships God.” - A.W. Tozer

True life is always found in the light of honesty, not the shadows of deception. Whether unconscious internal self-deception or external malicious deceitfulness, all lies lead to some form of bondage. Only honesty gives birth to the freedom we all desire. This principle works in every human relationship because every human relationship is designed to reflect our primary relationship with our Creator.

In any dialogue or consideration of truth we should seek to be completely honest with ourselves, with one another, and with the world. But this will only happen if we first live honestly before God and in relation to His revealed truth in the Bible.

Sadly, the true freedom available to all through Jesus is often kept barricaded behind a wall of misinformation and half-truths often perpetuated by good-intentioned pastors, scholars and theologians seeking to soften the blunt edges of Scripture. This niceness ends up muffling the Kindness of God which is found in the blunt truth of humanity’s sin juxtaposed with the free gift of grace offered to all who would repent and believe. The undebatable fact of Scripture is this: freedom only flows on the heels of honesty, no matter how uncomfortable or inconvenient that may be.

Why? Because yours is off. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior we also accept a completely new understanding of time. Unless we reset our watch, or better yet get a new one, we will always find ourselves out-of-step with the things God is doing in our own lives and the world around us.

First, live like you are on borrowed time. When we understand who God is and what he does, we realize that every breath is a gift of grace. Our sin deserves death and God’s gift of life is his grace. You are not promised tomorrow and when you start living that way you will be filled with great gratitude — always, and you will be Spirit-sensitive to use the time God is loaning out to you for his specific purposes.

Second, live like you will live forever. Paradoxically, our growing understanding of the gospel will reveal to us that we are actually creatures made to live forever and that this present life is only temporary in nature. The freedom of this promise confirmed by the resurrection of Jesus breeds boldness and creativity in the use of our gifts now. We can press into the sacrifices needed for mission now because we know that right now Jesus is preparing an eternal home for us. This releases us from both paralyzing fears of death and failure. We joyfully store up treasures in those things that are not temporary but translate into Christ’s everlasting kingdom — namely, our relationships with Jesus and others. (see Daniel 12:2; Isaiah 26:19; John 5:28-29; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:20; Revelation 20:11-15)

Third, this new watch leads us into a life of patient urgency as we both wait upon the Lord to move first but with great anticipation to capitalize upon the opportunities God ignites.

The love and grace we have received in Jesus was manifest because God chose to step out of comfort into discomfort (see Philippians 2:1-11). Christ’s love should compel us to follow him into the discomforts that sin and brokenness create in the world around us—be it physical, emotional, spiritual, or relational.

For each of us this line of comfort is unique, but we know when we have crossed it. As our heart-rate increases we lean into the truth of the gospel to move us past discomfort and fear and into compassion and kindness—we do not step back.

Over time, the boundaries of discomfort stretch and new borders are drawn. But again Christ will compel us and the Spirit empower us to break new ground. By life’s end, one step at a time, we will find ourselves miles from where we began and God will be glorified by the witness of our transformed comfort zones.

Coercion is a sin and should be stricken from the Christian vocabulary. God woos, he never forces. The same Jesus and his followers.

The responsibility of every Jesus-follower is to make the consideration of Jesus available to anyone who so desires. We are not responsible for changing anyones heart or giving them faith—God does that. This makes the ministry of presence and invitation two non-negotiable aspects of the Christian life.

How will they consider if they are not invited? How will they be invited if they have never knowingly encountered a Christian? Presence and invitation require the courage of vulnerability as you risk rejection, but they are the only God-ordained means which place you in your God-ordained office of peace-messenger between God and humans he loves.

God has created the door in Christ, but we get to make sure the reality of that door and the way to that door is noticed by as many as possible. We get to make Jesus hard to be ignorable again.

Jesus loudly proclaims his care for each individual when he tells us that as our Great Shepherd he would leave the ninety-nine sheep to go after the one. Since we all have this same Shepherd, how as his followers should we mimic this same concern for the individual in our midst? Do you assign the same value that God does to each individual who crosses your path? Jesus reminds us that it is the individual who suffers, who is cold, who is lonely, who is sick, and who is worthy of our kindness. When each of us engages each one, the many will be seen, comforted, cared for, and invited into the loving family of God.

Who is the “one” God is opening your eyes to today? Time to engage.

The Bible teaches us that true life in God’s world begins with great conversation (click to read Genesis 1:1-3; John 1:1-5 & 1:14; Hebrews 1:1-3; Romans 10:8-10 & 10:14-15; James 3:1-12). What would happen if we applied this biblical understanding in our own conversational lives? To be clear, the occasional cocktail conversation (a.k.a. “small talk”) is sometimes prudent or necessary. But we contest that God’s people should hope for and, when socially appropriate, even push for a higher plain of conversations, just like Jesus often did.

It takes practice, social-awareness, and Spirit-induced moxie to skillfully move a conversation to this next level. If you succeed, everyone involved will get a taste of the good life. In this way, Jesus followers can serve as a refreshing antidote to the lamentable conversational ethos of our present age. That being said, the only way to consistently be salt and light in this way is by taking hold of the promises of gospel. Only when we find our identity and salvation in the good news of Jesus will we be imbued with the social courage and relational stamina to start, sustain, and follow-up on these kinds of conversations.

Where might one learn how to have these types of big conversations? Within the safety and grace of a gospel-rich community — the local church! We practice and normalize this new way of conversation in the rhythms of community life at Sideris — primarily in cohort groups but hopefully in every other setting as well. Just think, behind every great conversationalist you know is most likely a family of talkers ;) During our “family talk” within the church we grow in our capacity to listen with compassion, ask moving questions, and share with vulnerability. Jesus did the same thing with his disciples, teaching them a new way to be in the world. But of course it didn’t take root over night. It took thousands of hours together to become ready for this mission outside the community of disciples. Nothing has changed to this day; we need to spend time being this way with each other, and the investment is worth it. We, like Jesus’ first disciples, become tools God will use to bless and transform any gathering we find ourselves in. You might just say that Jesus is teaching us to party well. (click here for a funny clip about this very thing. FYI: Alice Cooper follows Jesus in real life)

News flash: We live in a broken and fallen world. This includes every aspect of private and public life. Every institution and organization is laced with the effects of sin. Every part of physical creation is not as it was designed by God to be. Therefore, we should never be surprised by the confusion, controversy, and conflict that erupts when human beings try to understand and make sense of and fix this brokenness in their own power apart from the guidance of the Holy Spirit and Scriptures.

Likewise, because the brokenness is even deeper than most imagine and the solution more God-sized than most admit, and the timetable longer than any of us would like, the proper starting point in any conversation around sensitive topics should be lament.

Politics, economics, cultural ideologies, or pop-morality need not be the kindling for divisiveness, but an opportunity for unity around the shared experience of hardship and sorrow. So often this is an unspoken shared affirmation. So simply make it public for all.

Only after connecting over the mutual recognition of brokenness in the world should we begin to offer up our well-considered opinions on how to move forward. This is often where paths diverge, but by reasoning from brokenness we do not overstate our finite opinions or abilities. No matter how convinced we are of our particular positions on a topic, by leading with lament we acknowledge the undeniable pain of life and makes our appeal to the suffering servant (Jesus) needing to be at least a part of the solution all the more plausible to those with whom we interact.

As a Christian you know that people/money/systems/politics will never ultimately deliver the salvation from brokenness we all desire. But Christ implores us to consider and enact the best available solutions to alleviate the pains and troubles of our fellow man whenever and wherever possible. This will require us to bring our Spirit-inspired ideas to the the public conversation and leading with lament will help us find the common ground needed to be as involved as possible.

Our notion of love is fundamentally distorted. Love is more than a mere feeling, sentiment, posture, or spoken words: Love is action. It is not true love if it does not move us to act. Love considers the other more important than the self and then shows them through action. Love does not stop acting when circumstances become challenging or awkward. Without sweat, tears, and (sometimes) blood there usually is no exchange of true love. That being said, we must not forget that we do not work hard to be loved or become worthy of love. Instead, we work hard in love because we were first loved by God while we were wholly undeserving of His love. Over time, this realization will recalibrate our hearts, minds, and experience of love so that our love acts more like God’s than the world’s. Those of us following the way of Jesus should frequently inventory our expression of love by asking: “Am I really loving as much as I think I am?”

Who is family to you? I’ll tell you… it’s the person you are most likely to call to take you to the airport at 4am. That is, the people in your life who would do anything for you without condition or fear, time and time again. That’s at least the best version of family I know. Unfortunately, in our ever fractured world, very few people experience family like this. Familial love is often replaced by the convenience of transactional love. Why would I bother a friend when I can just pay someone to function like family for me?

Interestingly, Jesus had a lot to say about reworking who family was and how family worked. Though he dearly loved his mother and brothers, Jesus always referred to his closest disciples his true family. He never envisioned his followers becoming an army to conquer the world by force, but a group of friends that transcended mere friendship to embrace each other as a new family in Christ’s name. It seems to be God’s plan that those who receive the free gift of forgiveness in Christ, also will receive the free gift of spiritual adoption into God’s forever family.

In fact, you can be almost anywhere in the world and find a connection with spiritual family member in Christ. We are literally living in the fulfillment of Jesus’s promise when he said: “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” (Mark 10:29-30).

So whether it is a ride to the airport, or a warm room to stay in for a season, or help moving to a new apartment, the family of God is close at hand. God’s family looks out for one another, eagerly searching for tangible ways to fill the gaps left by the brokenness and circumstance of the world. In a real way every local church should become the physical embodiment of Christ’s presence and promises, until “no one was in need” (Acts 4:34).

In very normal, ordinary, non-weird ways we aspire to become this kind of community. And it is not only that all tangible needs and helps are being met, but perhaps more importantly, that every participant in our community knows that they are loved in such a way that they actually ask for that ride to the airport. For, the true indicator of a community living in grace is that both requests and responses flow freely and regularly; without hesitation and without expectation or assumption of reciprocity.

Welcome to the family! … btw, is anyone available to take me to the airport Friday at 6am?

In a world constantly pressuring us to become our own brand and protect our own image, the gospel reminds us what is actually special about us: God purchased us in love. Centering our self-image on the declarative work of Jesus will free us from the habit of taking ourselves too seriously. This way we can take seriously that which should actually be taken seriously — the good news of grace found in Jesus.

Don’t misunderstand, it is not that you are unimportant. Otherwise, why would God send his infinitely valuable Son to die for you? It’s just that your importance is and will always be wrapped up in your association with Jesus. When you hide yourself in Christ you become the mirror (image-bearer of God) you were always meant to be, helping the world see Jesus. That’s serious business. As one of the redeemed you get to reflect the glory of the Redeemer. That’s serious business. If you embrace this new identity you can begin untangling yourself from the anxious chains of self-promotion and self-righteousness. You can finally rest from the soul-sucking competition of our age and start living a seriously great life.

BRIDGES, BOATS, & WELLS

Every century has its fair share of philosophical, ideological, and theological mudslides, flooding and avalanches which threaten to sweep away the gospel-work of previous generations. Without careful, diligent, and wise work the faith of a specific people-group or geographic region can be greatly damaged or swept away. Therefore, the mission of Jesus Christ needs bridge-builders who can creatively traverse these obstacles so that the true gospel is passed on from one generation to the next.

In other situations the flood of doubt washes away the knowledge of God or the experience of His goodness. The Lord will call forth and equip people, like Noah, to be boat-builders to creatively be about search and rescue, protecting the gospel life long enough for the dissipation of doubt and for new dry foundations to emerge. Perhaps God has called you to this task? Are you designed for this kind of challenge? Have you been sent out to find new dry ground where a new chapter of God’s gospel story can take root and be rewritten? God needs brave rescuers and explorers.

Finally, what can we do in seasons of no flood, when the ground seems dry? God will call men and women to be well-diggers for the establishment of a sustainable sources of the living waters of Christ for God’s people. There is a time for digging new wells and a time for restoring old wells to multiply the springs of living water for a given city or region. Every people group daily or weekly has access to the fresh water of Christ found in the teaching of the Scriptures and in the gospel community. Is God calling you to break new ground on a well through church planting? Has God given you gifts and resources to invest in a local church and reinforce its walls to assure it is available to others for years to come?

For each of these building projects, the impetus must be remembrance. As we reflect upon our own faith story we recall that discovering saving faith was not due to our own invention or ingenuity. We all owe a debt of gratitude to the saints who came before us and built gospel bridges, boats and wells. Hundreds of generations of “the faithful” have accepted this responsibility to “pass it on.” Sacrifices were painstakingly considered and counted “worth it” to make the eternal-life giving message of Jesus Christ available to us today. Most names will never be known this side of Heaven, but their impact is incalculable. We honor and acknowledge their gospel-sacrifice by moving beyond mere gratitude and taking up our cross to follow their example.

The building of bridges, boats and wells is not for the faint of heart, but possible for those with regenerate hearts that are continuously being filled with the creative power of the Holy Spirit. New architectural designs must be dreamed up for this historical and cultural moment, but we must continue to use only the same old materials of the full gospel message of cross and resurrection, as revealed by the infallible Word of God.

None of these principles can or should be engaged outside of prayer. Prayer is not just a thing we do sometimes, but an “at-all-times” posture we hold toward God. It is God who is powerful, not prayer. We pray because it is the means by which we connect to this personal and powerful God. We pray like it matters because we worship a God who cares as is not far off — He is simultaneously over all and in all; beyond time & space yet present in it. When we pray God listens. When we cry out, God responds. Not always in our timing or in the way we’d prefer, but God always responds. Lord of the natural and the supernatural, Christ is the mediator of both. These realities teach us that we need not filter our requests to God, but pray with unbridled expectation, believing that God will act for His glory and our eternal good in every situation. Prayer weds our hearts to our Redeemer’s. Prayer refreshes the mind and encourages the soul. So why would we wait for the “right” words or “right” time to pray? Instead, let us pray whenever and wherever the prompting occurs. Unleash these thoughts before the throne of God, like a young child does their parents. Driving down the freeway? No problem, “let’s pray now!”… Someone brings up a present struggle mid-coffee or mid-cohort, don’t wait until the end to pray; stop right then and pray. When we start to pray “right now” we create a new space for God to enter in and reshape our minds, hearts, and the conversation toward that which is most pleasing to Him... Amen!