About Us - Our Core Values | CLC Bookshops United Kingdom

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Our Core Values

By Guy Cornell, UK National Leader

CLC has its roots in the story found in Matthew 16:21-24. Jesus has to chide Peter for “not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s” (NASB), Peter had let his personal opinions rule his thinking about Jesus’ coming death. Then Jesus makes the statement, “In anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me,” or as it says in the Message Bible, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am.” Today CLC still aspires to let Jesus lead the way, and we particularly hold to four areas that have served as our foundation from the beginning: faith, sacrifice, holiness, and fellowship.

Faith

Faith involves believing that God knows what He is talking about, that He knows the best ways to see His plans accomplished, and therefore we submit to His thinking in all aspects of our life. It also means that we recognise if God calls a plan into being that He will provide what is necessary to carry out that plan, that He is our source for all things. Therefore, if we are willing to follow His lead and do what He asks us to do we can trust Him to take care of the miraculous parts and do the things we can’t. It is important to God that we trust Him in this way, for “without faith it is impossible to please Him.” Hebrews 11:6

Sacrifice

Sacrifice involves giving up our own desires (denying ourselves) and doing the things the Lord wants. We recognise that this can be difficult initially, but if God has a plan for us, it is not for our detriment that He asks new things of us, but will also be for our uplifting and well being. In the story of the rich young ruler in Mark 10:17-22, the ruler feels that Jesus is asking him something he cannot do. Yet, Jesus asks out of love and does so in order to set him free to be a follower. And so with us, we must realise that we never get to choose our sacrifice, rather Jesus will do that, out of love for us and to set us free to serve Him. Even though the sacrifices vary for each individual, the result is the working out of God’s perfect plan.

Holiness

Holiness involves living in a way that is pleasing to God, a keeping in harmony and right standing with God on a day by day basis. Edith Moules, a former WEC missionary, believed that our struggle as Christians was less an intellectual problem and more facing up to the moral issue of a daily walk with the Lord. We are accountable for what we do, what we say, even what we think, as Paul tells us to let the peace of God “guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7). Holiness also involves asking God’s forgiveness when we do things that separate us from Him, being restored to Him, and walking away from those things, drawing on the Holy Spirit for help when needed.

Fellowship

Fellowship involves supporting and serving one another, letting the love of God bind us together to accomplish His plans. 1 John 1:6-7 implies that our fellowship with each other is dependent on how seriously we take our personal relationship with God, for if things with God aren’t right, neither will fellowship be right. In John 13:34, Jesus says that people will know we are His disciples if we love one another. It is in this love and fellowship that God can accomplish His larger plans, and we can be a visual witness to the love and mercy of God. We commit to stand together, hear God together, and serve together, drawing encouragement from each other and helping each other out.