Commitments

 The five foundational values

of the matterchatter community.

Faith:

A commitment to developing an active life of faith

Faith is the act of trusting that God (However you define God) is over us, in us and flowing through us. 

Faith places God over us as Creator and Sustainer of the universe. 

Faith places God in us as our source of power, wisdom, peace and love.

 Faith moves us into action as God’s instruments of peace, love, hope, justice & goodness.  

Jesus Christ modeled for us how to love all people and how love is best expressed through personal sacrifice.  Jesus’ care for the poor, the abused and the hurting expressed his heart of compassion and reflects the best quality of his followers.

Hope:

A commitment to creating hope by intentional personal development

Hope believes there is always more possibilities and opportunities. Hope moves us from a “Fixed Mindset” to a “Growth Mindset”.  A growth mindset creates a posture of openness and teachableness. A growth mindset accompanied by an intentional plan of personal development creates a positive attitude, it creates hope. Having a plan to discover, develop and express our unique gifts and talents is critical to living out our purpose in life.

Love:

A commitment to pursue love as the highest goal in life

We define love as an act that requires sacrifice. There is no love without a cost. Love is our primary goal and all other goals must support our goal to love. 

God said that to love God and our neighbor was His greatest command. The act of loving expresses our primary purpose for existence. Choosing to live the way of love will require us to stretch, grow and move outside our comfort zones. The goal to love will be in conflict with many attitudes and goals within our society.

Community:

A commitment to share and support one another in the pursuit of Love

We were designed to live in community. We function best when we are in community. A commitment to love is a commitment to relationships.  The joys of life are greater when shared. The pain of life is less when shared. A commitment to community will counteract societies value of individualism. Community can give us the support to help move us outside ourselves to give, share, make sacrifices for one another and encourage us to love.

Equity:

A commitment to equity for all

Many within the marginalized people groups of our society are experiencing dehumanizing, debilitating and abusive inequities.  God desires that all people, regardless of gender, race, color, financial status, sexual orientation, age, educational level, etc., be treated and valued as equal. Life is not fair and so those with more must work for equity for all. To love our neighbor will requires us to make sacrifices to counter the forces of inequity in society.