Imagine going on a trip. You know where you’re going. You’ve got the route mapped out and the car packed. You start the car and head out. But 30 minutes later, you’re stranded on the side of the road. What happened? You forgot to fuel up.

With vision, you know where you’re going. And you will also be able to define a mission, a roadmap for how to get there. But your values will provide the fuel in your tank to keep you going forward. They are the determining factor for why you do whatever you do in ministry.

Your values are the fuel of your vision. Without them, you can’t expect to go very far. In the weeks ahead, we’ll talk specifically about how to craft values that fuel your vision. Today, let’s start by defining what a value is.

What exactly are values? We often use this word without giving a lot of thought to it. But having a real definition of values will help you not only identify your own and your church’s values, but also articulate them to your team.

Values are strong beliefs. A value is a stated reason for doing something, for thinking a certain way or responding in a specific manner. Values are what you feel down deep, what get you up in the morning and moving through the day. You can’t live without values! And when you try to do ministry outside of your values, you feel empty.

Identify Your Values

Personal values are your own. You can share your values with others, and there are some nonnegotiable values that all Christians should have. But when it comes to your core values, they’re yours alone.

Your values will define your ministry. In Values-Driven Leadership, Aubrey Malphurs writes, “A ministry based on clearly articulated core values drives a fixed stake in the ground that says to all, ‘This is what we stand for.’”

If you don’t know what you stand for, you won’t be able to define your values. And if you don’t stand for something, you won’t stand for long.

Our values reinforce what we think is important. They tell us when we are really flowing in our God-given design. That’s because the driving force behind them is the passion He placed inside us. If you don’t know what’s important to you in ministry, in your family or in life, you will have a hard time deciding what your true values are.

Spend some time alone with God to get in touch with those values. Go over the important moments of your life. Why do you consider them wins? How did you feel when you experienced that level of success? What were your major takeaways?

By prayerfully thinking through the mile markers of your life, you can see how God has used your skills and passions to shape you into a unique minister. That’s the beginning of your values.

When you try to do ministry outside of your values, you feel empty.

Your Values or Your Church’s Values?

There is a difference between your personal values and the organizational values of your church. And let me tell you, it’s important to know the difference. You may assume that your church shares the same values as you, but you’d better find out.

It is important to know your own values to make sure you and a church are a good fit. The sooner you know this, the better. So when you’re interviewing for a position, make sure they know your values and you understand theirs. For instance, if one of your core values is community outreach, but the church would rather spend more energy on families already in the church, you need to know that.

It’s OK if your values don’t line up. But trying to change your own values to fit into a church you want to lead, or to expect the church to change its values to suit you, will probably lead to heartache.

Values Bring Results

Defining and identifying your core values will set you up for ministry success. It’s not just having values that will fuel your vision, but also understanding what they are, how they work, and the role you and your church play in bringing them to life. Let me explain a bit.

Our actions and behaviors flow directly from our values. What you believe will determine what you do. When you know and understand what you really believe down deep, then you can clearly decide on the best course ahead.

Your values will also inspire others. Think of the great men and women of God who have been a beacon to you. Let me ask: Were they wishy-washy about what they believed? Or did they hold strong ideas about their values? When you know and understand your core values, others will follow you.

Your values will determine your policies and ministries. You will not be very successful if you try to go the other way. If you make decisions about what to do without knowing what you believe, you will be directionless. Your vision will stay out of reach. But knowing and understanding your values will give definition to what you do.

Communicate Your Values

Now that you’ve defined and identified your values, let others know. It is so important to share your values with others, to be able to accurately communicate them, to boil them down to small bites. That way, everyone gets on the same page.

Unity without clearly defined goals is just blind obedience. But when your team understands why you are doing what you are doing, they can give you support and trust.

Clearly communicated values can also let others know how and where they fit in. When they hear the why behind the what, they can provide their own how to get the vision moving. There may even be some who now realize they don’t fit in and need to switch teams. That’s OK. It’s better to lose a team member than to compromise on a value.

Team members who know your values will work harder and be more productive. That’s because they now have a reason to believe in what they’re doing too. It not only fuels you and your vision, it will fuel your team.