About Christian values

Here is a list of things I would call “Christian values”.

  • The value of a human individual is much more than success, wealth and health.

  • Don’t judge. Don’t over-estimate your personal convictions. Keep your mind open. Stay ready to change your mind.

  • Be merciful. Forgive your fellows when they did something wrong. This will help you to not fear when you did something wrong. See Mistakes are good.

  • Be modest. Don’t say “I deserve this”. Because of course you deserve it. Of course you deserve your fellows’ attention, respect, love. Of course you deserve something to eat and drink, clothes and a place where you can rest. Of course you also deserve a beautiful car, house, bicycle, phone and whatever you may need for your life. But don’t worry about these. Worry rather about whether your fellows have them as much as you.

  • Be simple. Don’t ask for more than you need. Humanity won’t survive if we cultivate ideas like “Good enough is not enough”. The most satisfied are those who need the least.

  • Be brave. Cultivate civil courage. Don’t be afraid to question the human laws and cultural rules you adhere to. No human law should give you permission –or enforce you– to act against God’s plan, which is written into your heart.

  • Seek diversity. Love your enemy. Love reality, even the one that exists although you don’t believe it. Don’t trust your convictions, don’t rely solely on your judgment.

This list is my personal list, your list may differ because our personal experiences differ.

On the other hand it is good to discuss with other people about such lists of values. You are welcome to send me your feedback.

It seems that some weird misunderstandings are circulating regarding what the Gospel says and what not (more about this in Tell me the Gospel in 60 seconds). As far as I believe, the Gospel does not say anything of the following:

  • priests are more honorable than other people

  • God wrote the Gospel as a book called the Bible

  • we should trust our leaders rather than our hearts

  • marriage is reserved to couples of opposite sex

Here is a list of things I do not consider “Christian values”:

  • Democracy is not a Christian value. The Gospel is not a political message. Jesus has no problem with big contrast between rich and poor (Luke 17:5-10), neither with the dictator-like Roman emperor (Mt 22:15-22) nor with the fact that Romans occupied the Jewish territory and forced Jews to join their army (Mt 5:41).

  • Living in a family with a father, a mother and children is not a Christian value. It is a basic element of human nature and was valued by most civilizations long before Jesus Christ. Families should be protected for biological and sociological reasons, not for religious reasons. Living in a traditional family is not a value we can call “Christian”. Jesus himself was born into an untraditional family. See more.

  • Being obedient is not a Christian value. Obedience is important when we want to collaborate and achieve great things together, and it is a good thing if you have good laws and good leaders, but this is a general wisdom, it is not particularly propagated by the Gospel. The Gospel rather encourages us to evaluate our laws and leaders with a critical eye and to not obey when a law is against God’s plan. See also Jesus started a religious revolution.

  • Some people believe that abortion is always a sin because the Bible says You shall not kill. But this rule has been written in a time when humans had little medical knowledge about how a child develops in a mother’s womb. Our knowledge has evolved since then. Reality is more complex. See About abortion.

If there is one unique law system that can be called the Christian law system, then this law system cannot include detailed rules about abortion, family or marriage; it must be at “another level”, in the invisible world. “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36).

The UDHR is probably currently the best attempt of formulating Christian values as a universal document.

“The average man on the street believes that Christianity is a religion that imposes a particular morality with specific ethical behavior. He has concluded that “a Christian is one who lives by certain rules and regulations imposed upon him by divine or ecclesiastically dictated ‘thou shalts’ and ‘thou shalt nots,’ and that behavioral conformity to these moral codes of conduct is what the Christian strives to perform in order to please and/or appease God.” The tragic part of this misconception is that Christian religion has “faked” the world into believing that such is the essence of Christianity.” – James A. Fowler, 1998, Christianity is NOT Morality

To do: read Meta-Values: Universal Principles for a Sane World by C. Franklin Truan (2004)