Stand up. Stand firm.
What do you stand for? And how do you stand up for that, and stand firm?
Values are defined as the deeply-held principles, ideals or beliefs that we hold and adhere to when making decisions (Barrett, 2010).
My values are what I stand for. Your values are what you stand for.
Our values as individuals are expressed in our personal behaviour. Values in organisations are expressed by their cultural behaviour.
In the Christian faith, we believe in salvation by faith in Christ’s sacrifice for us.
People who don’t share the same faith may be guided by their own life experience, or family values, or philosophy.
But as believers, our values (theoretically) are Christ-inspired.
I’ve been convinced that I should be able clearly to state what I stand for, out of a clear knowledge of the self He created me to be, and of the tenets of my faith.
I’d encourage you to think about this, too.
Try this. Write down in one sentence what your values are . . . what makes you feel deeply, what drives you. (If you’re not sure, repeatedly ask why you feel or react strongly to something. This will always lead you back to what values are core to you.)
The apostle Paul calls on at least three audiences – in Corinthians, Galatians Ephesians — to stand firm.
In 1 Corinthians he encourages them to stand firm in the faith (16:13), being people of courage, doing everything in love. “Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord . . . ” (15:58).
In Galatians 5:1 he encourages believers who are set free for freedom, to stand firm – “do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery”.
And in Ephesians 6:14, “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”
See how Paul, when he says to stand firm, also points to the Christian values that will help young Christians do so. They are to love, and serve, and live in the freedom they have in Christ.
What are your values? What do you believe in and stand for?
Perhaps the sanctity of life? The importance of family life? Service to the poor? Equality? Justice? Stewarding the environment? Bringing people to freedom?
Values are not just integral to who we are, but to the contribution you and I make.
Assume that our values focus on the good of selves and others (which is what makes them ethical, and Christian). If so, our combined personal value systems will support our professional ethics systems, underpin or challenge the values of our organisations, and underpin or challenge societal ethics.
The values that truly guide you and me are most clearly exhibited when bad things happen.
Look at the hope-inspiring story of 12-year-old friends Evert du Preez and Mokoni Chaka who helped those affected by the Shosholoza Meyl train tragedy in January.
They took action. On behalf of others. Their humanity – a universal ethical value – shouts out loud and clear from a clip recorded by ECNA reporter Mike Appel and viewed 155,000 times so far on YouTube.
Today’s South Africa is a time and space when you and I need to stand up for what we stand for. Because when good people don’t stand up for their values, bad things happen.
A country gets captured, until whistleblowers like Mosilo Mothepo and Bianca Goodman stand up. Professionals lose their way (KPMG SA’s former leaders), or are not held to account (asset managers pursuing profits and not asking the necessary questions about Steinhoff’s growth). Organisations focus solely on shareholders and not stakeholders (Steinhoff, again).
Author Andy Stanley writes that once a person loses the authority found in consistently exercising good values, it’s difficult to regain.
When you live your life aligned to your convictions, it makes you persuasive and full of impact, he says.
Others see a relationship between who you are, what you say and what you do. There is integrity or coherence between you and your values. That’s something to ask God for in 2018, isn’t it?
Marian Griffin Kloot, February 2018
References
Appel. M. 2018. https://www.enca/south-africa/two-boys-help-train-victims
Accessed 17 January 2018
Barrett, R. 2010. The importance of values in building a high-performance culture. https://www.valuescentre.com Accessed 17 January 2018
Stanley, A. 1999. Visioneering: God’s blueprint for developing and maintaining vision. Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books.
