Honour, Authenticity and Courage
In our previous post, Celebrating Jubilee Church, we began exploring what makes Jubilee who we are today. We’re a diverse community, with different backgrounds and stories, yet united around Jesus and committed to our shared vision, values, and culture. Last time we looked at our vision, our values, and two aspects of our culture: Family and Passion.
This time, as we continue reflecting on what holds us together, we’re focusing on three more areas of our culture: Honour, Authenticity, and Courage.
Honour – receiving and releasing people according to how God sees them
To honour someone is to value them, not in a shallow, celebrity–driven way, but in recognition of their worth as image–bearers of God and the price paid for them through Jesus’ blood.
In a culture of honour, the church reflects heaven by valuing every person – not just the prominent or visible – but every part of the body, each with a unique role. When people are honoured, they flourish in their God–given identity: as sons and daughters, royal heirs, new creations, ambassadors, and citizens of heaven.
Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 12 that every part belongs, every part matters, and our significance is found in belonging to one another. A culture of honour produces confident, generous, and serving people who rejoice in one another’s success and reflect God’s kingdom on earth.
This doesn’t happen by accident – we choose to honour, we act our way into feeling, and we invite the Holy Spirit to help us live it out daily.
Authenticity – living transparently and truthfully, without shame.
If we’re honest, this one is harder than the others. We all want to be honoured people, who passionately love God, and belong to family, but authenticity? That’s risky. You can’t really teach it like a class; it’s more caught than taught. People see whether it’s real or not.
The challenge is, our wider culture actually rewards inauthenticity – polished images, curated feeds, shallow connections. Even in church, it’s easy to slip into masks and performance. But the world is desperate for something more real.
Authenticity is not perfection, not oversharing, and not just confessing sin – it’s living as we truly are, in Christ, without pretence. Paul captures it in 1 Corinthians 15:10: “But by the grace of God I am what I am.” Authenticity starts with knowing who we are – honest about our past and grounded in grace – yet it doesn’t stop there. Grace shapes us into who we are becoming. That’s why authenticity isn’t just about weakness, but also about stepping into our gifts, callings, and new identity in Christ.
A culture of authenticity looks like this: leaders who are real people, not perfect but open and accountable. A church where conversations go beyond the surface, where people accept one another without judgment, where freedom replaces shame. It means creating spaces where we can be vulnerable and still know we belong.
This won’t just happen – we have to be intentional. But if we commit to it, authenticity will make us distinctive. Real Christians aren’t perfect Christians; they are forgiven, free, and honest about the journey.
Courage – encouraging and celebrating risk–taking faith.
Courage isn’t about being naturally brave, or some kind of superhero. It’s about “doing it afraid.” Courage is resisting fear, choosing to act in spite of it, and learning to trust the Holy Spirit one step at a time.
A culture of courage doesn’t mean we’re adrenaline junkies – it means we’re ordinary people doing extraordinary things. It looks like quiet faithfulness, weak people enduring hardship, and a community that encourages each other to take bigger steps of faith.
Paul reminds Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:7: “God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love and a sound mind.” Paul wrote these words from prison, facing death. His point? Courage doesn’t come from us, but from the Spirit. The same Spirit who turned fearful disciples hiding in an upper room into bold witnesses on the streets of Jerusalem.
That Spirit still gives us courage today:
• Power to move when fear would paralyse us.
• Love that displaces fear, because perfect love drives it out.
• A sound mind that keeps us steady when everything else is shaking.
A culture of courage shows up when people choose to act despite fear, when they endure opposition without giving up, and when they stand for what is right – even when their voices shake. Courage isn’t always about big moments; sometimes it’s simply speaking up in a group, going to work when life feels heavy, or encouraging someone else when you feel empty yourself.
At Jubilee, we want to be that kind of community. A people who en–courage one another – literally surround each other with courage – so that every act of faith, big or small, is celebrated. Because courage is contagious.
Jubilee Culture
Together, Honour, Authenticity, and Courage shape a culture where people are valued, known, and empowered to step out in faith. Honour lifts others up, Authenticity keeps us real, and Courage moves us forward. When these qualities come together, the church becomes a community that truly reflects Jesus to the world – a place where people can belong, grow, and make a difference.
We have two talks about our culture that you can listen to.
