Praxis Crosspoint Community Church

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After several episodes of naming some of the major toxins in the American church soil, we have turned the corner, and we are now discussing some of the healthy nutrients we can put into the soil to help create a healthy church culture. Join us as we define what empathy within the church can look like, observe how Jesus embodied empathy, and discuss practical ways that we can begin to engrain empathy into our church culture.

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We are in a series right now focused on cultivating a healthy church culture. Every church has a culture, whether they realize it or not.  And while some churches have a healthy church culture, many do not! So over the last few episodes we’ve discussed two toxins in the soil of the American church that are inhibiting kingdom fruit. We talked about "celebrity-ism", or having a personality-driven church, we talked about "growth-ism" or the belief that growth is the mark of success, and we talked about the misuse and abuse of power.
In this episode, we want to name and discuss a third toxin in the soil of the American church and it’s dogmatism. We'll define what we mean, talk about examples we've seen, and discuss and healthier way of relating to our beliefs and the beliefs of others.

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We are in a series right now focused on cultivating a healthy church culture. Every church has a culture, whether they realize it or not.  And while some churches have a healthy church culture, many do not! So over the last few episodes we’ve discussed two toxins in the soil of the American church that are inhibiting kingdom fruit. We talked about "celebrity-ism", or having a personality-driven church, and we talked about "growth-ism" or the belief that growth is the mark of success.
In this episode, we want to name and discuss a third toxin in the soil of the American church and it’s the misuse and abuse of power.

Send us a Text Message.
We are in a series right now focused on cultivating a healthy church culture. If you didn’t get a chance to listen to the previous two episodes, we encourage you to go back and take a listen because we covered a lot of ground.  
Every church has a culture, whether they realize it or not. And while some churches have a healthy(ish) church culture, we are seeing signs of widespread dysfunction in churches — revealing that many do not.
We’ve been using this metaphor of a fruit tree to help us.  The most important thing is the soil; if the soil isn’t healthy, the tree won’t be healthy and won’t be able to produce healthy fruit. Today we want to name a second toxin in the soil of the American church: the idol of church growth.
Let's discuss the problems we find in equating success with church growth, how this became the norm, and what we can do to shift away from it and be mindful of it in our own churches.

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Every church has a culture whether they realize it or not.  Some cultures are reasonably healthy; others are not.  And while no church is perfect, part of the work every church needs to engage in is intentionally working to close whatever gap exists between being healthy and where they currently are.
So in this series, we are seeking to help close the gap. And this involves not only talking about the marks of an unhealthy church culture but casting vision for how we as the church can embody a way of life together that, while it may not be perfect is oriented toward goodness, kindness, and love.
And today we want to talk about church cultures that are personality-driven, a powerful toxin in the soil of unhealthy church cultures.
When a church builds the church around a single person (and typically this is the lead pastor) an unhealthy church culture is created.  A lead-pastor-centric church that orbits around the pastor’s personality and gifting will not be a healthy church.
And yet this is commonplace. Let's talk about why that is, notice the pitfalls, and look at how we can move towards a healthier alternative.

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Today we are starting a new series on creating a healthy church culture.
Culture is the way that people consciously or unconsciously do life together.  And every church has a culture whether they realize it or not. Some of these cultures are healthy and some are not.
In recent years we’ve become somewhat accustomed to news headlines of celebrity pastors being exposed for moral failure or abusive leadership, leaving behind a wake of hurt and pain for everyone involved. And that’s not how things should be. So in this series, we not only want to talk about what an unhealthy church culture might look like but cast a vision for how we as the church can embody a way of life together that, while it may not be perfect, is oriented toward goodness and kindness and love.
Mentioned in this episode:
Redeeming Power by Diane LangbergCelebrities for Jesus by Katelyn BeatyWhen Narcissism Comes to the Church by Chuck DeGroatThe Way of the Dragon or The Way of the Lamb by Jamin Goggin & Kyle StrobelThe Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse by David Johnson & Jeff Van VonderenChurch Called Tov  by Scot McKnight & Laura BarringerPivot by Scot McKnight & Laura Barringer