Praxis

Crosspoint Community Church
  • 5.0 (31)
  • Christianity

Praxis is a podcast where we explore how to practice and actually embody the way of Jesus and live on mission by joining God’s work in the world. Praxis is recorded and produced by Crosspoint Community Church in Oconomowoc, WI. Find out more on our website: crosspointwi.com/praxis

  1. Aug 27

    Your Public, Private, and Secret Self

    Send us Fan Mail If you’ve ever felt the pressure to look “fine” while something inside you is unraveling, you already know the cost of living split. We’re in our authenticity series, and we walk through a surprisingly practical tool learned from The Leaders Journey: the Public, Private, and Secret Self, pictured as three concentric circles that help you name what you show, what leaks out at home, and what stays hidden in the dark. View a visual of the Public, Private, and Secret Self We define each circle with real-life examples, from social media curation to the way stress exposes what we try to manage. We also push on a common confusion: authenticity is not the same as transparency. You can be honest without dumping every detail, and you can set wise boundaries without slipping into performance. Along the way we talk about belonging, trust, and why jumping from “secret” straight to “public” can become its own kind of mask. We get personal about what it looks like to bring the secret self into God’s presence first, then into safe relationships one step at a time, including why leaders are especially vulnerable when they have a large public platform and almost no private support. Mac also shares how recovery and limited capacity force a new kind of honest leadership that names weakness without shame. Listen, then try the simple practices we give at the end: map your circles, notice the gaps, and share with someone you trust. If this helps you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

    Your Public, Private, and Secret Self

  2. Aug 5

    Attending to Your First Formation

    Send us Fan Mail Most of us think we’re reacting to what’s happening right now, but a huge part of our “right now” is actually our first formation talking. We sit down to unpack how early shaping moments and family patterns create a false self, the fig leaves we learn to wear to secure love, safety, control and significance. Mac also shares a brief personal update after a serious medical emergency and why this season is sharpening his focus on what is life-giving and honest. We work through the biggest pushbacks we hear from Christians: “Isn’t this just narcissistic navel gazing?”, “Aren’t I a new creation in Christ?”, and “My childhood was great so this doesn’t apply.” Then we offer a grounded path forward that keeps the gospel at the centre: identify a shaping moment or pattern, name the message you downloaded about God, yourself and others, notice the vow you made to cope, and trace how that vow still shows up in your relationships, boundaries, conflict style, people pleasing or perfectionism. The turning point is learning to replace bad news with good news. We talk about prayerful journaling, listening with the Holy Spirit, and letting God speak to identity first, not just behaviour. We also share real examples from our own stories, including perfectionism, overcommitting and learning to trust that emotions are not a liability but a doorway into healing and deeper connection with Jesus. If you’re searching for Christian authenticity, spiritual formation tools and practical discipleship that actually touches real life, this conversation will give you language and next steps. Subscribe, share this with a friend who feels stuck, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

    Attending to Your First Formation

  3. Jun 22

    The Religious False Self

    Send us Fan Mail “The essential difference between a false self and a religious false self is that the latter brings God into its life.” That line stopped us cold, because it names something many of us feel but rarely say out loud: we can follow Jesus and still run on the same old operating system, only now it’s covered in spiritual language. The outside can look faithful, disciplined, and even “wise,” while the inside is still driven by fear, control, and the ache to be enough.  We walk through eight traits of the religious false self, using the image of fig leaves to describe how we hide and hustle. Fear shows up as performance, where a sermon, a worship set, or even sharing vulnerably in community can feel like an identity test. Protection can become dogmatic certainty that shuts down honest dialogue. Possessiveness can turn stewardship into ownership in churches, families, and leadership. We also dig into manipulation and ask a hard question: what’s the difference between healthy influence and coercion, especially when someone adds “God told me” to force an outcome?  From there we name the fallout: relationships erode, churches become unsafe, and people walk away not because community is messy, but because harm gets done in God’s name. We talk self-promotion in celebrity church culture, indulgence reframed as “God’s blessing,” and distinction making that fuels judgment and hypocrisy. Then we hold up Jesus’ alternative in Matthew 3 and the wilderness: he receives beloved identity before he does anything, and he resists every temptation to prove himself.  If you want practical steps, we end with practices to name your false self, name your religious false self, and ground your inner voice in your identity in Christ. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review if the conversation helps you take off a few fig leaves.

    The Religious False Self

  4. Jun 1

    Naming The False Self

    Send us Fan Mail The “real you” might not be the most honest version of you, it might be the best-edited one. We’re in the middle of our authenticity series, and this conversation goes straight at a hard question: what happens when we keep hiding, performing, and managing impressions for long enough that it starts to feel normal? We dig into what we call the false self: a carefully constructed identity we develop to survive life apart from trusting God. Using Ephesians 4:22–23, we talk about the old self we’re invited to put off and the new self we’re invited to put on. Along the way, we lean on the Genesis image of fig leaves to describe the “coverings” we sew together to feel safe, loved, significant, or in control and how we can eventually lose touch with what’s underneath. Then we name the telltale signs of the false self in everyday life: fear, protectiveness, possessiveness, manipulation, and the subtle ways we turn people into tools rather than treating them as a “Thou.” We also talk about how self-promotion gets rewarded in our culture, how indulgence becomes a quick fix for the soul, and how comparison fuels an us-versus-them mindset that breeds judgment instead of love. We close with a concrete practice: slow down, reflect without shame, and name the fig leaves you’re wearing so you can start taking them off. Subscribe for the next conversation, share this with a friend who’s tired of performing, and if the show helps you, leave a review so more people can find it.

    Naming The False Self

  5. May 13

    What Blocks Real Authenticity?

    Send us Fan Mail If you’ve ever walked away from a conversation thinking, Why didn’t I just say what I really meant?, you’re not alone. We talk about why authenticity is so hard even when we want it, and how hiding, performing, and impression management quietly reshape our relationships with God, ourselves, and other people. We start by grounding authenticity as being real, whole, and undivided, where our inner life and outer life align. Then we name the internal pressures that sabotage that alignment: fear of rejection, social and cultural expectations, shame and insecurity, the need for control, conflict avoidance, lack of self-awareness, perfectionism, and wounds from the past. Along the way we connect the dots to Scripture (including Genesis 3 and Jesus at the temple) and to emotional maturity, showing how these forces work under the surface long before we notice them. From there we shift to the outward behaviours that show up when those pressures win: pretending and protecting. Masks can look like polish, competence, or even manufactured vulnerability, while walls can look like withdrawal, withholding, numbing, and chronic avoidance. We also get painfully practical about people pleasing, overcommitting, and performance, and why “God only meets us in reality” becomes a turning point for real spiritual formation. We close with praxis you can try this week: root your identity in Christ, name the pressures that hook you, and notice the behaviours that signal you’re drifting from your true self. If this helped you, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

    What Blocks Real Authenticity?

  6. Apr 22

    Why Authenticity Matters

    Send us Fan Mail Authenticity is everywhere right now, but most definitions feel thin the moment real relationships get hard. We sit down to start a new Praxis series and name a more grounded, Jesus-centered picture: authenticity is being real rather than counterfeit, becoming whole rather than divided, and closing the gap between your inner life and your outer life. We talk through what authenticity is not, especially the idea that it means unfiltered self expression. Saying whatever you feel and calling it “my authentic self” can turn into a shield against growth and a licence to harm. Instead, we frame honesty as the starting point for spiritual formation, the kind of truth telling that invites transformation into Christlike love. Along the way we tease out the difference between authenticity, transparency, and vulnerability, including the practical wisdom of sharing the right information with the right person at the right time. Then we ask the bigger question: does Jesus actually value authenticity, or is this just a modern self help trend. We look at Jesus’ honesty with the Father, his vulnerability in suffering and grief, and his direct confrontation of hypocrisy when people polish the outside while neglecting the heart. We also share how pressure and expectations can distort leaders and families, and how anchoring to values aligned with Jesus helps us stop outsourcing our discernment to other people’s reactions. We close with concrete practices you can try this week: get fully honest with God, examine where you feel incongruent, and take one small courageous step that matches your convictions. If this helps, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the podcast.

    Why Authenticity Matters

  7. Mar 30

    Don't Be A Stinky Sponge

    Send us Fan Mail Belonging is not the same thing as being allowed to attend. We talk about disability in the church all the time as a matter of access and inclusion, but what happens when someone is “welcomed” and still treated like a project, a problem to solve, or a person to hover over? That gap is where real discipleship gets tested, and it is where our conversation with Nilda Rivera begins.  Nilda is a minister and missions associate with Special Touch Ministry, and she also lives with spina bifida. She shares her story with honesty: growing up in foster care, navigating daily life with a wheelchair, and carrying real wounds from abuse. We slow down to talk about healing as a process, what a trustworthy church response can look like, and why minimizing someone’s pain can do lasting damage. Her journey also highlights God’s grace in surprising places, including mentors, pastors, and a community that made room for her voice.  From there we move into the heart of disability ministry and church culture: the difference between being ministered to and ministering with. We unpack why repeated “Are you sure you don’t need help?” can feel small but demeaning, how people with disabilities are often overlooked, and what it looks like to restore agency and mutuality. We also talk about worship, and how people with disabilities often model a freer, more embodied love for God that the rest of us need to learn.  If you want a clear next step, we offer one: become a friend. Listen, then share this with someone who serves in your church, and tell us what practice you want to try this week. Subscribe, leave a review, and pass the episode along to help more churches move from inclusion to true belonging.

    Don't Be A Stinky Sponge

  8. Mar 9

    Disability and the Church with Emily Robillard

    Send us Fan Mail What if the measure of a healthy church isn’t polish, but belonging? We sit down with Emily Robillard, leader of disability ministry at Woodridge Church and longtime staff at Hammer Residences, to explore how communities can move past surface-level inclusion toward a culture where people with disabilities are seen, empowered, and invited to contribute. Emily’s story starts with proximity: a childhood shaped by neighbors from a group home and parents who treated difference as ordinary. That early formation became a vocation she never planned, guiding her into residential care where coaching daily skills—budgeting, cooking, work readiness—replaces pity with possibility. She shares vivid snapshots of life in group homes, the staffing and rhythms that make growth possible, and why the same mindset can (and should) shape church life. We then step into Tuesday nights, a weekly service alive with flags, shakers, spontaneous prayers, and zero shame. Seventy adults worship in their own ways without being hushed, and volunteers learn that belonging is discovered through contribution: an autistic fifth grader thrives as part of a safety team; a hockey-loving congregant is welcomed on the ice at a fundraiser. Along the way, we name barriers churches cite, such as time, space, or volunteers, and answer them with Scripture’s urgency (think Mark 2 and a roof turned into a doorway) and practical tools: buddies, sensory spaces, family collaboration, and training focused on individuals rather than labels. This conversation blends pastoral warmth with missional clarity: people with disabilities represent a vast, often unreached community. When we trade performance for presence and programs for relationships, everyone changes. You’ll leave with concrete next steps—pray, notice who’s already near, read the Gospels through a disability lens—and a renewed vision for a church where joy is louder than perfection. Mentioned in this episode Accessible Church by Sandra PeoplesJesus and Disability by Chris H. HulshofAbilities Ministry https://abilityministry.com/

    Disability and the Church with Emily Robillard
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About

Praxis is a podcast where we explore how to practice and actually embody the way of Jesus and live on mission by joining God’s work in the world. Praxis is recorded and produced by Crosspoint Community Church in Oconomowoc, WI. Find out more on our website: crosspointwi.com/praxis

Information

  • Creator
    Crosspoint Community Church
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    65
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Praxis
  • Show Website
    Praxis

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