Archive
You are currently browsing the archives for the Body Of Christ category.
By pastorbillwalden
It has been said that the church is a hospital. A place where hurting people go to be healed up by God and His people. A place where the wounded can go and not be expected to do much. In part, I agree with that concept. Church should be a place where the wounded can go and experience healing.
But is church “just” a hospital.
Think about your last visit to a hospital. You went to be taken care of. You expected people to do things for you. If they didn’t help you get better, you got frustrated, because it’s their job to “make you better”.
If they were successful, and you felt better, you left. In fact, you probably couldn’t wait to leave. You didn’t stay to involve yourself with other patients. You didn’t consider the needs of the caregivers, staff, doctors, or nurses. You got better, and then you left.
A church is a hospital, but it is much more. It is a family, a community, a body. If people come to be healed, then good, they should. But if, when they have become healthy (God knows when that is) and then they decide that “their felt needs” have been met, and then they leave, then they have missed much of what Church is designed by God to be. They have gone from being a patient to a consumer. They have gone from being needy to being self focused, or at least ignorant that there are other patients that could use their help.
It is true that one church might help bring healing to someone, who God then directs to serve somewhere else. That person sees the Church as more than a hospital. That’s good.
I am sympathetic to people’s needs for healing. But I know that the Church is designed by God to be much more than a hospital. It is designed to be a family.
Being a patient means you receive. Being a family member means you give. Let’s not do the first and neglect the second.
By pastorbillwalden
Perhaps I read too much from the multitude of burgeoning experts regarding this thing called Church. I am finding sprinklings of truth emanating from many voices, but the conflicting suggestions and accusations from these analysts are getting to me. The light bulb just went on. They… are… getting to me. Time for a course adjustment. 
I am a pastor. I am a preacher. I am a teacher. Among other things, I am called to explain and proclaim the truth of God’s Word, as I understand it, and then urge people to embrace those truths in such a way that their lives are changed for their good, for the good of those around them, and for the glory of God.
Unfortunately, I have recently found myself preaching from a defensive position, or at least that’s what it feels like.
The bloggers, authors, interviewers, and analysts are coming to many conclusions about me and my clan. They are also offering suggestions or demands about how I/we ought to change. Some of what they say is true for some of us, but we are increasingly being analyzed in such a way that one is prompted to respond to the analysis in order to prove that “I am not that way”.
This kind of reactionary thinking from the Body of Christ isn’t good. I think the tail is wagging the dog.
By being a Christian and a pastor, it is assumed that I hate gays, that I have an unintelligent faith, that I unilaterally support the nation of Israel, that I am a Republican and a social conservative, that I am closed minded, intolerant, unloving, and don’t have a worldview that includes anyone but my clan.
Those accusations are true about some in the Church, but not all. Public opinion, however, is increasingly aligning itself with these analysts, and I am feeling the pressure of being misunderstood more than ever before.
Anyone else out there feeling it?
The purpose of this article isn’t to whine and say how unfair life is. What I want to emphasize is this: I cannot allow myself to become simply reactionary in my life. (You too, if you follow Jesus.) I cannot respond only to the accusers, the analysts, the “former Christians”, the victims of the church, etc. There are legitimate complaints to be made, to be sure, but that cannot and must not shape my life or the life of the Church.
I believe that Jesus faced this same kind of “dead end” analysis from his contemporaries.
He said…
Matthew 11:16-19 “But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, 17and saying: ‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not lament.’ 18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.”
Regardless of what Jesus did, He was criticized. Christians are not unique in this. Everyone goes through it: politicians, soccer coaches, school administrators, etc.
But my world is Jesus, His Church, and how we are to live in the world, so that is what I am feeling.
What is the solution for me and my tribe? It is the same as it has always been. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.
Answer the honest questioners with gentleness and respect. Know when to move on to the next conversation. Make sure that God is the One we respond to, and not the critics, regardless of their motivation. Be led by the Spirit, and not just by the analysis of a rock star. Be counseled by the Word of God, not by an “ex- whatever”. Follow the leading of the Spirit, not the latest trends.
I do not discount the fact that God can and does use the public opinion to reveal truth to His church. The problem with public opinion is that it is fickle, changing, incomplete, and biased. Eat the meat, spit out the bones, and realize that there is only One Voice that leads us.
By pastorbillwalden
Every Christian must come to a conclusion about what their life will focus on, about what their “battles” will be, about what message they will declare, and about how their voice will be heard. 
There is no shortage of causes and fights that Christians are pursuing in these days in which we live. I respect and agree with many of the causes being suggested, but I am not inclined to join particular fights in the ways that some might hope.
I am very mindful that I must be careful to not judge the motivations and passion of others regarding their causes. For those passions and actions, they shall answer to Jesus, and not to me.
I am bothered by many events I see on the political stages of the world. In fact, I am increasingly disillusioned with the promises of the politicians, regardless of what side of the aisle they sit on. I have no hope in man. None. As the writer to the Hebrews wrote about the ancients…
Hebrews 11:14-16 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
Some might call me an escapist, and they would be right. But please see me as a functioning escapist. I’ll live here functionally until the day I leave.
Read more »
By pastorbillwalden
The heart of God is amazing. He is far beyond us regarding His concern for people. Every one counts. God is concerned for every person on this Earth. He cares for the ones that we overlook and that we might sadly consider “out of reach”. He seeks those ones who would take “too much effort” to love and care for. He is concerned for the “less thans” and the insignificant. He seeks those who have estranged themselves from Him, either through negligence or by determined choice.
Read more »
By pastorbillwalden
What a great contrast there is between Jesus’ kingdom and the kingdoms of the world. They are contrary not only in purpose and goals, but in methodology and intention.
In Matthew 10, Jesus empowered His disciples to go on a healing and preaching tour throughout Israel. He told them who to go to, and what to say. He told them not to provide for themselves, but to allow others to support them voluntarily. Jesus orchestrated, empowered, directed, and sent out His followers.
Matthew 10:16 encapsulates what their mentality was to be.
Matthew 10:16 Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
A sheep among wolves is completely defenseless, and must depend upon his Shepherd to protect him. These men were equipped to serve, and even do miracles, but though they were endued with great power, they were never to quit trusting in God for their provision or the words to say when opposed and threatened. Though they were equipped to cast out demons, they were to have the mindset of a sheep depending upon its shepherd. A sheep among wolves always has to depend upon his Shepherd.
Jesus also told them to be as wise as serpents, but as harmless as doves. The wisdom of a serpent is for self gratification, specifically, the gratification of eating its victim. With stealth, patience, and cunning, it stalks its victim for personal gain. With a serpent, its all about personal gain at the expense of another.
Doves on the other hand, are simple, and not dangerous. They don’t have that killer instinct. They don’t prey upon one another, or other birds (that I know of).
Jesus exhorted the disciples and us to be patient, cunning, wise, but to use none of those qualities for personal gratification or self enrichment, and especially at the expense of others.
So, the disciples were equipped with power and were to be wise, patient, shrewd, but none of it for personal gratification. Though they had power, they were to depend on God. Though they were wise and instructed, they were to be simple minded regarding not advancing against others.
Normally, people use all their skills to exploit others. The exact opposite is true for the Kingdom of God. We are to serve God and people, and not advance ourselves with the gifts God has given us.
By pastorbillwalden
Just for review, we have used the following as a definition for “Churchianity”.
“Churchianity” is a pejorative term used to describe practices of Christianity that are viewed as placing a larger emphasis on the habits of church life or the institutional traditions of a specific Christian denomination than on the teachings of Jesus. It can also be used to describe churches across many denominations where the central focus has moved from Christ to the church. Hence the replacement of Christ with church in the word “Churchianity.”
My paraphrase: Churchianity: When God’s people do “church” their way instead of His way. This applies to pastors, elder, deacons, denominations, non-denominations, movements, para-church organizations, and church attendees.
God’s ways are perfect, and ours are obviously not. Sometimes our ways are innocent mistakes with good intentions. We see the error of our ways, and make corrections. Sometimes, good intentions turn into church traditions that are not biblical, and they limit or damage people. Other times, God’s people, from pew to pulpit, decide that they want their way, and do wrong things in the name of God within the “church” setting.
The result is some degree of people getting hurt and leaving “organized religion” for some safer style of relating to other Christians.
Emotionally, I don’t blame them. I have been tempted to do the same thing, but there is this bothersome problem of being called to be a pastor. 
I understand the mentality of wanting to avoid Body Life, but I believe that those dear folks who separate from the greater “Body of Christ” are missing out on the good that IS to be found in the Body, somewhere.
As the human body has many parts, so the Body of Christ has many members. People with different gifts, abilities, tendencies, personalities, callings, offices, etc. As with any metaphor, there are exceptions when making application, and no metaphor is perfect. I hope that you can glean the truths that are here, and not look for the exceptions that don’t match up.
What is true with the human body is also true of the Body of Christ. The strength of a human body is the sum of the parts all working together in a healthy fashion. Health is when all the parts of the body are present and working together as they were designed to do.
The human body can exist without many of its parts. Life goes on if you are missing a hand or a foot. Life continues though one is blind or deaf. Paralysis of a limb doesn’t bring death. But with any of those scenarios, life isn’t what it should or could be, either for the non-functioning part, or for the body that exists without that part’s contribution. The design is for all the parts to be gathered together and working in conjunction with each other. That is physical health.
The spiritual application is obvious. The Body of Christ is healthiest when every part is working with every other part, or at least present, available, and healthy enough to do so.
Ephesians 4:15, 16 “…but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
Believers who separate from “Body Life” are absolutely on their way to Heaven. They are not second-class citizens in God’s Kingdom. Christians can gather with two or three, and Jesus IS there among them. Those truths cannot be argued, and I won’t even try. It’s true. That is fellowship, and it can be edifying and fulfilling.
But I suggest that God has more for us than a minimalist approach of carefully managed fellowship. Jesus spoke of “abundant life”. (John 10:10) Surely, this must include the fullness of God’s design for Body Life.
Why would God design His church to have many parts, and then be O.K. with those parts not directly interacting with each other? I think He wants more for us than a purposed segregation of the Body.
The question is this: If you are a Christian, are you experiencing Body Life? I am not even talking the traditional idea of the “church setting”, though that seems to illustrate it well. Are you part of something that resembles a functioning spiritual Body?
Think of the different gifts and offices that God has established within His Body. Prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, people with gifts of mercy, administration, helps, word of knowledge and wisdom, etc. When the Body gathers together with all of its parts in attendance, the potential to be used is exponentially increased. People show up and, in essence say, “I am here, and I am committed to this Body. If there are needs that I can help with, I am right here, and you don’t have to go looking for me”.
Commitment to a local Body allows for personal relationships to be established, for love and trust to be established between people. You can help people who are strangers, but it is so much more meaningful for them if they know you love them, and they trust you. They are more willing to receive help from a loving friend.
Being part of a local Body means that you are present, and available to be loved. You discover people that you can begin to trust, and that can minister to you. Though we can exist alone, we thrive when we are a part of a community, a Body, a group that can fill in that which is lacking in our own life.
Dear saints, if you are one of the victims of Churchianity, I am sorry. I encourage you to re-consider God’s design, and all the potential of that design. Body Life positions you to use your gifts in a greater way, which is so rewarding for us as Believers. Body Life also positions you to be better ministered to, and loved on.
I haven’t mentioned it, but church attendees are not the only victims of Churchianity. There are many pastors and church leaders that have been hurt by the flock. Betrayal and failure goes in both directions. Many times church leaders have been horribly maligned by a mob mentality that is moved more by emotion and gossip than by maturity and love. Pastors and church leaders need Body Life too. Pray for pastors and church leaders to return to their callings. Love them back, and encourage them back.
If you return to Body Life, is there a chance you might get hurt again? Yes. In fact, at some point, you will get hurt. Part of Body Life is that there are sick members in the Body. There always will be, at least here on Earth. And remember this: all of us are sick to some degree, but amputation or paralysis is not the answer.
Find some way to re-enter into the fullness of Body Life, where you are available to all the other parts of the Body, and where you are easily accessible to them as well. There are people that need your gift to be exercised. Find a gathering of Believers, show up late, slip in the back door, watch and listen and pray, leave early, don’t look too many people in the eyes, smile and don’t linger, play it “safe” to some degree, but take the step of faith that is necessary to re-enter Body Life.
I suggest that we ever hold the high view of what God has for us a Body, as a community. It takes more work, but the blessings are exponentially returned to us.
That’s His design for us. That’s the design that best brings Him glory. Isn’t that what we want? I think it is.
Lord, we pray for your church, your Body, your children. Bring us back to esteeming and embracing your design for our community living, and then bring us back to the practical engagement of all your ways and plans, for Your glory.
Amen.
By pastorbillwalden
The highest and greatest organization on Earth is Jesus’ Church. That is true because it is designed and built by Him, and shall go on into eternity. Microsoft can’t make that claim, nor can any other great organization you might think of.
Though the Church is the greatest entity on Earth, it has been guilty of many sins. The sins that have most captured my attention are the ones closest to me. I have learned much about the hurts brought on by the Church, even from within the Calvary Chapel movement, of which I am (still) gratefully a part.
I am saddened for those victimized by the Church. I am equally saddened by the decision of many Believers to never return to “organized religion”. It is to those dear saints that I wish to write.
To those still not wanting any part of “organized religion”, I ask that you would bear with me. I know that me being a pastor probably brings a gag reflex to your body, but please, consider what I have to say.
I have tried to show in these previous articles that I at least have a clue of what some of you have been through. I don’t claim to know first hand, and I will not say, “I know how you feel”, because I don’t. I do understand what God’s word says to all who bear the name “Christian”. I come to you based on His words, not mine. I also come because I see what happens when we go our own way, based on our emotions. Been there and done that myself. 
None of us can live by our emotions, whether that emotion is pain, happiness, lust, hate, or kindness. Pain will paralyze us and cause us to sequester ourselves away. Happiness can cause us to throw caution to the wind. Lust that rules us also destroys us. Hate is poison to our souls. Kindness can make us vulnerable to dangerous situations, if not balanced with wisdom.
Those with teenagers understand what an emotionally driven life looks like. Hormones are the tools of Satan. Come on Mom and Dad, you know what I am talking about. Teenagers are scary creatures, driven by emotions and positive that they are correct about everything.
We warn our kids about not living by their emotions, but we fall victim to the same snares. Whatever negative consequences we warn our kids about will also come to us. We cannot be emotionally ruled people. We cannot. It’s dangerous. It doesn’t make sense. We would caution everyone we know not to live by their emotions. You know it’s true.
If society were ruled by emotions, we wouldn’t have enough law enforcement to control the chaos. We couldn’t trust anyone to keep his or her word. People would change their minds about everything, simply because they felt like it. Common sense restrains us from stupidity. Laws restrain us from crimes. The Holy Spirit seeks to restrain Christians from foolish decisions.
Emotions can be great, or they can be deadly. We need a higher standard for our decision making.
If church leaders or a pastor has hurt you, you should be mad. You should be very mad. I’m sure that you are mad. I am mad with you, and for you. That is righteous anger.
Chances are that the church leader that hurt you made a bunch of emotional decisions and claimed to be led by God. It doesn’t go well when that happens, does it?
But can you, I, or we, live by the emotions of hurt, anger, a sense of injustice, bitterness, or fear of getting hurt again? No, we can’t. I want to sometimes, but I can’t.
I need to keep coming back to church too, and not just because it’s my paycheck. It is because Christians belong with all God’s people. That’s His idea. You may be meeting with other Believers in a casual setting, and feel that is enough. That you don’t need to come to “Church”.
Chances are good that your group is a hand picked group that thinks and feels just like you do. That is not Body Life; that is simply hands meeting with hands, feet with feet, etc. That might be fellowship, but it’s not Body Life.
You need to be with the Body, the big picture, the whole church. You need to be with people you don’t like, and that bother you. They need you, and you need them. The Body must have ALL the parts present.
Every country song that sings about “looking for love in all the wrong places” illustrates what I am saying. We are fairly intelligent and reasonable creatures UNTIL our emotions take over. We do stuff based on emotions, crash and burn, and then do it again. Someone has rightly said that insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result.
I’ll write again soon. I am a pastor, and your brother. Come back and join the family of God. The entire family of God. We need what you have to offer, and you….believe it or not….need us too.
I’ll write again soon…
NOTE- I am presently teaching a series on the Church. Check the sermon notes and look under “Topical”.
By pastorbillwalden
This little story is not directed towards any one church, but is a compilation of the stories of many people I have talked to and read about. May we love His Body, the Church.
Talk To The Hand
“Talk to the hand”. Hand liked the sound of that.
The phrase described Hand as a “go to” guy; the guy people would ask to help them get things done. Hand was a problem solver. Hand was selfless. Hand was happy to help Body with any need. He liked being a “go to” guy. If there was a need, Body would direct others to Hand. Hand thought the phrase had a good ring to it. “Talk To The Hand”. It was a compliment.
But as time passed, the phrase took on a new meaning for Hand. Hand had somewhere heard the phrase used in a negative way. When someone didn’t want to discuss something, he would hold up his hand and say, “talk to the hand”, meaning that the discussion had ended. For Hand, that eventually became the meaning of the phrase in his life.
Hand had been with Body since the beginning. He had served Body well. Because of Hand’s efforts, Body had grown and become strong. Maybe a little too strong, Hand thought. Hand had never imagined that he would ever separate from Body, but eventually he saw no other option. Body had become sick and dangerous.
It wasn’t that Hand had never talked about the problems that Body was having, but some very painful experiences had brought Hand to this point in life. Over time and much agonizing, Hand had made up his mind to separate from Body.
He didn’t want to talk about it. He was sick of talking about it. It hurt too much to talk about it. He saw no other option. After many words, prayers, and tears, Hand separated from Body. Hand was devastated, but such was life. Some didn’t understand. Others understood far too well.
In the beginning, the relationship between Hand and Mouth had been good. He enjoyed being Hand, and was happy to fulfill his part in helping Mouth with his ministry.
But things changed as time passed. Hand noticed that as Body grew, Mouth was saying a lot of pompous things, and was bossing people around horribly. As Hand objected to Mouth’s words and actions, Mouth insinuated that Body needed Mouth, but that Mouth didn’t need Body, or Hand, for that matter.
Hand also noticed that others were discussing Mouth. He hated hearing these guarded conversations. Body was dividing. Hand could see it.
Ear was too eager to hear gossip and pass it on. Mouth used the pulpit to remind Body that Mouth was in control. Mouth had forgotten that Body belonged to Head, and that Head was the real leader of Body. Mouth was getting mouthier. Foot got nervous, and left. Ear was too eager to hear gossip. Heart got hardened, and was unforgiving.
And everyone was asking, “Where is Head?”
All of this happened as Hand continued to serve, struggling with how to rectify the problems with Body. Hand loved Body, but he was torn over what he saw and felt. Hand had trusted Mouth for years, but he was now disillusioned.
Hand watched Body lose members. He felt lost in the midst of this dying Body. Hand tried to talk to Mouth, but Mouth felt threatened, and turned on Hand. Hand and his family were seen as the enemy of Mouth. Mouth made sure that Body knew Hand was a troublemaker.
Finally, Hand and his family left Body. Body suffered, because individuals were suffering. Like many of his fellow members, Hand wondered why Head seemed absent. Didn’t Head love Body? Where was He?
Invisibly and seemingly absent, Head suffered even more.
Fast forward some years.
Head proved Himself to be the faithful leader of Body. Head removed Mouth and some others, and brought NewMouth to speak His words. Members began to return to the blessings of Body.
Slowly, hope returned to Body. NewMouth spoke of grace, and others began to speak of grace too. Foot returned, Ear listened with love, and Heart became soft again.
Head was healing Body.
As Body healed, people began to ask about Hand. They missed him. Hand had been such an integral part of Body. Where was Hand? Had anybody seen him? Had anybody heard from him?
Questions became discussions, and discussions were finally recognized as promptings from Head.
Head was prompting Body to reach out to Hand.
“Someone needs to talk to Hand.” Prayers began to go up for Hand.
Spirit began to move, and Hand started feeling something inside.
By pastorbillwalden
One aspect of the modern media that I believe to be dangerous is the sound bite.
Regarding sound bites, Wikipedia tells us:
In film and broadcasting, a sound bite is a very short piece of footage taken from a longer speech or an interview in which someone with authority or the average “man on the street” says something which is considered by those who edit the speech or interview to be the most important point. As the context of what is being said is missing, the insertion of sound bites into news broadcasts or documentaries is open to manipulation and thus requires a very high degree of journalistic ethics. Politicians of the new generation are carefully coached by their spin doctors to produce on-demand sound bites which are clear and to the point.
Sound bites are designed to give us a very quick view of something, and then have us make up our mind based upon that very limited information. As Wikipedia rightly says, the sound bite is open to manipulation and must be presented with a high degree of ethics.
We like sound bites because they give us a little information that we don’t have to work hard to attain. They make life easy, but in the end, they can make us shallow.
Avoiding the sound bite mentality must be practiced when speaking of Churchianity (problems in the church) , and then also when we speak about the “Church” the way Jesus designed it to be.
Part of the problem of Churchianity is that leadership sometimes gives “sound bite” instructions to their congregations. People are told what to believe, how to live, and who to like, love or avoid. When questioned “why” such things are so, leadership sometimes responds with “sound bite” answers which can be intimidating, and don’t help the congregant understand why such things are true or supposedly true. Those questioning are made to feel stupid for even asking “why”.
Often, the end result of “soundbitism” is that Christians don’t have a deep understanding of why they believe what they believe. They simply parrot what the leadership told them, and believe what they believe because they were told to. They become more and more a part of a Churchianity environment. That was never Jesus’ plan.
If church leadership isn’t leading well, questions and criticisms should arise. When church leadership uses a sound bite methodology for answering valid questions and criticisms, the questioners are left with nothing. They are not treated as though their concerns are valid, and they they are ignored as the leader goes on to the next willing listener. These questioners are then ushered out the door.
When congregants are treated that way, they will often (and sometimes very rightly) leave that church. Or they may leave The Church, vowing to never be a part of “organized religion” ever again. I don’t think that second option is the right thing to do.
Church leaders, congregants, and ex/former congregants that claim to follow Jesus all need to be able to say why they believe what they believe, and support that belief system from God’s Word. Otherwise, anything goes.
Pastors who respond to questions with “Because I said so”, are, in my opinion, VERY wrong for doing that. That’s a sound bite. Church attenders who recite a creed or system for Christian living are not allowed to say, in my opinion, “I believe thus and so because the pastor said so”. Ex and former congregants who still follow Jesus but will not commit to SOME kind of Christian gathering cannot simply say, “Because that’s how I feel about it”.
These are all examples of “sound bites”. They are not clear explanations of the whole story, and they are designed to produce a desired result.
My hope in writing these articles is that all Christians will have a high view of Jesus’ Church. We cannot reduce His church down to sound bite discussions. Being in His church requires thought and commitment.
I am currently teaching a topical series on the Church. The notes can be found in the Sermon Notes link on this blogsite, under Topical Studies.
In brief, what we have studied so far:
1. The Church is built on Jesus. It is His creation. He died to establish it. (Matthew 16)
2. The Church presently, and forever will, display the manifold wisdom of God to both angels and demons (Ephesians 3)
3. When angels want to understand God’s incredible work of salvation, they look at the Church. (1 Peter 1)
May every Christian have a high and respectful view of Jesus’ Church, which is His Body, His Bride. In spite of the many wrongs done by both leaders and congregants, may none of us treat His church with any kind of “sound bite” attitude.
Jesus said that He would build His Church, and that the gates of Hell would not prevail against it. Regardless of our experiences, that is true. May we experience the truth of His words.
Blessings…
By pastorbillwalden
I live in Napa, CA, and I pastor here. We moved to Napa in 1991 and started the church that is called Cornerstone Ministries, which is a Calvary Chapel affiliate church.
When we moved to Napa, we entered into the wake of what was a big implosion of a Calvary Chapel. The church was at one time very large and influential. God used that church in a big way for many people. The attendance was over 1200, and that is significant for a city that at the time had 46,000 people. By the time we moved to Napa, that church numbered in the dozens.
I am not writing to try to resolve the issues of the past, or impugn anyone. I love and respect folks on both sides of the aisle of that event. We ought to be thankful for the good that did come forth from that church body. Regarding the negative aspects of what happened, it’s in the past, and needs to stay there, except for what we can learn from it.
I do write because the fallout affected me as a pastor, and in particular, as a Calvary Chapel pastor. It still does to this day. I have talked to many Christians who have been hurt by Churchianity and church problems. I naively moved to Napa thinking that all those displaced folks, or at least most of them, would be streaming into our new church. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
When we first started the church, a group of men met with me in our home. We talked about different philosophies of church ministry. One of the questions some of them asked me was this: “What guarantee will you give us that the same thing won’t happen with this new church?”
I didn’t have to think about the answer at all. I responded to them, “I give you no guarantee that what happened before won’t happen again.”
I am and always have been every bit a much of a son of Adam as the next guy. I am capable of backsliding, sinning, and being a carnal man. Only by God’s grace and my surrender to His Spirit, can I be kept from those things. Include in that list the fear of God.
I reminded them that they were capable of all those same things too. I wouldn’t demand a guarantee from them, and I asked them to not demand a guarantee from me. I had “risked” a lot to move to Napa. It seemed only fair that they would take a chance on me. If the church fell apart, I would be pushing a lawn mower, and they would continue on with life as they knew it. (By the way, I did push a lawn mower for about three years as the church SLOWLY grew).
I invited those men to be a part of what I believed God was doing. I invited them to grow in relationship with me, and I with them, and with us as a group. Some of them accepted the invitation, and others declined.
I didn’t understand it then, but I have grown in my understanding regarding their line of questioning. Some of them were very hurt, and they didn’t want to be hurt again. I can’t blame them for that. None of us can. At least, none of us should.
I don’t think that many of the people from that original church ever made it into Cornerstone in any kind of permanent fashion. Some of them did, and are in ministry and even on staff. Others filtered into other churches with different forms of church governments. I am sure that many of them were looking for a way to “do church safely”. Sadly, others have never made it back to church, and some seem to have turned away from Jesus.
I do not write about Churchianity and church problems as a victim, but as a very close observer. I have heard the stories, seen the responses, and been very close to the action. I have experienced the responses and backlash of those hurt by Churchianity. I have watched as some have taken years to recover and return to church. Others recovered more quickly, and others are still outside the church walls.
Some of them are genuinely struggling with hurt. Others have probably used past events as a reason to indulge their anger. Only God knows.
May this post serve to provide a bit of my background as I still hope to write regarding Churchianity, church abuses, and how Christians are instructed to respond to such things.