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By pastorbillwalden
Pastors and church leaders make many valid efforts to promote church unity. In any city, there is the church universal. Each of our particular churches is a sub culture of the City Church, and then within each church, there are sub-sub cultures, such as youth groups, 50’s plus groups, college groups, etc.
We are conscious to understand each sub-sub culture, to speak on their terms, and be sensitive to their world. We seek to promote activities that appeal to those sub-sub cultures, and to bring age appropriate blessings to them.
These efforts are good efforts, in that they reach into people’s worlds. We meet them where they are at. We become “all things to all men that we might save (and bless) some”. 
Human nature is such that we love our peer groups. Birds of a feather flock together. We all have that tendency. Like attracts like. Little or no effort is needed to mingle with people like ourselves. It is an unconscious human response to seek out peers that understand us, accept us, and approve of us. And so, sub-sub cultures exist within our church.
While recognizing and ministering to sub-sub cultures in our church has its benefits, it can also create problems regarding church unity. The blessing of attending church can revolve around easily fitting into our sub-sub culture peer group. There is almost if not actual immediate gratification in peer groups. Social and cultural mores are understood, and have been previously navigated. People enter into sub-sub cultures, and though the balance of things changes at times, lesser adjustments can be quickly made.
Most people that I know have little time to expand their circle of friends, much less try to break into a different sub-sub culture. The thought of learning another social language, another culture, etc., is not only not natural, but troublesome and too challenging for most people.
Yet this is what must happen if our churches are going to continue past one generation, and if they are going to be trans-generational. Younger people need to learn from older people, and older people need to realize their responsibility to raise up the next generation.
The Apostle Paul teaches that in Christ, we are created as “one new man” (Ephesians 2:15). There is a new culture called “Christian”. There is a new man called “Christian”. There is a new peer group called “Christian”.
If a man or woman or teen can see that the greatest oneness they have is not the cultural “sameness” of this present fleeting moment, but the eternal oneness of being one in Jesus, then suddenly that person’s “peer group” is no longer a sub-sub culture, but has grown to include the entire Body of Christ.
If a person can capture the idea that they have settled for the ease of living in a sub-sub culture peer group, but have missed the greater blessing of knowing the entire church, they just might be motivated enough to push past present cultural trends, and actually try to understand another Christian from a different sub-sub culture.
We all understand that the best evangelist for a teen is another teen. Kids come to church because their friends convince them to. Like attracts like.
I submit that if a pastor can convince a few teens that their peer group is the entire church, and not just the youth group, that those kids will begin to reach out to older people in the church. They will convince their friends to go with them as they do it. The same is true for every sub-sub culture peer group. All you need is one or two people from a sub-sub culture to break out and be convinced that their true peer group is actually the entire church.
Therefore, whereas understanding and reaching into sub-sub groups can be effective, and ought to be done, I suggest that we never sacrifice the unity of trans-generational fellowship for the sake of reaching out to a slice of society. Both are needed. We may reach people by focusing on a sub-sub culture, but we need to help them mature into seeing the entire Body of Christ as their peer group. Trans-generational love and nurturing must occur. Kids need to know that the old people want them, not that they simply hire a youth leader to reach them. Old people need to know that young people genuinely respect them for their accomplishments, and are willing to sit and listen to them.
Cultural awareness is important, but love always finds a way to navigate through cultural waters, and reach a kid, a single mom, or an elderly person. Cultural relevance is a tool of understanding, but love is the heart of the matter. Oneness in Christ is the banner that every Christian needs to ultimately see as the glue that not only builds the church, but holds it together, and pushes it forward into the future.
By pastorbillwalden
Years ago, I read those words on an invitation to a church event.
The sponsoring church did everything they could to convince me that I ought to attend their event.
They promised that I would laugh. There is nothing wrong with laughing. In fact, the Bible commends a good laugh. Proverbs 17:22 tells us, “A merry heart does good, like medicine…”.
They promised that I would cry. I can be an emotional guy, and have been known to cry in public. Sometimes a good cry is very cleansing to the soul. Jesus wept. (John 11:35) Crying can release a lot of tension and emotion. There is nothing wrong with a good cry.
And yet, I objected to their flier, and to their promises. I still do. This was a Christian outreach, and yet they were promising to deliver these emotions to me. They presumed to know what I needed. There appeared to be no room for the Holy Spirit to do something else. What if what I needed was a fresh dose of somberness in the presence of a perfectly holy God? It wasn’t on the agenda for the night.
My assumed responses were pre-planned and predicted. They tutored me about what I would experience. They planned my responses in advance. Their goal was to get me to laugh and to cry. They were sure that they could make it happen.
Increasingly, I see Christians confusing emotional experiences at a church, with a God experience in the Holy Spirit.
There are many ways to evoke emotions in “Christian” settings. The right music or no music. The right lighting or having only candles. There are many ways to affect emotions towards a desired goal.
Both true and false messages can evoke an emotional experience. Some pastors teach the Word of God, and are humorous. Other pastors read a passage, and then tell funny stories, neglecting to teach or apply God’s word to the listener. Often, both men can be equally funny, but many Believers can’t tell that there is any difference. This is extremely alarming to me.
It seems that many in Christendom are lacking the spiritual maturity to discern whether God or man has spoken to them.
I have been walking with Jesus for 30 years. I have seen true signs and wonders, and false signs and wonders. I have seen emotionally impacting Spirit led preaching, and I have seen emotionally human inspired preaching. I have been moved to tears by “boring” preachers who were excellent teachers, and who revealed Jesus to me. I have been bored to tears by emotional speakers that taught me nothing.
I have seen crowds of people moved by the Holy Spirit. I have seen other crowds moved by pep rally worship leaders and charismatic, talented speakers.
In many cases, an emotional experience is the goal for a Christian event, rather than a revelation of who Jesus is.
My concern is not about how people express themselves in the presence of God. There is great latitude concerning that. My concern is about what causes a certain response. Is it the incredible Spirit of Perfect Holiness, or is it a church culture where certain behaviors are predicted, arranged and manipulated? Is it God, or is it man?
Dear Christian brother/sister…is your desire for Christ the great motivation of your life, or do you simply have a desire to laugh and cry at church? If you prefer somber worship, is it because you are overwhelmed with God’s awesomeness, and words don’t suffice, or is it because you just need some “quiet space to chill out”? If you prefer emotionally charged worship is it because you need a place to “get crazy” and pump your fist in the air, or is it a demonstrative, Spirit led joy in the presence of our great God?
Christian, beware of pre-programmed emotional experiences that any group or church might insist you need. Jesus is what you need. Sometimes, He will take us to the highest heights of ecstatic worship. The very next day, His Spirit may move you to sit and stay silent. He knows what you need. Not you. Not the preacher. Not the worship leader. Not me.
Let Jesus decide if you will laugh, or if you will cry.
By pastorbillwalden
It takes intention and effort to really hear what people are saying. As water always runs downhill, it is natural for all people to get into social ruts. We have our favorite people, groups, movements, and social tendencies, but (social) ruts limit lateral movement (awareness), and as Tozer has suggested, ruts turn into graves.
I have noticed that people often don’t see the need to cross the generational bridge to see what is on the other side. Perhaps they feel too busy to put in the extra effort needed to enter someone else’s “foreign” world. It could be rightly claimed that most of us can’t even keep up with our chosen friends, much less take the time to meet others who live in a parallel but distant world.
I have a hunch that in most cases, people don’t care that much about other people, and see no redeeming value in crossing the generational bridge. Why bother? Is it really worth the effort to learn about the “other culture” that sits in the same church as me, but seems so different? Some might argue that we ought to just “give each other some space”, and be happy with a peaceful but non-integrating co-existence.
The Bible teaches that Christians are “One Body”, and that we are organically and inextricably joined together in Christ, bur lack of social interaction seems to indicate that we don’t believe that, or at least are unwilling to pursue and enjoy it.
When is the last time a high school or college group sponsored an appreciation dinner for veterans of WW2? When is the last time a 20 year old invited a 60 year old out to coffee, and ask to hear his/her Christian testimony? The reverse is true as well. When has a group of retired folks (who have a lot of free time), gotten together and plan an event for a college group? How many high schoolers does the older generation know by name?
Why is this missing in our churches? I am sure that trans-generational fellowship happens here and there, but it certainly seems to be the exception rather than the norm.
My encouragement would be that both sides reach out. Meet someone from a different generation than your own. “Adopt” a young person, and pray for them, mentor them, learn about them, and pour yourself into them. “Adopt” an old person, realize the wisdom and experience that is available, and listen to them. Retired people have much to give, including time and experience. Older people might get rejected by some younger people, but keep trying. Pray for that one young person who you can be a friend and mentor to.
Young people have time too, even though they “think” they are busy. ;-) I often read the facebook status of young people about how bored they are, and that they want to know “who wants to go to the beach or the movies”. I suggest that young people find an older person to connect to, to visit with, to assist, and to learn from. There are retirement homes full of older people who are extremely lonely. There are older people in churches that would greatly benefit from the energy and presence of a young person.
The Apostle Paul stated it beautifully when he said of the Thessalonians, “So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us”. (1 Thessalonians 2:8)
Paul imparted his life to others. Other Christians had become dear to him. May we impart our lives to others as well, and may we cross the generational bridge to do so.
By pastorbillwalden
Most marriages will go through times that leave a husband feeling bored with his wife, or vice versa. 
Even the best marriages can experience this.
Proverbs 27:20 Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied.
The eyes, the flesh, and the desires of man are never satisfied, or, in other words, the nature of man always wants continual gratification. If a man is focused only on self gratification, he will grow bored with his wife, and begin to see only her problems, flaws, and weaknesses. He will compare her to other women, thinking that he would be better off with someone else. His heart will wander, his thoughts will wander, and his actions may follow.
The Christian man has a clear and high calling regarding his relationship with and responsibility to his wife.
Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her…
The Christian husband is called to understand the supreme example of husband-hood in the relationship between Jesus and His church. Jesus is the example of how husbands are to pursue loving their wives.
If Jesus is the example of the perfect Husband, then that means that every Christian is Jesus’ bride, regardless of gender. A Christian man needs to see himself first as the Bride of Christ before he can rightly see himself as the husband to his wife.
If Jesus is the perfect example of what the Husband does for his wife, then we need to consider all that Jesus does for His Bride, the Church. Consider John 10:10 as it applies to Jesus and His Bride.
John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Jesus came to give abundant life to His Church, His Bride. That means super exceeding, beyond the norm, abounding, rich, full life. Abundant life is living life to the full. Not in the realm that the world suggests, with more possessions, more relationships, etc. Jesus came to give us a spiritual life that brings abundance and richness to living. Abundant Life is the exact opposite of boring life. Jesus lived the Abundant Life, and He seeks to bring us into that Life.
So what are the applications for husbands who are feeling that they are stuck in a boring marriage?
If you are a Christian husband, are you living the Abundant Life, or even seeking it? Jesus said He came that you might have it. Abundant Living starts with you, and will never leave you bored. Seek after it. Do it with great determination and purpose.
If you are a Christian husband, and feel that you are in a boring marriage, don’t believe the lies of the world and Satan that suggest you ought to spice up your marriage with some drink or smoke, with some X rated films, or some flirting with another woman. That is what the Thief says. He comes to kill, steal, and destroy. How many marriages have actually gotten better and more godly through smoke, drink, pornography, flirting, gambling, etc? None. Zero.
If you are a Christian husband who feels your marriage is boring, how much are you seeking Jesus? Jesus seeks to bring YOU Abundant Life, and you often don’t or haven’t gone along with His idea, but he has never given up on you.
Christian husband: it is your responsibility to seek the Abundant Life first for yourself, and then bring it to your wife. Maybe your wife is boring or bored because of years of you neglecting her. The joy of living has been drained out of her by your selfishness. Seek Abundant Life in Jesus, and then bring your wife along. Neither of you will be bored.
Be a godly man. Draw close to God through His word, through prayer, through serving others. Seek to bless your wife instead of complaining about how boring she is and finding fault with her. If she is boring to you, it is because you have not spiritually led her to Abundant Life in Christ.
If your wife is boring to you, is very well may be a result of you not investing your life into her. Husbands often make their wives into something other than what Jesus wants, and then they complain about it.
Christian husband: Man up. Seek Jesus. Walk in the Abundant Life, and take your wife with you. There is Abundant Marriage to be discovered and enjoyed.
By pastorbillwalden
The church at Ephesus faced more cultural, social, and spiritual changes than we do. Slavery existed, gladiators were killed for entertainment, idolatry was rampant, and the opposition against Christianity was strong. 
In the face of all that, Paul the Apostle told the Ephesian Christians to “walk worthy of the calling with which they were called”. (Ephesians 4:1)
Simply put: Be the Christian that you are.
The Ephesians were to impact their world first and foremost by living for Christ.
Whatever else they would do would be the fruit of walking with Christ.
The Church needs to remember that we are not called to react emotionally and try to fix our culture.
God is more concerned about our culture than we are, and His plans are better than ours.
May whatever changes take place through our lives be a result of our steady faith in Jesus.
Paul was a…
1. Conduit Of Comfort
2. Conduit of Confidence
3. Conduit Of Christ.
Click here to read the notes and hear the sermon.
Click on “The Conduit Church”.
Blessings…
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
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.
“…unless we day by day voluntarily and deliberately remind ourselves of this righteousness we need, we are not very likely to be hungering and thirsting after it. The man who truly hungers and thirsts after it makes himself look at it every day.
“But”, you say, “I am so tremendously busy. Look at my agenda. Where have I time?” I say if you are hungering and thirsting after righteousness you will find time. You will order your life, you will say, “First things must come first…” Where there is a will, there is a way. It is amazing how we find time to do the things we want to.
The man who is hungering and thirsting after righteousness always puts himself in the way of getting it. You cannot create it of yourself…But at any rate, you do know there are certain ways it seems to have come to [the heroes of the faith] so you begin to imitate their example.
Read more »
By pastorbillwalden
Just a few thoughts here…
The reason for the 101“b”, is that there is a difference (at least to me) in planting a church you are going to stay at versus planting a church that you are planning to step away from. The differences aren’t huge, but they are there.
101a: plant and stay. 101b: plant and pass it on to someone else.
Church planters may gain some insights out of this. All Believers can probably unearth a few nuggets.
We planted Cornerstone in October of 1991, with the intention of staying. It has been different with St. Helena Community Church (SHHC) in that for a while, I thought I might pastor at two locations. I have been with this group for two years. The Lord finally made it very clear that I was not to be their permanent pastor, and my thought processes began to change. Here are a few things that I learned or was reminded of… Read more »
By pastorbillwalden
The Church Universal And The Church Local
In the prison letters (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians), Paul deals with the church collectively as the body of Christ, the bride, and the temple. In the pastoral epistles (such as Timothy and Titus), he deals with the church serving Christ as a local body. Both emphases are necessary for a balanced ministry.
Certainly God sees the whole body with Christ as the Head; but as far as the ministry is concerned, He works through the local assemblies in different places. The “church universal” (body of Christ) into which the believer is baptized by the Spirit is a valid concept; but the “universal church” concept is not a substitute for the action of the local church.
The “universal church” never sent out a missionary, built a hospital, observed the Lord’s Supper, or helped a needy family. It is the local church that receives the greater emphasis in the NT, but the ministry of the local church will be stronger if the members realize their position in the body of Christ.
Warren Wiersbe
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.
