Meahl Memories

A Church Called Tov - Chapter 10: "Tov Churches Nurture Justice"

The authors begin this chapter by telling the story of Rachael Denhollander, best known for being the first to accuse Larry Nassar of sexual abuse.  However, she also fought tirelessly to expose the sexual abuse and consequent coverup in the Sovereign Grace Churches network. Rachael got in trouble when her church invited C.J. Mahaney, the leader of the SGC, to preach at the church. She had already expressed her concerns with Mahaney to her elders because of the allegations against him of covering up sexual abuse in the network.  "She was then labeled 'divisive' by church leaders and was told by a...pastor, 'You cannot discuss SGC in any context where another member might hear that your position differs from the leadership's.' That is a classic example of placing loyalty before truth." (p. 161) The details of the SGC story are sickening. 

Bill Hybels and the leaders of Willow Creek and James McDonald and the leaders of Harvest Bible Chapel are just two examples of church leaders and congregations who valued loyalty above everything else. Why? And this is the question I've been contemplating since we left another non-denominational church six months ago. Why did the elders choose loyalty to the pastor and the "reputation" of the church over "honesty, integrity, justice, and righteousness"? "Toxic cultures breed misplaced and corrupted loyalty." (p. 166)

McKnight and Barringer dig into the question "what is justice?".  According to society, "the foundation of justice is a standard by which we measure what is just or right." (p. 166) As Christians, justice should be defined as "behavior that measures up to or conforms with what God has revealed to us in Christ and in Scripture." (p. 167) Something I've learned from many different sources over the past few years is that the Greek word translated righteousness, dikaiosune, can also be translated as justice. "Justice means to be empowered through the Spirit to do the right thing. and the "right thing" is what Jesus teaches...loving God and loving others." (p. 168)

So, how can we build a justice culture in our churches? The authors recommend the following steps.

• Know what justice looks like - doing what is right at the right time. (p. 169-170)
• Recognize injustice - look to James 2 for an example (p. 170-172)
• Recognize the fallout, and press on - "Sometimes this means admitting fault and confessing sin, and sometimes it means coming under attack and taking hits...Doing the right thing requires courage." (p. 172)
• Tell stories about doing the right thing - The story of Martin Niemoller is a good example. (p. 172-174)

In the next blog post, we'll move on to a culture that nurtures service.