A Church Called Tov - Chapter 9: "Tov Churches Nurture Truth"
Laura Barringer is a first-grade teacher, and she begins this chapter by listing some of the things her students have said to her about her and about their families. As a former teacher, it cracked me up. "Kids are natural truthtellers. We have much to learn from the truth-telling tendencies of young children." (p. 136)
Greg has always been adamant about truth-telling in his own personal life and with our kids. He's quit and been fired from jobs because of his insistence on telling the truth. The authors insist that "there is no room in a church called tov for lying, deceit, cover-ups, suppression, gaslighting, or spin. All those things are toxic." (p. 137) It's astonishing to me that this even needs to be said!
McKnight and Barringer suggest three ingredients to form a truth telling culture.
- Knowing the Truth - It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit "that we can know and learn the truth." See John 15 and 16. (p. 139)
- Doing the Truth - "Followers of Jesus are to be truth tellers. Likewise, a truth-telling culture emerges from people who live in the truth." (p. 140)
- Surrendering to the Truth - Truth telling can be hard. It's risky. It can mean losing everything. "A truth-telling culture calls us to surrender to the truth--to be humble and vulnerable and willing to submit ourselves to the truth even when it's most difficult." (p. 141)
What should be done when a church and its leaders resist truth telling, when they refuse to listen, when they circle the wagons to protect themselves? The authors recommend that "it is biblical--and best--to go public." (p. 144) The Bible calls it prophetic action. "The prophets were not called to the negotiating table...They were called to the platform of public proclamation." (p. 145) We've seen what happens next. Bloggers, journalists, and authors dig up the details and write about the story. The Chicago Tribune broke the Willow Creek scandal. The Houston Chronicle wrote a four-part story about sexual abuse cover-ups in the Southern Baptist Convention. Journalist and blogger Julie Roys broke the Harvest Bible Chapel/James McDonald scandal.
The Bible is our example of truth telling. "...people in the Bible are shown for who they are--warts and all." (p. 146) Atonement was very important to the ancient Israelites. They had an entire day set aside for it--Yom Kippur. "A commitment to confession, repentance, sacrifice, purification, and forgiveness were at the heart of Jewish culture." (p. 148) Confession is still necessary today. "To attempt to 'move on' past our sin without truth-telling confession is to cheapen God's grace." (p. 148) The authors quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book The Cost of Discipleship which I have not read but will now add to my list. LOL!
How can we put Yom Kippur into practice as Christians? Well, it was "not a one-and-done event" (p. 152). The authors think "we need a regular Yom Kippur-like season in our churches to ensure that truth telling becomes foundational to our culture." I think that's a good idea, as long as the leaders are as interested in confession and repentance as the congregation. Churches that observe the church calendar, already have a practice in place - Lent. McKnight insists that leaders who don't embrace times of introspection and confession "fail to see the depth of their problems, and therefore fail to repent and fail to reconcile with God." (p. 153) Included is a liturgical prayer that Willow Creek could have used to express confession and repentance in their situation.
"Truth telling is not instinctive in toxic cultures where false narratives proliferate. It must be developed. In a church called tov, truth telling becomes a way of life, a way of constant exposure to our tov God who reveals himself in Jesus Christ."
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