89 members and volunteers to recognize the brokenness around them. Left unrecognized, the congregation unknowingly perpetuates and reinforces the toxic culture that invites abuse. In a goodness culture, followers share responsibility for identifying the narrative and holding their leaders accountable to tov principles, providing resistance to the formation of toxic cultures. The book raises a number of leadership questions with which pastors and congregations must contend. One is McKnight’s assertion that the rise of achievement and accomplishment culture in the church erodes the high calling of pastoring. He contends that when leading becomes more critical than pastoring, the church becomes more of an organization than a representative of Christ on earth (205). Fundamentally, McKnight believes this organizational drift is the root cause of churches embracing toxic culture. This cultural shift raises the question of scalability. Can a megachurch also be a tov church? Are these tov principles scalable? McKnight makes no references to church size in the book. Still, the principles of a goodness culture imply communal relationships, which, in turn, suggest a relational intimacy that may defy large-scale implementation. How should leaders respond to questions of scale and sustainability? Looking to Jesus’ example, McKnight concludes, “It might be fair to say that what the church needs are not pastor-leaders but pastors who will shepherd under the Great Shepherd, Jesus” (208). Pastors in churches of all sizes do well to remember that despite the pressures imposed by cultural expectations, Jesus is the head of all churches. In A Church Called Tov, McKnight and Barringer take on the daunting task of resisting toxic church culture by offering a biblical alternative. The authors did not write the book to change the toxic leader’s mind; only the Holy Spirit can do that. Instead, they seek to create an environment that exposes and starves out elements of toxicity by changing the culture from within. With the same fervor with which Jesus cleansed the temple, tov churches exhibit a righteous hostility to toxic leadership and abuse. Readers will discover a robust array of practical and philosophical tools to engage in the hard work of forming and reforming culture within the local church. In doing so, both pastors and laypeople will find a common source of inspiration to help the church look more and more like Jesus. Keith Warren is a Ph.D. in Leadership Studies Candidate and serves as Executive Pastor of North Side Baptist Church in Weatherford, Texas.
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