88 Ducere Est Servire: THE LEADERSHIP JOURNAL OF DALLAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY perience observing these well-documented leadership failures. These chapters give the reader a robust understanding of the power dynamics employed in churches of all sizes and tips for recognizing when trouble is on the horizon (23). Despite the darkness surrounding these leadership failures, McKnight and Barringer strike a hopeful tone in Part 2, introducing what they call “The Circle of Tov” (97). In the same way that light overcomes darkness, the authors argue that a culture of tov will overcome and prevent toxic dynamics within a church. The authors propose seven “habits of goodness,” including empathy, grace, putting people first, truth, justice, service, and Christlikeness. With these seven communal habits, McKnight and Barringer construct a model to guide churches toward a “goodness culture” that, “by the power of the Holy Spirit, will go to battle and overcome a toxic culture” (96). Where the content of Part 1 is primarily descriptive, Part 2 is unreservedly prescriptive, providing the reader with a biblically rich strategy for reforming a church culture around tov principles. The authors assert that each habit defined in the model will resist a negative aspect of toxic church culture. For example, when churches nurture empathy, narcissism is resisted. When churches nurture grace, the culture of fear is resisted, and so on. The cumulative effect of nurturing tov habits creates a “goodness culture” rooted in tov principles that reflect God’s design for the local church (221). According to the authors, the goodness culture promotes healthy, biblical actions and resists toxic and unbiblical actions. Cultivating a goodness culture requires engaged leadership and active followership to respond biblically to the community’s needs. Reminiscent of Romans 12, McKnight and Barringer call churches to a corporate renewal of the mind that is leadership-focused but follower-empowered. The authors assert that repeated and enacted narratives build the church culture within a specific context (107). Leadership must correctly identify the biblical tov narrative and impart the principles of faith it demands. However, the responsibility of building the tov culture does not rest solely on the shoulders of leadership. As depicted in the dark tone of Part 1, cultural failures may originate from leadership, but they are almost always enabled by willing followers. When identifying the cultural dynamics within these churches, the authors observed that leaders often leaned into spiritual narratives to justify harmful behavior and hurtful responses. This spiritualization of toxicity frequently makes it difficult for
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODc4ODgx