sinners , each one standing in line for the graces of the Lord ’ s Supper . We need to forget and abandon our dreams of perfection .
At a church where I ( Scot ) spoke , the pastor took my wife , Kris , and me around to see the place . At one point she said , “ It ’ s not perfect . We are a messy bunch .” I muttered to myself , That ’ s what a church is . A mess of sinners bundled together . When we impose our idealistic , perfectionistic , high-expectation images of the church onto our actual churches , we begin to destroy them .
So , what does this mean for anyone who wants to form a pocket of tov in their church ? They need to ask if what they want to change is anything more than a messed-up feature of human sinners in fellowship with one another in Christ .
For the rest of this article , we will assume the issue is more than messy sinners , and that the desire is to move forward toward tov in that organization . We advise those who want to stay within a church and transform it from within to form a “ pocket of tov .” A pocket of tov requires us to commit to living as tov as possible , which means we attempt to do from the inside , without power , what tov leaders in other churches are already doing . And that means that we strive to live out practices and priorities that let God ’ s goodness permeate an institution so much that it empowers its members and staff to become more Christlike . In such a church , people are encouraged to show empathy and grace to others , put others people first , tell the truth , and find ways to serve others .
“ But I have no power ! And those in power don ’ t like what they think I may be up to .” This means you are a dissident forming a pocket of tov that over time may spawn enough other pockets of tov to create a critical mass of tov that can speak up with some strength about the toxicities . And make no mistake about it : Your pocket of tov is a pocket of resistance .
But in your case , how do you move forward ?
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