A Church Called TOV - Nurturing Justice and Service

1. A Prayer for the People of God
When joy is gone and hearts are sick, O God,
the Spirit of your son Jesus comforts us.
He came in human flesh to give
himself for our salvation and anoint us
with the Spirit of consolation and joy.
Hear the cry of your people, that we may
rejoice in the richness of your love and
be faithful stewards of your many gifts.
Amen.

3. Nurturing JUSTICE and SERVICE
9.25.22
Resisting Loyalty/Celebrity Culture

5. “(Loyalty becomes toxic when
it is seen as) the most prized virtue
in the church and disloyalty one
of the greatest vices…(when the
church) values loyalty (especially
to the lead pastor or people
in position of authority/power)
more than honesty... loyalty
above righteousness.”

7. “Spiritual abuse is ‘a form
of emotional and psychological
abuse characterized by
a systematic pattern of
coercive and controlling behavior
in a religious context.’”

8. “Abuse isn’t just an
individual problem; often,
it’s an institutional problem…
It takes leaders of unusually
strong character to hold a
beloved figure to account,
to entertain the possibility
that they aren’t who
they say they are.”

9. ”Because of what Christ demands
of us, our sense of justice as Christians
will be radically different than the
world’s understanding
of justice… Jesus is calling us
to behave in ways that measure
up to and conform with his teachings,
not the teachings
(or standards) of the world.”

10. ”(For Christians) Justice means:
to be empowered through the Spirit to
do the right thing.
And the ‘right thing’ is what
Jesus teaches.”

12. Knowing what justice looks like
helps us recognize/address injustice

13. Unless you do far better* than the
Pharisees
in the matters of right living, you won’t
know the first thing about entering the
kingdom.
MATTHEW 5:20 (MSG)
For I tell you that unless your
righteousness* surpasses that of the
Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you
will certainly
not enter the kingdom of heaven.
MATTHEW 5:20 (NIV)

15. “Celebrity is social power without
proximity…(it) feeds on mass media
(and) turns icons into idols.To have
immense (or even just unchecked)
social power and little proximity is a
spiritually dangerous place for any
of us… (Sadly), theAmerican church
has overall mimicked celebrity
culture rather than challenged it.”

16. “In a toxic culture, the celebrity
pastor finds a way to make it
all about garnering praise for
himself…people don’t matter,
the institution matters;
power and fear dominate…
In aTOV church, leaders
maximize their giftedness
when they empower others to
maximize their own giftedness.”

17. People-Pleaser
PASTORS
CHURCHES
TOV
Serving Others
Celebrity
Serve Self

18. People-Pleaser
PASTORS
CHURCHES
TOV
Serving Others
Celebrity
Serve Self
Taking
service
to heroic
extremes
Drawing
attention
to our
sacrifice

19. Be especially careful when you are
trying to be good so that you don’t make
a performance out of it. It might be good
theater, but the God who made you won’t
be applauding. When you do something
for someone else, don’t call attention
to yourself…When you help someone out,
don’t think about how it looks. Just do it—
quietly and unobtrusively.
MATTHEW 6:1-3 (MSG)

20. People-Pleaser
PASTORS
CHURCHES
TOV
Serving Others
Celebrity
Serve Self
Seeking
the
spot-
light
and its
perks
Resist
all
critique;
isolate

21. “The very concept ofTOV – goodness – is
rooted in the ordinary…goodness implies
an ongoing-ness of good things to the
point they become,
well, ordinary…A life in service
to others is not heroic. Rather, it is
ordinary people helping ordinary
people…family serving family… neighbor
serving neighbor…
Ordinary pastors serving
ordinary folks…”

22. S:7, 7.28.22

23. S:7, 7.28.22
Malcolm tells the story of how his parents
and their friends sponsored three Vietnamese
refugees, in the aftermath of the Vietnam War,
and wonders: do we underestimate the value
of ordinary acts of kindness?

24. THE POWER of CELEBRITY
1. Celebrity ATTRACTS
“It’s actually HIM!”

25. THE POWER of CELEBRITY
1. Celebrity ATTRACTS
“It’s actually HIM!”
2. Celebrity DECEIVES
“Rules don’t apply to YOU!”

26. THE POWER of CELEBRITY
1. Celebrity ATTRACTS
“It’s actually HIM!”
2. Celebrity DECEIVES
“Rules don’t apply to YOU!”
3. Celebrity SHIELDS
Privilege protects/pays off

27. THE POWER of CELEBRITY
1. Celebrity ATTRACTS
“It’s actually HIM!”
2. Celebrity DECEIVES
“Rules don’t apply to YOU!”
3. Celebrity SHIELDS
Privilege protects/pays off
4. Celebrity ISOLATES
No
relationship/accountability

29. Prayer
Holy God, you reach out in love
through your son Jesus to save us
so we may live as faithful siblings
in your kingdom family.
Unchain us from our desire
for wealth and power so we may,
in turn, release others from the prisons
of poverty, hunger, and oppression.
Amen.