A recent Think Biblically podcast was an interview with Scot McKnight who wrote with his daughter the book, A Church Called Tov. It caught my ear solely because of the word tov. What is tov? I learned quickly that it is the Hebrew word for good/goodness. So by asking, “What is tov?” we are also asking, “What is good?” One of the things I took from listening to the podcast is that God is often called tov and His people are called to tov as well.
What does tov look like? Paul is pretty clear that the Body of Christ needs to live in harmony with each other. Paul tells us a lot of different virtues that we should have but he condenses it all down to one thing, love. He says love binds everything in perfect unity. When we love each other, the other virtues like kindness, gentleness and patience will flow into our relationships. We will live in peace and harmony with each other. We will be a people of tov.
You are my God, and I will praise you;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever. -Psalm 118:28-29
