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The
Risk Management and Mission Conflict
by Major Robert Evans
"Jesus called his twelve
disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure
spirits and to heal every disease and illness...These twelve
Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Do not go
among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.
Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim
this message: “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” Heal
those who are ill, raise the dead, cleanse those who have
leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely
give. ‘Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take
with you in your belts – no bag for the journey or extra shirt
or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep.
Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some
worthy person and stay at their house until you leave.
As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the
home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not,
let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome
you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake
the dust off your feet. Truly I tell you, it will be
more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment
than for that town.
‘I am sending you out
like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and
as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be
handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the
synagogues. On my account you will be brought before
governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.
But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or
how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for
it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father
speaking through you.
‘Brother will betray
brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel
against their parents and have them put to death. You
will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who
stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are
persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you,
you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before
the Son of Man comes." (Matthew 10:1-23)
Now, let's project this calling of 12 ministry recruits into a
2014 western world context and imagine completing a risk
assessment of their first mission assignment. Chances
are this scenario would be assessed as a high risk activity
with a high probability of failure, exposing inexperienced and
unqualified people to an unsafe work environment. Any
responsible manager today would either cancel the mission or
recommend a list of control measures to mitigate the known
risks. Either way, the process of risk management would
have the potential to seriously compromise the effectiveness
of the mission!
This is the climate that the church finds itself ministering
in today where governance, compliance and risk management have
an enormous influence and impact on the way mission is done.
No one will argue with the principle of creating and
maintaining a safe ministry environment, however, the very
nature of our mission and ministry to a lost and broken world
is that it will take us way outside our comfort zone into
unknown and, at times, unsafe situations. My fear for
the church, which is being swamped by legislative requirements
and the constant threat of litigation, is that it is becoming
distracted from its primary purpose and is risking managing
itself out of mission!
In a culture of risk management there is a fine line between
being responsible and restrictive, proactive and protective,
faith fueled and fear driven. This line is easily
crossed the moment our primary motivation for risk management
becomes more about protecting the service than those we serve,
money than mission, reputation than reformation. In this
increasingly complex world of risk management, sometimes the
strategies we employ to manage risk exposes a huge gulf
between our aspirational values and actual values by the way
we implement control measures into our mission activities.
Here are some examples of how I have seen this manifested
through my observations from within my context and through
conversations with people from a similar context to mine:
1.
1.
The threat of aggressive clients prompts the installation of
dividing screens between staff and the people seeking
assistance in welfare centres. While providing protection, it
diminishes the value of human dignity.
2.
2,
The insecurity of home visits to asylum seekers and refugees
leads to a policy that prohibits staff from taking off their
shoes when entering people's homes. While addressing
health and safety concerns, it violates the value of
cultural sensitivity.
3.
3.
The fear of losing public donations or government funding
restricts the ability to take a public stand on issues of
social justice or morality. While maintaining a public
image, it compromises biblical values of truth and justice.
4.
4. The concern about
establishing a mission initiative in a 'dangerous'
neighbourhood inhibits outreach to the most disadvantaged
people in the community. While trying to minimise
perceived risks, it discourages the value of incarnational
ministry.
5.
5.
The belief that mission is driven by money requires mission
and ministry proposals to be fully funded before being granted
approval. While good financial management, it weakens
the value of faith.
These examples are representative of an emerging reality that
could be seen in any church or organisation that is struggling
with the same tension between risk management and mission.
Another dimension to
navigating risk in the context of mission is the "cost of
discipleship", which includes the act of self-denial
and the reality of persecution, and "faith", which is
"being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do
not see". This is foreign to the language and
principles of risk management. Translated into my
context of The Salvation Army, whose mission is centred on
"others" that includes "the last, the lost and the
least" you can see the unavoidable conflict that risk
management encounters with disciples of Jesus Christ who are
engaged in faith inspired mission.
So, do we throw all caution to the wind and use mission and
faith as a justification to disregard risk management
obligations? Absolutely not!
The church has a biblical and legal mandate to practice good
stewardship, which includes the way we manage people, property
and finances. What I do propose, however, is that any
risk management process includes an assessment of the risk to
mission, through a lens of faith, to ensure the strategies
that are considered to reduce risk do not violate core values,
compromise effective mission or cause us to step out of
obedience where the Spirit is leading.
We are at more risk of
losing the very thing we are trying to protect if we allow a
culture of risk management to diminish the cutting edge, faith
fueled, Spirit led mission that characterised the early church
and inspires generations of church leaders to fearlessly
"go and make disciples of all nations."
http://ephesiansfour12.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/the-risk-management-and-mission-conflict.html
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