In the past few months I have completed almost 100 interviews with Christian media of all forms; print, radio, and television, in the US and abroad.

I have also had the opportunity to speak with many people through e-mails, telephone calls and in person about the Christian Security Network and what we are trying to do in the area of security and emergency planning for the Christian community.

I understood when we started the Christian Security Network last year that it was going to be a major paradigm shift for many Christians in understanding what security actually is and what it means to their church, school or ministry and the Christian community as a whole.

There are many groups and organizations out there that are trying to impact security, safety, emergency response, anti-terrorism, etc. in the Christian community and I give every effort in this area credit, but many of them have the same problem – they don’t see the big picture.

As stated in articles and interviews before, security by definition is as follows:

security |
noun ( pl. -ties)
1 the state of being free from danger or threat
• the safety of a state or organization against criminal activity such as terrorism, theft, or espionage
• procedures followed or measures taken to ensure such safety
• the state of feeling safe, stable, and free from fear or anxiety

Security is not a “thing”. It is not alarms, guns, guards and cameras. Nor can you separate it away from safety, emergency planning and response.

This is where the confusion comes in for the Christian organization, when the big picture is missed and someone focuses in on one particular part as being the “end all”.

For example, getting FEMA training and having a CERT in place is great, but it is not going to stop burglaries. Training armed security personnel, hiring off-duty police during service time may work to deal with violent confrontations, but is not going to step internal theft. Alarms are a good investment, but they won’t spot someone breaking into the cars during service times.

Security is a concept that needs to be adopted by an organization; it needs to become part of their every day culture. It is not a one-time “thing”, it is not a single emergency plan, it is not planning for terroristic acts that we not yet begun to see in this country.

It is all these things.

And when you try to separate security, safety, emergency planning and all the products, policies, programs, and plans that come with them, you end up with Christian leader’s frustration. What works for a church in Texas may not work for one in Virginia. A church in Las Vegas is different than the one in Chicago.

But they all need security – the concept, not the product - it all starts with seeing the big picture.

A good example of not seeing the big picture is a recent news headline we posted on our website “Recent Crimes Against Christian Organizations”.

The headline stated “Church Burglaries Unusual, Not Unheard Of”…what?

Maybe in that town where that church was broken into it is “unusual”, but take a look at the big picture – Christian churches, schools and ministries are the targets of crime almost every day.  We have documented a small fraction of crimes against the church in 2009 and year to date the number totals almost 200 incidents in 37 states resulting in deaths, injuries, and millions of dollars in property loss.

They missed the big picture and unfortunately Christian people reading this headline may think, “Well, good thing it doesn’t happen that often, we are safe”.

There is no place safe from crime, I don’t care where you reside and where your church, school or ministry is located. Take a look at the news articles we update every day on our website – risk is present everywhere.

If you don’t see the big picture of what security really means, you will never truly adopt it as part of your organization...you are back to the “It can never happen here” mentality.

Being informed is a critical part of being prepared – but you have to look at the big picture.

In Christ,
Jeff Hawkins