EMQ » April–June 2019 » Volume 55 Issue 3
By Bob Burns, Tasha D. Chapman, and Donald C. Guthrie
Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2019
216 pages
USD $18.00
Reviewed by David R. Dunaetz, associate professor of Leadership and Organizational Psychology, Azusa Pacific University, adjunct professor of French, Claremont Graduate University, and former church planter in France
Although missionaries-in-training often hear that conflict between missionaries is the number one cause of missionary attrition, few are prepared for the intensity of the anger, the pain, the accusations, and closed-mindedness that may be encountered when working on a missionary team. The Politics of Ministry provides missionaries and all who are in ministry with a framework to make sense out of whatever conflict they may find themselves in, however complex it may seem. Bob Burns, Tasha Chapman, and Donald Guthrie (all with many years of ministry and seminary experience) focus on four themes that serve as tools to understand ministry-based conflict: interests, negotiation, power, and ethical challenges.
At the root of any conflict lie differences in interests. Politics is “the art of getting things done with others” (5) so that people with different interests (the first theme of the book) can cooperate and collaborate. The authors provide excellent illustrations of the complexity of the issues, compromises, and mistakes that people make when they run into other Christians who have different interests. They also provide principles for understanding others’ perspectives and concerns.
A second theme of the book is on power and how the organizational system, organizational culture, and multiple stakeholders influence the use of power, a topic not often addressed in Christian circles. Much of the book focuses on power differentials and what to do when one is in a position of either lower power (to avoid being crushed) or higher power (to avoid harming others and to serve them). No one-size-fits-all answers are provided, but a range of possible responses are presented and analyzed.
Negotiation, the third theme of the book, must be done to manage conflicts and find the solution that best responds to the interests of all parties. This theme (and the closely related idea of mediation) is developed a bit less than the others but is well covered in other books (See “For Further Reading”).
The final theme, ethical implications, emphasizes Christ-centered, Bible-based responses. This discussion is carried out in a rational, calm way, perhaps characterized by understatement, enabling the reader to reflect on his or her behavior, rather than to act impulsively which happens all too often in conflict.
There are several useful tools in the appendix and many excellent discussion questions throughout the text. As a former missionary and a professor whose research program focuses on conflicts in Christian organizations, The Politics of Ministry has now become my preferred book to recommend to missionaries who find themselves in painful conflicts.
For Further Reading
Fisher, R., Ury, W. L., & Patton, B. Getting to yes: Negotiating agreement without giving in. New York: Penguin, 2011.
Wilmot, W. W., & Hocker, J. L. Interpersonal conflict. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Moore, C. W. (1996). The mediation process: Practical strategies for resolving conflict. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2011.
