With the same morbid fascination that rivets one’s attention to an oncoming train wreck, I have been watching billions (some say trillions) of dollars gush out of US financial markets in a giant hemorrhage. The reasons for the disaster are many and complex, but one thing that all the pundits and TV talking heads agree on, is that without transparency, without the ability to know what portfolios are really worth, there will be no cure for our financial institutions. Without trust there will be no “bottom,” only free fall.

Financial institutions had escaped scrutiny through complexity that defied transparency. This rendered accountability virtually impossible. Reports meant little. Not even other insiders could make sense of them, much less investors. The numbers offered to the public did not increase transparency or understanding of what was transpiring. Today no one has confidence in the value the numbers are supposed to represent. Public trust was abused, and when investors finally realized it, they abandoned ship in droves. There are significant lessons in this financial disaster for missions and mission leaders.

I read a book not long ago with the title of “The Speed of Trust.” The author Stephen MR Covey, contends that when trust is high, the potential for productive and rapid change increases and the cost of implementing the changes goes down. The inverse is also true; if trust is low, the leader and organization pay a huge trust tax. It takes much longer to get things done. The costs associated with the changes increase dramatically when there is a lack of trust. Over the long haul, transparency increases accountability and thus trust grows. Opacity only breeds questions and distrust.

Some missions run finances like the CIA handles intelligence. Financial information is compartmentalized, and sharing it is strictly on a “need to know basis.” As mission leaders we are far too willing to “protect” people from information that in our estimation they won’t understand, be interested in, or may be hurtful to them or to us. An attitude of superior paternalism is far too often demonstrated by what we don’t share. In missions as on Wall Street, without transparency trust suffers and the trust tax we pay escalates.

We all recognize the reasonable legal limitations on sharing personal information. However, this “need to know” mentality is often practiced for many strategy decisions, reorganizations, as well as most financial matters. Conclusions come down from “on high” and processes are often not well understood by missionaries or supporters.

Many mission donors are also not quite sure what is going on or why we do the things we do strategically or financially. Mission leaders too often give the impression that an advanced missiological degree or years on the field are needed to adequately understand their ministry. If what we do is too complex for average people to “get,” then it may need to be rethought. Opacity breeds ignorance, misunderstanding and ultimately distrust. Often it isn’t that the people on the field or in the pew “don’t get it;” they “get it” and intuitively feel that our complexity is the enemy of real transparency. The trust tax we pay for our opacity may be far too high.

Let’s turn things around before a crash in credibility occurs to missions like it has in the finance industry. Let’s open the windows, and let the light shine on all our financial and programmatic dealings. Let’s cultivate transparency.

One final disturbing thought, most of the financial organizations in this Wall Street debacle had clean audits. However, that did not necessarily mean the reports were worth a whole lot to the investors. Meeting audit standards and being transparent may be two very different things. It is dangerous to allow your auditor to set the optimal standards for transparency. The Holy Spirit and the Scripture are more demanding, empowering, and trustworthy.

Your friend,
… Paul