Mr. Rogers Did Not Adequately Prepare Me for the People in My Neighborhood

“Wisdom, which may be defined as the exercise of judgment acting on experience, common sense and available information, is less operative and more frustrated than it should be.”

by Barbara Wertheim Tuchman, The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam

In Luke 10:37, Jesus tells us to love my neighbor as myself. However, Tuchman demonstrates through the examination of four significant historical events that governments and leaders throughout history have made decisions that were clearly against their best interests. They did not love themselves well, and therefore not only could not love others but were evil, unjust, and wicked.

Tuchman defines folly as the pursuit of policies that are not only detrimental but also counter to the self-interest of the state or institution involved, even when alternative options are available and known. She discusses the idea that human beings, especially in positions of power, are often their own worst enemies.

Folly often results from a combination of arrogance, ignorance, and obstinacy. Leaders, blinded by power or their own ideological commitments, often disregard advice, facts, or common sense. Her discussion of history reminds us of the perils of ignoring reality in favor of illusion or pride, especially in matters of governance.

This is the biggest problem both organizationally and individually in risk - ignoring reality out of arrogance, laziness, or pseudo - spirituality. Bifurcation is when we divide into two what is actually one. In the case of reality, Christ-followers tend to falsely divide “ministry” from secular, as if loving others and engaging in wise risk assessment is not part of holistic ministry and part of moral, spiritual, and legal duty of care.

Organizations who cannot determine who our neighbor is, who conflate national enemies with our actual spiritual enemies, are not engaging in reality but in syncretistic nationalism. Part of leadership in risk is determining how to lead our teams in loving and serving our staff and our enemies, both with internal hearts of love and external actions. When we instead engage in self-serving project and reputation enhancement, we are not advancing Christ’s kingdom.

John 13:35 “They will know you are my disciples by how you love one another.”