I recently read a powerful message drawn from Paul’s letters to the Corinthians and Romans, where he describes being cleansed or baptized by fire. The idea is that we are tested, not to be broken, but to be refined, like gold purified through intense heat. The lesson isn’t to fear the fire, but to build in such a way that we can endure it.
The message resonates with my experience with military, police and S.W.A.T. training. It’s not just about tactical readiness, it’s about conditioning the mind, the body, and the spirit to respond when the pressure is at its highest. Just like spiritual refinement, high-stakes training prepares responders not to avoid crisis but to meet it with clarity, precision, and courage.
In both faith and service, it’s not enough to hope we’ll stand firm, we train, prepare, and test ourselves in controlled environments so we’re equipped to withstand the real ones. That’s what training is: fire before the fire. It creates muscle memory, mental resilience, and team trust that can’t be improvised in the heat of the moment.
And just as Paul wrote that only what’s built with wisdom will endure the testing, so too our preparedness must be more than surface-level. It must be intentional, rooted in values, and tested in environments that simulate the worst so that when the worst comes, we lead, not react. The same theme shows up again in Revelation 3:18, where Jesus urges believers to seek ‘gold refined by fire’ a faith and character that’s been proven through trials.
This message resonates in the context of organizational security and resilience. Just like our spiritual lives, systems and structures must be intentionally built not to be flawless, but to withstand failure and recovery. Having a true security posture means being fire-tested. It’s about having the kind of foundation that can endure breaches, pressure, and uncertainty, and still stand strong. In both faith and security, the goal isn’t perfection, it’s resilience.
Preparedness, Accountability, and the Architecture of Resilience
When the smoke clears and the embers fade, we don’t measure survival by what stood unburned but by what was prepared to endure. The metaphor of the fire shows both literal and symbolic threats, including active shooters, arson, hostile intruders, legal scrutiny, moral obligations and operational failures. Security consultants and expert witnesses can be viewed as the architects of what endures: systems, protocols, and cultures built not to be fireproof, but fire ready.
When the crisis passes and the fire burns out, survival isn’t measured by what stood untouched but by what was built to bend, absorb, and recover. Whether facing literal flames or metaphorical ones: mass casualty incidents, litigation, or public scrutiny organizations that endure are those constructed with foresight, documentation, and moral clarity. The following essay explores the question at the heart of every security consultant’s mission: What survives the fire?
Built to Endure: A Call to Preparedness
In this world where storms are no longer a question of if but when, the foundation we build on matters more than ever. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 3:11 that there is only one foundation that will stand: Jesus Christ. But even then, the fire will come, not to destroy, but to reveal. What we build will be tested. In the face of rising threats, physical, spiritual, and societal, emergency preparedness becomes more than risk management; it becomes a form of spiritual stewardship. Just as the wise builder anchored his house on the rock, so must we build our plans, teams, and communities on eternal truths, with wisdom, foresight, and love. Scripture speaks clearly about the nature of what endures. Paul warns that fire will test each person’s work, and only what is built with gold, silver, and costly stones will remain. Today, this wisdom extends into how we prepare for crisis, how we lead under pressure, and how we protect the people entrusted to our care. Readiness is no longer just operational, it’s spiritual. Every strategy we implement should reflect not only responsibility, but reverence, not just protection, but preparation for what’s eternal.
Foreseeability: The Legal Spine of Survival
In premises liability law, foreseeability is both compass and conscience. It asks not just what happened, but should it have been prevented?
The Texas Supreme Court case Timberwalk Apartments v. Cain, 972 S.W.2d 749 (Tex. 1998), established five criteria for foreseeability:
- Proximity
- Recency
- Similarity
- Frequency
- Publicity¹
In Carmichael v. CVS Pharmacy, the court upheld a $43 million verdict after prior armed robberies made the fatal shooting foreseeable². In Carmichael v. CVS Pharmacy, the plaintiff was shot during a robbery in a CVS parking lot in Atlanta and sued the company for negligent security, alleging CVS ignored repeated violent incidents at that location and failed to provide adequate lighting or security guards. A jury found CVS 95% at fault and awarded over $43 million in damages, with the verdict upheld on appeal. Similarly, Trammell Crow v. Gutierrez, 267 S.W.3d 9 (Tex. 2008), affirmed the principle that repeated crimes even if not identical can signal liability³.
To turn legal standards into actionable strategy, consultants use Foreseeability Matrices which translate real crime data into risk scores.
Faith-Based Vulnerabilities: Legal Duty in Sacred Spaces
Churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, and private schools face unique challenges: fragile infrastructure, limited budgets, informal policies, and emotional reluctance to confront risk leave congregants exposed.
Several cases illustrate this:
- First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs (TX): Families sued for inadequate security after the 2017 mass shooting⁴.
- West Freeway Church of Christ (TX): A 2019 shooting led to lawsuits over insufficient protocols⁵.
- Charleston AME Church (SC): Victims’ families claimed the church ignored prior threats⁶.
- Congregation Beth Israel (TX): A 2022 hostage crisis revealed gaps in synagogue security.
- Gateway Church (TX): A 2024 lawsuit alleged negligence after a youth group member sexually assaulted a minor during unsupervised church events.
- Bragg v. Christ’s Church of the Valley, Ariz. Super. Ct. (2018): A church was held liable for failing to prevent foreseeable harm during youth programming.
Clearly, sacred spaces are not exempt from legal scrutiny. The absence of a documented safety plan can be interpreted as deliberate indifference, exposing organizations to lawsuits and denied insurance claims¹¹.
CCTV: Chain of Custody & Scrutiny
Visual evidence is powerful but only if preserved correctly. Courts expect:
- Native format retrieval
- System time verification
- Chain of custody documentation
In Alvarez v. Fullerton PD, charges were dropped due to mishandled video evidence¹1. The lesson: video is only evidence if it survives scrutiny.
Ethics Under Pressure
Security consulting is not just technical, it’s moral. In Niece v. Elmview Group Home, 131 Wash. 2d 39 (1997), the court held that group homes have a special duty of care to protect vulnerable residents from foreseeable harm¹³. The case emphasized affirmative duty and institutional accountability.
Experts must ask: Am I documenting truth or defending negligence? Fire doesn’t just test systems, it reveals integrity.
What the Fire Reveals
Every crisis exposes latent truths:
- Was there documentation?
- Who made the decision and why?
- Could this have been anticipated?
At Dollar General, OSHA cited over $580,000 in penalties for padlocked exits and blocked extinguishers¹3. These weren’t just violations, they were indicators of cultural neglect.
Resilience Requires Design
Survival requires intentional architecture, systems not built to be perfect, but with purpose that include:
- A culture of documented safety
- A traceable path of decisions
- Ethics statements in expert reports
- Forensic-ready evidence protocols
- Foreseeability scoring tools
The consultant becomes a builder of resilience, crafting operational frameworks that withstand scrutiny in both courtrooms and crises.
Final Thoughts
Security consultants don’t build fireproof systems, we build systems that prevent and/or survive the fire, because they were designed with foresight, fortified by truth, and tested by time. Just as gold is refined in flame, so will each person’s work be revealed by fire on the day of judgment. “His work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work” (1 Corinthians 3:13). The imagery isn’t of destruction, it’s of purification. What is eternal will endure. What is superficial will burn away.
In leadership, particularly within environments where people gather, whether for worship, service, education, or outreach risk management is not a formality; it is a sacred responsibility. Scripture reminds us in 1 Thessalonians 5:2–6 that we are not to walk in ignorance or naïveté, like those who sleep through their watch. Instead, we are called to lead with sober-minded vigilance, recognizing that unforeseen challenges can arrive like a thief in the night.
As organizational leaders, we are entrusted with more than operations, we are stewards of lives, safety, and environments of trust. The apostle Peter urges us to “be alert and of sober mind,” guarding not only against spiritual threats but also practical ones (1 Peter 5:8). In this light, risk mitigation, emergency planning, and the safety of our invitees are not just liabilities to manage, they are expressions of care, foresight, and faithful leadership.
Good preparation reflects good leadership and good leaders always prepare. Through proactive planning, scenario-based training, sound risk assessment, and clearly documented safety protocols, we create safer spaces where people can gather in peace. Written plans, not just stored in binders, but embedded in culture and practice ensure that response is not improvised, but intentional. These efforts are not merely about compliance, they are acts of compassion, responsibility, and foresight. When the testing comes, as Paul warns it will, what you’ve built, your systems, your team, and your written response plans will not only withstand the fire but stand as a testimony to wise, accountable leadership rooted in love and eternal purpose. These preparations won’t just uphold your mission, they can protect your organization in a lawsuit, support the integrity of an insurance claim, and, most importantly, help save lives when every second counts
Footnotes
- Timberwalk Apartments v. Cain, 972 S.W.2d 749 (Tex. 1998)
- Carmichael v. CVS Pharmacy, Georgia District Court, 2022
- Trammell Crow v. Gutierrez, 267 S.W.3d 9 (Tex. 2008)
- Sutherland Springs case summary; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutherland_Springs_church_shooting
- West Freeway Church of Christ case summary; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Freeway_Church_of_Christ_shooting
- Charleston AME Church case summary; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charleston_church_shooting
- Colleyville synagogue hostage crisis; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colleyville_synagogue_hostage_crisis
- Gateway Church lawsuit
- Bragg v. Christ’s Church of the Valley, Ariz. Super. Ct. (2018)
- Faith Under Fire: Liability in Crisis Situations
- Alvarez v. Fullerton PD, California Superior Court, 2019
- Niece v. Elmview Group Home, 131 Wash. 2d 39, 929 P.2d 420 (1997)
- OSHA citations against Dollar General, 2023