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Abstract
This paper assesses the story of King Joash from a spiritual risk perspective. King Joash's reign
is often highlighted for his religious reforms and young age when he ascended to the throne.
However, after the death of Jehoiada, the priest who guided him, Joash's behavior towards God
changed significantly, indicating a lack of personal relationship that led to the downfall of Judah.
This study defines spiritual risk as the process by which an individual distances themselves from
God, rejecting Biblical morals and values and breaking His commandments. It emphasizes the
importance of managing spiritual risk, highlights leaders' role in this process, and argues that
effective spiritual risk management requires a comprehensive approach that brings individuals
closer to God. Leaders must be attentive to their own spirituality, seek guidance from trusted
advisors, and proactively manage and mitigate risks. The failure of Jehoiada, Joash's mentor, to
address and manage the king's spiritual risk, is highlighted as a contributing factor to the
kingdom's downfall. Ultimately, the article emphasizes the shared responsibility of spiritual risk
management and the need for divine-human collaboration, open communication, and humility.
By addressing spiritual risk proactively, leaders can contribute to the well-being and flourishing
of individuals and the communities they serve.
Keywords: spirituality, risk, management, Joash, king
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Your God, Not Mine: An Assessment of King Joash Story
King Joash's story is one of the most told in Bible storybooks for children due to his
young age when ascending to the throne and the religious reformation that took place under his
reign, at least while Jehoiada the priest lived (New International Bible, 1978/2011, 2 Chronicles
24:17). After the priest died the Joash's risk rose exponentially. In writing about him, the
chronicler provides a small but significant detail that may account for this increase in risk. In
verse 5 of chapter twenty-four, Joash refers to God as the God of the Levites: "He called together
the priests and Levites and said to them, "Go to the towns of Judah and collect the money due
annually from all Israel, to repair the temple of your God." Joash's change in behavior toward
God and the temple after Jehoiada's death demonstrates the lack of a personal relationship with
the God of the Levites, suggesting the king had another god. The Lord was not the king's God!
According to Hagen (2018), "risk is any issue, situation or event that may result in a
significant deviation from a planned goal ultimately resulting in a loss, i.e., an unwanted,
negative consequence" (p. 28). In this case, the risk was the lack of a personal relationship
between Joash and God. Wright (2017) highlights that "risk (and 'risk management') can mean
different things to different people" (p. 10), so there is a possibility that Joash did not consider
his personal lack of spiritual connection with God a risk at least during Jehoiada's lifetime. The
record states that while Jehoiada was alive, the king "did what was right in the eyes of the Lord"
(New International Bible, 1978/2011, 2 Kings 12:2). Jehoiada seems to have managed the king's
spiritual risk. This paper will propose a definition of spiritual risk and explore the impact of King
Joash's spiritual life in managing the kingdom.
What Does Spiritual Mean Anyway?
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Whereas it has been common in the past to use the terms "spiritual" and "religious"
interchangeably, that is not the case anymore and probably has not been for a few years. The
current distinction between spirituality and religiosity is that these paradigms have various
dimensions (Malinakova et al., 2018). The authors go on to explain that whereas before being
religious was equal to being spiritual, today, religion is often associated with institutions and
established theology and practices. At the same time, spirituality has transitioned from primarily
being a profound religious outlook to now being understood "as a more subjective search for
peace, harmony, meaning in life and connection with the sacred" (p. 116). The developments in
communication have allowed for ideas from other non-Christian religions to influence
Christianity leading many to understand spirituality "as a generic, all-inclusive word for sensory
emotional, physical, intellectual, or relational experiences intended to build a positive
relationship with a nebulous "higher power" either inside or outside of the self" (SDATS, 2011,
p. 2).
Spirituality, like risk, is hard to define "not only because the term itself is an abstraction,
open to various interpretations, but also because words with metaphysical import both arise from
and inform worldviews" (Speck, 2005, p. 4). Thus, people with other worldviews will, of
necessity, arrive at varying understandings of spirituality's meaning and even hold opposing
views because their pictures of reality are other (Koukl, 2017, Sadat hoseini et al., 2017). In this
paper, the term spiritual is defined from a Christian worldview "as the process of the divine
restoration and healing of the broken relation between the Triune God and humanity" (SDATS,
2011, p. 2).
Spiritual Risk
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Fitchett (1999) defined spiritual risk as "poor health outcomes as a result of
underdeveloped, conflicted, overwhelmed, or negative spirituality. …Spiritual risk is having high
spiritual needs and low spiritual resources with which to address those needs" (p. 4). More
recently, Nadan et al. (2018) identified three dimensions of spiritual risk as defined by Ultra-
orthodox Jews: "A decline in the observance of the Torah and the commandments, a decline in
the observance of the Torah and the commandments, and a decline in spiritual beliefs, including
their sense of connection to G-d" (p. 1205).
Based on the above, the following is proposed as a working definition of spiritual risk
within the Christian worldview: Spiritual Risk is the process by which an individual distances
himself from God. It is an intellectual and emotional rejection of Biblical morals and values
demonstrated by behaving contrary to God's commandments.
Joash Fall into Spiritual Risk
Your God, not Mine
King Joash ascended to the throne as a 7-year-old child under the protection and guidance
of Jehoiada, the chief priest (New International Bible, 1978/2011, 2 Kings 11:21-12:2; 2
Chronicles 24:1-2). The text clarifies that Joash grew up learning about the God of Judah, and
the record shows that the king had a degree of respect for God. According to 2 Kings 12: 4, the
king gave orders to restore the temple during his twenty-third year of reign. 2 Chronicles 24:5
states that the "Levites did not act at once," prompting the king to summon Jehoiada to question
him and promulging an even wider call to everyone in the kingdom to bring the tax Moses had
established while in the wilderness.
Despite his public endorsement of the Jewish religion, it is noteworthy that when giving
the first command, Joash referred to the temple as "the temple of your God" (New International
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Bible, 1978/2011, 2 Chronicles 24:5). This is the first sign of spiritual risk in the king's life.
Unlike David, who addresses God as "my God" (Psalm 22:1), suggesting a personal, intimate
relationship, Joash maintained a distance between God and himself. Phipps & Shelton (2020)
note that many researchers have demonstrated that "a leader's individual spirituality affected
his/her spiritual behavior toward subordinates"… and that spiritual exercises such as self-
awareness, self-giving, self-sacrifice, and self-understanding "affected their organizational
leadership, including decision-making" (p. 2144).
According to Maxwell (2002), one of the laws of leadership is that people tend to attract
others like themselves. After Jehoiada's death, "the officials of Judah came and paid homage to
the king, and he listened to them. They abandoned the temple of the Lord" (New International
Bible, 1978/2011, 2 Chronicles 24:17-18a). Based on Maxwell's law, one could conclude that
Joash attracted those like him—people who did not serve the God of Judah.
Jehoiada: A Single Point of Management Failure
Managing risk at a strategic level is a team effort. The complexities of risk management
are such that it requires a team of managers (Wright, 2017). Sadly, there is no indication that
Jehoiada shared the responsibility of managing Joash's and the kingdom's spiritual risk, even
though he also managed the Levites, oversaw the reconstruction of the temple, and ensured the
daily sacrifices took place (New International Bible, 1978/2011, 2 Chronicles 24:6, 12, 14). The
Bible mentions Zechariah, Jehoiada's son. Still, there is no evidence that he was brought in to
advise the king during his father's lifetime, even though he was old enough to be used by God to
prophesy against the people of Judah (2 Chronicles 24:20).
It is possible that because of all his many responsibilities, Jehoiada overlooked Joash's
issues with his faith, although not likely since he had mentored him from childhood. According
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to Stulz (2022), Jehoiada's lone ranger approach to risk management ensured a failure to consider
the king's known spiritual risk and monitor it. Further, he failed to share the risk with other top-
level advisors. Likewise, Joash's lack of proper management of his spiritual risk led to a
nationwide rejection of God, provoking God's judgment. As king, he was ultimately responsible
before God for his spiritual life and that of the people, modeling humility through the daily study
of the word (New International Bible, 1978/2011, Deuteronomy 17:18-20).
Conclusion
Spirituality and risk are complex terms to define. This paper defines spiritual risk as the
process by which an individual distances himself from God, intellectually and emotionally,
rejecting Biblical morals and values by breaking God's commandments. Despite his façade, King
Joash exhibited signs of spiritual risk. His lack of personal spiritual relationship with God led
Judah to destruction. Jehoiada, Joash's chief priest, and mentor, failed to adequately address and
manage the king's spiritual risk, failing to include other trusted individuals.
Effective spiritual risk management requires a comprehensive approach that brings
people closer to God. Leaders must be attentive to their spirituality and proactively manage and
mitigate risks, seeking guidance and support from trusted advisors and mentors. Ultimately,
spiritual risk management is a shared responsibility that necessitates divine-human collaboration,
open communication, and deep humility. By holistically and proactively addressing spiritual risk,
leaders can contribute to the well-being and flourishing of individuals and the communities they
serve.
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