......There are many reasons police officers get into the mindset of us vs. the rest of the world.  I did not want to get into that mind set.....

Jack, Continued:

I was active in our church.  I taught Sunday School, I often spoke from the pulpit and at organizations; I was on the Deacon Board and other volunteer positions during my career as a police officer.  I never felt the distrust of my friends. 

Jack helped me sort through the comments and was a rock for me, as I had to develop my skills and abilities as an officer.  He assured me that it didn’t have to be the way I was hearing and that he too had been so informed, but he also had many friends outside the department.  When I went to the classrooms and discussed law enforcement as a career, the one thing I emphasized repeatedly, was to develop interest outside the department.  Balance your life between work and other interests.  While they and I would have many friends in law enforcement, it was important to continue activities outside work and keep a proper perspective.

Jack was my role model, while I strived to be as solid as him, it did not always happened; more than once I would let my emotions get the best of me, and while I didn’t curse, I would express myself in unsavory terms.  I am sure there were times I was an embarrassment to him, but he was always there for me.

Jack was a good police officer.  He was known, liked and respected throughout our area because not only did he retain his solidity with his religion, but he also did a good job as an officer.  He handled people (citizens, suspects and fellow officers) well and he was a skilled and effective officer.  Just one of his strong points was his observation skills.  That man noticed everything.  Many people have good observation skills, but his were phenomenal.

Jack’s minister and I belonged to the same Toastmaster’s Club.  Once he asked me if Jack ever let down.  I asked him what he meant.  He told me Jack had just come back from his vacation and was telling him how he had located a stolen vehicle.  Jack was driving over Satus Pass on Highway 97 in Washington when he noticed some tire marks going over the shoulder and into a deep canyon.  He stopped and checked it out; sure enough there was a car down there.  He contacted the State Patrol at the first opportunity and met them at the scene. 

It was a stolen vehicle that had been pushed over the edge and into the ravine.  It had been there for several days.  Jack was the first person that had noticed the tracks, even though this is a very busy road.   This is a major arterial north and south for Washington.  Thousands of cars and trucks as well as several law enforcement officers had traveled that road during the time the car was in the ravine.  Only Jack saw the marks.  He was on vacation, off duty and not even in his jurisdiction.  I had to tell his minister that police officers were never off duty, but Jack had those incredible observation skills and he just could not help it.

What made Jack a good Christian also made him a good cop, he lived his life to meet the professional standards of both and never let his guard down.  As a police officer we are never off-duty (even today, having been retired for 18 years, I still think like a cop) just as we are never off-duty as a Christian.  We don’t let our Christian life down when we are on vacation.

Mark 7:5-9  Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?

⁶ He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

⁷ Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

⁸ For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.

⁹ And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

So what is tradition, how do we determine God’s Commands are not a part of our traditions?  We look tradition up in the dictionary and we find the following definitions:

noun

1. the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, information, etc., from generation to generation, especially by word of mouth or by practice:

a story that has come down to us by popular tradition.

2. something that is handed down:

the traditions of the Eskimos.

3. a long-established or inherited way of thinking or acting:

The rebellious students wanted to break with tradition.

Many traditions bind us together as a people or family – many years ago we decided our family would have our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve.  Activity during Christmas day is hectic with 4 children it was an active time and one that was at times stressful.  By having our dinner on Christmas Eve we were able to take all the stress out of Christmas Day.  We had leftovers to eat and no one was under any pressure of getting something done.  That tradition has continued through the years and now my children include it in their Christmas celebration.

Traditions are not necessarily a bad thing, even the tradition the Jews had of washing ones hands before eating was important, it helped kill germs passing from their hands to the food and then to the body.

But it wasn’t just washing of the hands that were required, but how they washed, when they washed.  Washing their hands was a symbol of washing away the world and making themselves clean.  It became so entrenched in their culture that failure to do so was eating with defiled hands.

The reasonable hygiene became law, everyone must wash before they eat or they could be guilty of committing a sin and could be excommunicated for failing to observe that tradition.

This, as we read on, was basically one of many traditions that the Jewish leaders used to dominate the congregations.  These traditions became commandments that were equal to the commandments of God.  The failure to observe them was as serious as the disobeying God’s commandments and punishable by the leaders.  It wasn’t just the tradition of washing hands Jesus was condemning, but the mindset of the demand that the congregation must honor these and many other man made traditions as if they were God given. 

We can get caught up in the same kind of things, a person is religious only if they wear their hair a certain way, only if they wear certain clothing, only if they talk a certain way, there are so many things we place on ourselves – and expect others to ‘obey’ that are not scriptural.  In of themselves they may not be wrong, but when we condemn others for not following our traditions we are wrong.

There are many traditions we have within our own Christian lives that are a benefit, but if others choose not to follow them that doesn’t make them an apostate of Christianity.

Why we do something is important to us, but may mean nothing in the scheme of things with God.  IF we place those traditions on the same level of God’s commands we are no better than the leaders of the Jews 2000 years ago – and His people can be led away from the true Word of God with these ‘commands of man.’

Fortunately we have some guidelines that we can follow.  First what does the Bible say about our traditions?  Second does it actually say that, or are we interpreting it so we look more righteous, more dedicated? – We need to study the Word and prove that was God’s intent.

Do we have traditions so that we can condemn others for not following them?  Are we being critical of another’s commitment to Christ by finding fault with their failure to recognize our traditions?

Many fraternal organizations have passwords or key wording that is known only to the members, secret handshakes, secret rituals are all a tradition for that organization.  As Christians we have to be careful that we don’t do that with our Christian organizations where only those that are willing to perform certain non-God command rituals can be included.

We don’t necessarily wish to cast out traditions from the church or our own lives.  It helps with clarity of purpose; everyone has an expectation and comfort from traditions.  We just need to make sure that traditions are not interfering with our live in Christ.

Jesus made it clear that elevating traditions, as if equal to the commandments of God, to define righteousness is wrong.  What God wants is a pure heart that is dedicated to serving Him.  Jesus points that fact out by giving examples of things that God considers a defilement of man.

Mark 7:21-23 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,

²² Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:

²³ All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

As Christians we must be more concerned with the heart and far less concerned with external appearances.  Yes, some things are important, they show respect and we expect courtesy and respect to be an important part of our lives in Christ.  But they should not reach the point that the outward appearance we show the world is more important than obeying God.

1 Thessalonians 2:10 Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe:

I am reminded of the stories of two similar churches – stories that are often repeated in one way or another throughout the world.

In one a man come into the sanctuary wearing bib overalls.  Back then every man was expected to come in their Sunday best.  They were to wear a dress shirt, tie and suit, or jacket and slacks, shoes should be shined.  It was tradition and to not dress like that showed disrespect AND a lack of commitment to God.

The next Sunday the man came back wearing his bib overalls.  They were clean and the best he had – one of the elders came in and sat next to him, wearing his bib overalls.

In the second one, a man came in not wearing a suit but casual wear and was taken aside and told that what he was wearing was not acceptable in this church.  He was not to come into the sanctuary wearing that clothing.

Both churches had traditions, while the one realized that the person was more important than the tradition, the other placed tradition over welcoming the person.

And yes, I agree that sometimes a standard of dress must be maintained so over-reveling clothing or inappropriate messages on t-shirts, etc. are not worn in our services – but even these things can be dealt with in a manner that shows a desire to help these individuals, not cast them out.

While this is not such a big issue in most churches today, it was at one time – especially in the 1960’s and 1970’s when young men and women were being rebellious and wearing non-traditional clothing as a statement against the traditions of their parents and their churches.

It is important to show respect, both to God and to our fellow worshipers, but may we never forget that looking at the heart of a person and helping them either find or grow in Christ is far more important than requiring them to meet the ‘traditions’ of the church.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again