I was reading a story, sent to me by a friend, of a criminal coming up to and praying with a police officer.  http://www.9news.com/story/news/humankind/2015/09/16/humankind-excon-police-officer/32494059/

It reminded me of the victories I too saw in dealing with some of the criminals I arrested who came back and thanked me some prayed with me, or introduced me to their family showing pride in the reversal of their behavior.

It happens more than people realize.

To a Christian, being a police officer is more than just ‘being’ a police officer.  It is a calling, much like a minister’s, to serve God in this way.

Police officers are exposed to society’s worse; we deal with violence and crimes that can be heinous; we help those that are in need and do our best to protect them.  It is our job, but it is also what God is having us do in our lives, we are called to be police officers.

We go into places that others refuse to go – I can remember we had a suicidal man that barricaded himself inside an apartment with a family member.  He was threatening to kill himself, and though he wasn’t threatening to injure the family member, he also refused to let her leave.

This was in the early 1970’s, there was no formal training; training on dealing with mental people was by trial and error, by the seat of your pants and using your gut to figure out what you needed to do. 

The laws had changed where people who ‘acted out’ when they were off medication could no longer be forced to take that medication.  Mental institutions were being closed and these people who might have been controlled in that environment were released into communities that were ill prepared to deal with them.

We could only do what we could to help them; often times that meant they were taken to jail because there wasn’t anywhere else to take them – none of us believed that is where they necessarily belonged, but we didn’t have any of the resources that we have today.  

As time went on that day, it came to me that we had a public mental health agency, staffed with psychologists and counselors that might be able to help us.  We called them and requested they come to the scene and advise us – perhaps talking to the suicidal person.

At first they thought we were asking them to go inside and they refused saying it was too dangerous – that was our job.  When we explained that we just wanted their advice and any talking would be done by phone; we were told they don’t do that, but, when we get him into custody to call them and after he had calmed down they might be able to help him.

I don’t recall just how we did it, but we eventually took him into protective custody.  No one was injured.

Police officers are the first line of defense, they make decisions in seconds that others can’t make in hours and their decisions can be questioned and reviewed for years trying to decide if the officer was right or not.

Threats are made against not only them, but their families and many times the families suffer because of it.  Their children can be ostracized or even attacked by others because of their parent’s position.  Threats are made to spouses and they must endure the derision of the profession by neighbors and co-workers.

A Christian family has the comfort of knowing that God is there for them and for their police officer.  But it is still difficult for them to see the officer walk out the door, knowing that anything could happen that day and they might not come back.

That is true of every single officer, doesn’t matter the size of the department or community – he could be subjected to death at any time.  He is on the front line, he is vulnerable and he accepts the responsibility to protect others.

A Christian Police Officer is not perfect, and is subject to the same errors, same fears, same concerns as other officers, however, we also have the privilege of serving God in this capacity and seeing His miraculous works in others – others who society rejects and refuses to deal with.

It is a calling.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

¹⁴ For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

The author(s) of this book went through a litany of things that he had accomplished in his life and then realized it was for nothing.  All that he had would be left to another upon his death and he had no control of how it would be taken care of or what the recipient might do with it.

The whole book, all twelve chapters, can be summarized by these two verses.  It took his all his life to come to that conclusion and God has shared it with us to remind us that the only thing that is important to Him, is our obedience to Him.

Jesus basically said the same thing when asked:

Mathew 22:35-40 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,

³⁶ Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

³⁷ Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

³⁸ This is the first and great commandment.

³⁹ And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Now Jesus did not leave it with that.  He had proclaimed to the people of Israel and commanded them to proclaim to others that part of Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind included accepting Him as the Son of God, equal to God and through Him and Him only could they have eternal life.

Luke 22:69-70 Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God.

⁷⁰ Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am.

We can make a list of what Christians should do and what they should not do.  We can demand they follow certain creeds to show they are living a perfect and holy life.

But the bottom line, “the conclusion of the whole matter,” is not what we possess or not possess, how we dress or do not dress, or any other outward signs of piety, but it is our heart and our relationship with God, through Christ and the obedience of the Holy Spirit as He guides and directs us through this life.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again
Dad :-) to some, Art to the rest of ya!
Art :-) and Carla Labrousse
The Dalles, OR USA
http://www.fromcrg.com/index.html