To Live I Must Die...Say What?
/To Live I Must Die … Say What?
By: Chris Amos
There are protocols about police work that folks don’t understand, and their lack of understanding often leads to misunderstanding, even criticism, aimed at law enforcement officers and agencies. I suspect nothing is more misunderstood than leaving the deceased victim of a crime at the scene of the crime. We’ve all seen the sheets over bodies lying in the street. We’ve heard the chatter, “Why don’t the police remove the body.” It’s disrespectful to the family and traumatizing to the community, they claim, and perhaps it is. What these folks don’t understand is that the moment a victim is pronounced he or she becomes a part of a crime scene. Important evidence might be able to be recovered from a body at the scene that would have been compromised, or lost altogether, if that body was removed by funeral home employees; evidence that could possibly help lead to the identification, arrest and successful prosecution of the suspect responsible. Is an arrest and prosecution worth leaving a body at the scene? Once the “why” is explained to the families of the victim, the families I have dealt with have unanimously changed their opinions of the investigation procedures and the detectives calling the shots.
It is easy to dismiss, discredit or reject something we don’t understand. As mentioned, cops are on the receiving end of much unwarranted criticism rooted in misunderstanding and ignorance. It might surprise my fellows LEOs, but do you know who else receives even more unwarranted criticism and attacks? It’s Christians and the Christian faith we are committed to following, and if you happen to be a Christian cop, you may experience attacks both in-house and by the general public. Now I’ll admit there are those “Christians” who act like anything but, but like bad cops they, if they are Christians at all, are the exception and not the rule. The reality is Christians are an easy and politically correct target for unrelenting criticism and attack. Why? Because folks don’t understand why we do what we do.
Granted, parts of the Christian faith seem to contradict themselves or provide very perplexing paradoxes. Like more than a few policies, procedures and general orders I have had to sign during my 27-year law enforcement career. What are a few of these Christian paradoxes? If you want to be exalted, you must humble yourself. If you want to rule, you must serve. If you want to be first, you must be last. If you want to be strong you must acknowledge your weakness. And perhaps the most confusing of all Christian paradoxes, if you want to live you must die. The head scratching part of a paradox is that while the statement seems to contradict itself, it is 100% true. Years ago, my wife and I went to Israel. We called our kids after midnight Israel time. Israel is about seven hours ahead of our time in the US. My son asked us what day of the week it was. I said Thursday. My son said “No, it’s Wednesday.” I explained the change of time, to which Jesse replied, “So your today is our tomorrow.” A paradox.
To understand much of the Christian faith, we must come to grips with three truths, otherwise Christianity will continue to be misunderstood, and Christians continue to be attacked as intolerant, homophobic, insensitive, hatemongers, etc. I might be talking to an LEO who has this very opinion of Christians. If that describes you, hear me out on this. The three truths are simple to read. Not so easy to embrace and accept as truth:
1) God’s wisdom is infinite (unlimited), ours is VERY finite (limited). God knows things about life, justice, and the future that we know nothing of, unless He chooses to reveal it to us. He has revealed much through His heart and mind, aka the Bible. Similarly, a LEO knows much more about policing than that arm chair quarterback that has just binge watched PD Live. Psalm 147:5, Isaiah 55:8-9
2) The ONLY Way to understand the paradoxes of the Christian faith is through spiritual discernment. “Live PD,” “COPS” and Scared Straight are not sufficient substitutes to a six- to eight-month police academy, three months with a Field Training Officer and years of personal experience. If we try to understand the Christian faith and its many paradoxes with our natural minds, I promise you it will not make sense. We must seek spiritual discernment if we ever hope to understand spiritual truths. This is what Jesus was referring to when He repeatedly prayed that His audience would have, “ears to hear and eyes to see”. 1 Corinthians 2:14
3) God gains pleasure using the foolish, humble and weak to CONFOUND the wise, proud and powerful. If I’ve heard someone describe my choice to be a cop as being due to my inability to get a real job once, I’ve heard it a thousand times. LEOs are too dumb, too inarticulate, too simple-minded to pursue a truly meaningful career, like say a defense attorney….NOT! God often uses the most unsuspecting sources to teach some of His greatest lessons. That source may be the partner sitting next to you, the detective working a homicide case, or maybe just maybe the janitor cleaning your locker room. 1 Corinthians 1:25-28
The bottom line, friend, is if you are quick to dismiss the Christian faith maybe, just maybe, it has less to do with Christianity, and more to do with your own misperceptions and falsely based assumptions. Ask God to help you understand, expect Him to, and prepare to have eyes to see and ears to hear. Be safe my friends, and praying I’ll see you at the finish line.
