Author: Lt. Nate Downs – Holly Springs Police Department, NC
Lately, my local church has been teaching from the book of James in the Bible. If you are familiar with this book of the Bible then you know that the author, James, doesn’t hold any punches. He is very matter-of-fact and to the point. He is calling out those who call themselves followers of Jesus to act as such. Not to live a double life but rather one that shows a prioritization of Jesus. James will go on to say in this book that our actions and the fruit of our lives are indicative of what we take in. I’ve heard it said this way before “crap goes in and crap comes out”. Logic would say that the opposite is true as well. In other words, if you are constantly surrounded by negative people or surrounded by pain and suffering then your personality will become more and more negative and you are more likely to battle hard things in this life with little to no hope. Conversely, if you are surrounding yourself with positive people and things that put a smile on your face and uplift you then you will tend to have a better attitude and be more pleasant to be around.
In James 3:7-10 we read “For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it, we bless our Lord and Father, and with it, we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.” Here, James is pointing out that the tongue cannot be tamed and controlled unlike every other animal in the world. He further says that our tongues can cause metaphorical death and that we are being two-faced by praising and cursing with the same breath. The tongue is such a small body part but it can cause so much harm. He concludes this section with a statement that this is not how it should be and not how it was designed from the very beginning.
So what do we make of this? How can we change this? Jump back to James 1:19 “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;”. In reading this verse, we should listen to understand others not responding quickly with our tongues or out of anger. I would submit that we should further check our motives in responding to others so as to not seem prideful or pious but rather encouraging and uplifting to others. We should be taking good things into our bodies so that good fruit will follow. To clarify, we should be reading the Bible daily, praying to God continuously, and surrounding ourselves with others who know and love Jesus. By doing so and with the right motives our actions and the fruit that we produce will not only be pleasing to others but more importantly, will be pleasing to God.
You’re probably asking yourself what is the application to me and my chosen profession, Law Enforcement. Whether we are on call for service, traffic stop, community event, or at the station we use our mouths. We have to talk and articulate well in our job to clear the call or calm the situation, save a life and go home at the end of the shift. The citizens in our respective communities don’t have the same responsibilities that we do every day. They can be that two-faced person we read about in James. We however don’t have that luxury. We have to be bigger in those situations where we are being slandered and threatened. As Christians, we control our tongues not for the people or ourselves but rather to please the Lord. One thing I implemented a long time ago was saying a quick prayer while I was enroute to a call. A simple prayer-“God, please give me the words and ability to honor and please you with my thoughts, words, and actions on this call that I am driving to.” We are not perfect and we may still slip here and there but remember that we have grace and mercy from Jesus who chose you and will hold you firm in His hand until he calls us home.
Category: Spiritual Read