READ: MALACHI 2
“Listen to me to make up your minds and honor my name,” says the Lord of Heavens Armies, “or I will bring a terrible curse against you. I will even crush the blessing you receive. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you have not taken my warnings to heart.” (V. 2)
Establishing a relationship of trust with the community is an absolute essential for any police agency. While not a written covenant, the relationship is based upon the expectation the police will protect and serve their respective communities with honor, integrity, respect, faithfulness and professionalism. It is this bond of trust that enables the department to move freely within the community to maintain public safety. This relationship ebbs and flows over time, but like a successful marriage, open meaningful communications, sacrifice and mutual respect keep the bond on a firm footing. However, this footing will begin to crack when those entrusted with the power to arrest people or take lives, begin to engage in sustained patterns of official misconduct. In my police experience, well-established trust would over shadow random incidents of misconduct provided they were immediately acknowledged and corrected. The opposite reaction occurs place when misconduct is condoned, downplayed and even hidden. This results in a broken dysfunctional public safety relationship. Both the department and community lose, with rebuilding taking years. Community based policing is only effective when harmony and trust are maintained—the way God intended!
In my humble opinion, one of the major themes running through the Old Testament could be summarized in one word—Broken! Time and again the Israelites violated the covenant God had established with his “chosen people.” This mutual agreement, symbolized by the Ten Commandments, assured the people of God’s favor, blessings and protection if they would be obedient to His commandments and laws—none more important than honoring the “Great I AM!” He never intended it to be more complicated—honor me and I will take care of you, my children. But over and again they fell prey to their own sinful desires and openly abandon their trust in God. What is even more troubling is that it was not just a few people, but an entire nation, from political leaders to the priests, who advocated and authorized the break-up of this sacred relationship. God’s anger and punishment followed each period of disobedience until he went quiet for 400 years between Malachi and Matthew. Enter Jesus, who took away the sins of the world. A gift of God’s unsurpassed mercy, grace and love for a broken people!
PAUSE FOR REFLECTION AND PRAYER
Where have you, or are you living in a current broken relationship with God? It’s never too late to initiate the reconciliation process—Jesus is patiently waiting!
Dear God, thank you for loving me even when I have broken my trust with you.