READ: JOHN 3: 1-21
“Just as though you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the spirit. (V. 8)
The calls for service increased dramatically as the population of the DC Metropolitan Area grew exponentially. The department, where I worked, responded by requesting more personnel, vehicles, and better technology to meet the daily crisis of handling more calls than available resources would permit. However, we were not the lone wolf trying to meet the need for enhanced services fueled by the never-ending influx of people into the county. Schools, the fire service, courts, corrections, transportation and roads were also feeling the “people strain” that outstripped their resources. Finally, the realization slowly began to sink in—we needed to rethink and possibly reinvent the basic methods by which we delivered our services to the public.
We struggled with the process. The older members of the Command Staff, whom some would unfairly consider the “Pharisees of Law Enforcement,” were skeptical and seemingly resistant to any new ideas. They were suspicious of the new methodologies such as Community/Team Policing which emphasized officer and community based cooperative problem solving. Some felt these were simply academic solutions and theories that had no practical street time exposure. Teams and officers who were empowered to develop and implement strategic solutions were a perceived a threat to the traditional command and control structure of the department. Once they realized the use of modern words were simply a rephasing of how the Beat Officers traditionally operated—they had a personal relationship with the people they served; accepted responsibility for dealing with public safety problems; and took direct action they deemed best for each situation—rejection gave way to acceptance. The transition to better policing had begun, and this sea change was producing positive results. We had learned to work smarter by thinking and acting “outside the box!”
Nicodemus, a prominent teacher and Pharisee, came to Jesus at great risk to have his mind and heart opened to the truth of God. Surely, he could have stayed quite comfortable and safe by keeping his thoughts and actions within the existing “box of religious thought.” Instead, convinced he was an important spiritual truth, he sought an encounter with Christ that forever and dramatically changed his life. Perhaps it’s time we take the “Nicodemus Risk” and begin to think outside of our worldly thought boxes–these encourage us to think only of ourselves at the expense of our personal relationship with Jesus.
PAUSE FOR REFLECTION AND PRAYER
When and where do you need to begin thinking outside the box? Jesus is patiently waiting to open your minds and hearts.
Jesus, open my heart to accept the changes that only you can bring to my life.