Beyond the red and blue lights
More than 20 years ago when I was an Auxiliary Constable with the RCMP a small group of police were sitting in a restaurant having coffee when a gentleman approached me at the table.
I was in full uniform. He asked if I had a brother who was a pastor at a church in Kelowna. I said, “No, I don’t have any brothers.”
His next question was hilarious. He said, “Are you sure?”
I said, “Yes sir, I’m sure I don’t have any brothers.”
As he turned to walk away he said, “Boy, there’s a pastor here in town looks just like you.” Somehow he could not bring himself to see past the uniform.
Failure to look beneath the surface is one of the more dangerous maladies of our day. Once we have put someone in a category, once we have labelled them, it becomes an almost insurmountable challenge to get beyond that label. They become “those people,” or “the cops,” or “the homeless,” or “the politicians,” or you name it. We see only the label not the person beneath it.
I am underscoring a principle stated in the Older Testament of the Bible. It reminds us that people tend to only look on the outward appearance but God always looks at the heart. The past 10 days on the Cops For Kids ride was a vivid reminder for me that the men and women who police our streets are not just “the cops.” They are moms and dads, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters and neighbors. More times than I could count I watched big, tough policemen wipe tears from their eyes as they heard the stories of youngsters in medical distress. More times than I could count I watched cops down on their knees sharing High 5’s or hugs with little ones. Then, upon the return home I watched as the children of these men and women came running, arms outstretched, shouting, “Mommy’s home, Daddy’s home.”
Even with all the involvement I have had with the police over the years it seems almost surreal for me to imagine that the cop hugging a child last week might be facing an armed and dangerous suspect this week.
The people we task with carrying out one of the most challening jobs in society are not just “the cops.” They are real men and women who not only need but deserve our full support. We ask them to deal with a segment of society that often refuses to abide by any of the norms or standards common to the rest of us. We ask them to “play by the rules” while dealing with people who have no rules. We of course, look the other way while they do it not wanting to face the impossible position into which we place them.
I am not for a second suggesting that we don’t hold our police to an incredibly high standard. We do and we should. What I am suggesting is that we give them our full support while they do what most people would never have the courage to do. They aren’t just “the cops.” They are real people charged with incredible responsibility and I for one am honored to consider many of them my friends.
To all of you in uniform, behind the red and blue lights, “God bless you and keep you safe while you do everything in your power to keep the rest of us safe.”
Tim Schroeder is pastor at Trinity Baptist Church in Kelowna.