It’s surreal to see an officer of the law with his knee on the neck of another human being, and watching the poor man die before our eyes. Such was the case in Minneapolis recently, when a police officer took the life of a black man.
There are those who are calling this a cold act of murder, and others who would ask why an officer would deliberately do such a thing with so many cameras rolling. They would say this was a tragic case of manslaughter—that this officer had used this standard procedure many times with no harm. Perhaps it was common for those held down in such a way to complain that they couldn’t breathe, when they could.
How we so need a revival of Christianity! This is because the fruit of true repentance and faith in Jesus is a love for and an honor of all men. This would mean that the police treat criminals with honor, because they are made in the image of God. And society would honor the police because they are ordained by God to see that justice is done.
Grief Freeway
There is an area of freeway that daily gives me grief. I enter it every morning and have only a short distance to get across three lanes (I’m sure it was designed by a man whose brother-in-law was an undertaker). As I go from 30 mph to 70 mph in seconds, the speed differential is very evident. It takes me about one long minute to adjust to the speed of the traffic flow.
And as I jostle to get into the lane at what seems like 90 mph, I am thinking, Please let me in. Does anyone care? Somebody feel sorry for me!
If ever there was a need for the Golden Rule, it is when we are entering the freeway—to treat others as we would like to be treated. That’s the fruit of a genuine revival. The officer of the law will treat the criminal as he would like to be treated. Empathy would always be present.
When I look at the world with all its problems, I can’t help but feel overwhelmed when I pray. And it certainly is overwhelming, until we look to the greatness of our God and realize that with Him, nothing is impossible. By His grace we can see this nation turned around, healed both of its plagues and the sin that plagues all of us.