The news of late has been rather negative toward those who serve in law enforcement, often highlighting alleged abuses of power. This in turn exacerbates existing distrust among some communities toward those who wear the badge, causing them to believe there is a concerted effort to target them because of superficial and irrelevant characteristics such as skin color. Lately, we have witnessed the heartbreaking murders of law enforcement officials in premeditated attacks – often ambushes when the officer’s guard is down. Sadly, these stories have been leading the news cycles while other stories – ones that demonstrate the true nature of most interactions between officers and civilians – have been largely ignored. Let me share one such story with you. Recently, in a small town in Louisiana, an older couple was caught speeding along a rural highway. They happened to zip by Deputy Sheriff Jackie Loveless, who was doing traffic control at the time. When he pulled them over, the couple was concerned because he spent what seemed like a long time in his car before he approached theirs. After the usual traffic stop small talk (“How are you?” and “Do you know why I stopped you today?”), the lady, Maxine Morgan, shared with the officer what had happened. She and her husband were on their way to a memorial service for their daughter, who had died just a few days earlier, and her mind was not on her speedometer. Upon learning this, the deputy did something the couple could not have expected – and something the media, at least at the national level, doesn’t quite know what to do with. He reached into the car, took the hand of the lady and her husband, and asked if he could pray with them (in fact, the reason he didn’t come to the car right away on the stop is because he was praying beforehand). Right there on the side of the Louisiana road, a deputy sheriff acting in his capacity as an agent of the state prayed with and for this grieving couple, and it blessed this couple in a mighty way during a time they needed it most.
I wanted to share this with you for a few reasons. First, I believe this represents the vast majority of interactions between police and civilians. Now, I’m not trying to suggest all officers are out there praying with the people they stop, because we know that isn’t the case. But I am saying the vast majority of what police do is positive and constructive, but it doesn’t receive the attention their mistakes do. Second, I wanted to highlight a man who was not only sensitive to the prodding of the Holy Spirit, but who was obedient to it as well. Deputy Loveless (Lovemore would probably be a better description!) said in response, “When the spirit of the Lord comes up to me to pray, I’m obedient to him and pray with that person.” He wasn’t afraid of what the Morgans would say in response to his offer and he wasn’t afraid of some group telling him he was violating the Establishment Clause; the Spirit said pray, and so he did. Finally, I wanted to challenge you (as this story has challenged me) to pray more, and to do so openly when the Spirit directs. I want to challenge all of us to be more like Daniel, who prayed to the Lord openly despite an edict by the king forbidding it (Dan. 6:1-28). Can you imagine what would happen in this nation if God’s people began to pray this way, with this boldness (Heb.4:16)? Just something to think about…
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