This is a biblical look at the Warriors, Servants and Leaders of law enforcement. My goal here is to challenge you to find your own Holy Spirit-driven Warrior, Servant, Leader vision through prayer and the power that comes ONLY from being in a redeemed, born again relationship with Jesus Christ (and regardless of whether or not you serve in law enforcement). Our hope is that you'll come to understand and adopt the Warrior-Servant-Leader Code for your own life and live it out every day and in every way.
Warrior
The English term "warrior" was first used in the 14th century and denotes (per Webster) "A man engaged or experienced in warfare." The word has its origins in the old world word "werre", meaning war. Thus, historically, a warrior always referred to a soldier-like male fighting in a war.
In more modern times, a warrior has been defined as a person who fights in battles with courage and skill. Most people still think of a warrior as a modern day soldier or old world Samurai or knight. But a warrior is much more than these stereotypes.
Cops are Warriors! We fight battles, and the battles we fight are typically associated with "fighting crime". Fictional warriors, like Batman and Superman, are always hailed as "crime fighters" in the same way that we as LEOs are perceived as crime fighters.
Yet we are much more than that: in addition to fighting crime and chaos, we also fight battles often unspeakable battles within ourselves. The toughest battle is the one to not give up - on ourselves, on our communities and on our families. Fighting these battles can take a tremendous toll on a warrior -- like empathy, love, sorrow and hope.
We are expected to display courage and warriors skills (the product of years of ongoing training) as we fight these battles, protecting the innocent sheep from the wolves that would otherwise prey on them with impunity.
What we as warriors are not typically taught is how to live and work in a society that seems to have no clue about who we are or what we experience. We are not typically taught how to deal with our emotions at the scene of an infant death, caused by a drunk or high mother who rolled over their baby in their alcohol or drug-induced stupor. Rather, these skills must be learned by actually living the trauma. Clearly, being an unappreciated warrior is tough. [See You're Not a Cop Until You Taste Them]
The reality of police work is often long periods of extreme boredom, interrupted by moments of sheer terror. Television shows and movies seem fixated on the "running and gunning" part of policing while leaving out the countless hours of paperwork, sitting in the hallway of the courthouse and fighting to stay awake in a cruiser at 4:00 a.m. on a freezing cold, dark January night (nights when even the crack heads and prostitutes won't venture outdoors). Yet we are expected to remain vigilant and ready to spring into life or death action.
Yet it is not just on "the job" that we fight daily battles with courage and skill. Cops as parents are warriors as we fight the battles of raising and protecting our children. Cops and their spouses are warriors as we fight the battles against the forces trying to destroy our marriages. Yes, life behind the badge is tough.
Biblical View
Is there a biblical template for "warriorhood"? Oh yes there is! God's word in Exodus 15:3 declares that The LORD is a warrior; The LORD is His name. The NKV reads, "The LORD is a man of war. The word "man" here refers to the future incarnation of Christ who will come forth to conquer sin, Satan and the world. This "man" is the Lord of hosts -- the Commander in Chief of the armies in heaven and earth.
In truth, God's word is FULL of warrior analogies and here are but a few:
Isaiah 42:13 -- The LORD will go forth like a warrior, He will arouse His zeal like a man of war. A mighty warrior who will work through "My Servant" (Jesus Christ) to overcome all enemies.
Zephaniah 3:17 says, The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.
Isaiah 9:6 describes our Lord as EL-GIBHOR: "Mighty God". The name describing the Messiah, Christ Jesus, a powerful and mighty warrior, who will accomplish the destruction of His enemies and rule/judge with a rod [baton] of iron (Revelation 19:11-21).
Psalm 18!
Psalm 144:1 states, Blessed by the Lord my rock who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle.
Beyond this, God's word repeatedly uses warrior analogies to explain how He wants ALL of us to live our lives in Him: Fight the good fight, spiritual armor, spiritual warfare, etc.
Servant
The term public or civil servant typically refers to a government employee. In fact, a "servant" was often a slave (property) owned by a wealthy landowner who were often treated no better than (or worse than) the horses in the stable. For most folks, at least in the Western World, being a servant is not a badge of honor.
Yet for cops, being a servant is part of our duty as a "government employee" and "Protect and Serve" is one of most common police mottos.
Sadly, the stereotype of "servants" from the days of old is still alive and well today when it comes to cops. How many times have you heard the public we serve exclaim, "I pay your salary!"? Or how about, "I'll have your badge for this!" Tough to take? Sure, but being a servant should be a matter of attitude and not a phony platitude. Most of us will serve the public and their fellow officers because that is what we are at our core -- servant-warriors (all real leaders are first true servants).
Unfortunately, many cops fail to see this servant aspect of our calling. They just want to "run and gun", like the "Hollywood" cops of TV and movies. I have heard officers comment, "If I wanted to help people I would have become a firefighter or paramedic. My job is to put bad guys behind bars or in a box." To me, this is a sad and scary portrait of a peace officer. It is this very attitude that creates the animosity that exists between many citizens and the police and yet another reason we are so desperate for Christ.
Biblical View
The word servant in the Greek is diakonos. We get the word "deacon" from that. It has the same meaning as "minister" (Romans 13:1-4 -- "...a MINISTER (servant) for good and a terror against evil"). It is a word that had to do with low, menial service -- you would hire a deacon to clean up your yard, take away your trash, serve a meal, collect the garbage, and other jobs of that ilk. The word speaks of a guy who simply and willingly comes to serve.
There were words that had to do with a place of authority, but the word chosen by our Lord was this word -- "deacon" -- a person involved in menial, lowly service. God is looking for those who will serve with a deacon's heart.
Jesus, says in Matthew 20:24-28, And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave [bondservant]; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served [to be ministered to], but to serve [minister], and to give His life as a ransom for many."
Then we have the classic passage in John 13:1-17 where Jesus "took a towel" and washed His disciples' feet. Folks, understand that this is EXACTLY what our Lord is calling ALL of us to do -- to lead by SERVING others.
Leader
What is a leader? Is it anyone who has followers? You've heard the expression, "If you think you are leading and no one is following, you are just taking a walk." Some folks I know have hundreds, even thousands of "followers" on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Does that make them a leader? Or is it more than that?
Again, all true leaders are servants first. True leaders are not selfish, they are selfless. They think more about others and less about themselves. Cops are called to be true leaders (and understand that we are not talking about "positional leadership" [having rank] -- getting promoted up the ranks does not make a cop a true leader).
So what is test of real leadership? Former cop William Stanton Westfall put the test of real leadership into the form of 4 questions:
- Are you doing the right thing?
- Are you doing it at the right time?
- Are you doing it in the right way?
- Are you doing it for the right reasons?
Leaders answer these four questions and influence others to do the same.
Biblical View
Jesus says in Matthew 28:11, The greatest among you must be a servant. In addition, a careful review of Proverbs 29 reveals that God has clearly set forth the identifying marks of that righteous warrior-servant-leader in authority:
- Loves wisdom (v.3)
- Not sexually immoral (v.3)
- Rules with justice (v. 4)
- Straight-forward without the use of flattery (v. 5)
- Keeps the law (not a transgressor) (vs. 6 & 18)
- Considers the cause of the poor (v. 7)
- Seeks ways to turn away wrath (v.8)
- Does not contend with foolish men (v. 9)
- Seeks the well-being of the blameless (v. 10)
- Does not give vent to his feelings (v. 11)
- Pays no attention to lies (v. 12)
- Understands that both the poor and the oppressor both were made by God (v.13)
- Judges the poor with truth (v. 14)
- Seeks to root out wickedness (v. 16)
- Corrects his own children (v. 17)
- Is careful (not hasty) in what he says (v. 20)
- Does not stir up strife (v. 22)
- Is humble in spirit (v.23)
- Will not be a partner with a thief (v. 24)
- Trusts in the Lord (v.25)
- Does not show favoritism (v. 26)
- Is upright in his ways (v. 27)
See also Biblical Leadership.
The Warrior-Servant-Leader Code
- One of our goals here is to encourage the development of your own biblical "Warrior-Servant-Leader Code" regardless of your position (employee, parent, minister, cop).
I am a Warrior-Servant-Leader.
It is my duty in all that I do to Protect, Serve and Lead others with all my heart, mind and soul.
I will Protect with courage.
I will Serve with humility.
I will Lead with compassion.
In all my thoughts, words and actions I will ask myself: Am I doing the right thing? At the right time? In the right way? For the right reasons?
I will always strive to live up to my duty and not blame others when I fail.
I will always strive to grow in my knowledge, understanding and skills of being a true Warrior-Servant-Leader.
I am a Warrior-Servant-Leader.
What is your Code? Who is your Captain?
