| Soli Deo Gloria |
| "For the glory of God alone" |
| 06/20/09 - Church Security: Are we making you afraid? |
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Once I became a veteran police officer I was selected as a Field Training Officer (FTO), a position that I felt blessed to have because teaching is in my blood. The Police Field Training Program is where trained, experienced officers take new recruits that just graduated from the police academy and work with them for three or four months with other FTO’s until they are ready to be out on their own. It was interesting teaching new police recruits how to make the transition from being a civilian to being a police officer, especially in a city metro area like Chicago. Some rookies were easier to teach than others because of their experience in the military or some other prior position in security or corrections that made them more “savvy” than others recruits. But I always joked that for the first half of the new officer’s post-academy training you taught them the dangers that police officers face every minute they are on the job. You teach them that the nicest people they are dealing with can turn violent in an instant. But once you taught them “officer safety” and how to be “tactically sound”, you spent the second half of their training teaching them that not everyone is a homicidal maniac trying to kill them and how to learn to be at ease with the job so the stress didn’t kill them or they killed someone else. It was a strange balance between making them “aware” yet not being “fearful”. I tell you this story because I feel this is what we are trying to do at the Christian Security Network for all Christian churches and ministries. Churches in the U.S. have generally enjoyed being a place that society respected. I am not saying churches and Christian organizations have never been the target of crime, violence, or scandal in the past, but these days the church itself is seen as any other building by the criminals – an easy target where they may steal, vandalize, destroy or kill. The goal is now to make churches realize that there is risk every day, no matter the size, location, or denomination. It is like taking that rookie police officer and showing them a different world they are now part of, that they never experienced before – it is an awakening. However, some folks out there like to think that the Christian Security Network is peddling “fear” and trying to make people come to us by making them “afraid”. A recent blogger wrote how sad it was that organizations, like the Christian Security Network, exist and how we use tragic incidents to instill “fear” in Christians. Uh? First, if you are a Christian and you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior you shouldn’t fear anything in this world. Does anyone remember Hebrews 13:6 “So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”? Second, we don’t make up the incidents that happen every day in this country and in this world against Christians and Christian organizations. We just report it; this is what we do – make you aware because we believe that being informed is the first step in being prepared. Third, we don’t stress concentrating on shootings and other “sensationalized” incidents. Over and over again we tell churches and ministries that if they are focusing all their time and resources on how to deal with an incident like an “active shooter”, they are missing the point of being prepared. It is balancing ALL threats and risks and that someone is more likely to die in your church of a heart attack than an “active shooter”. I have stated this in interviews before, but it rings true to this point. C.S. Lewis once wrote about the human race and the devil (and I am paraphrasing), that people fall into two categories: those who completely deny the devil’s existence and those who obsess about it and neither one is good. We need to make sure we don’t take this approach about risks and threats – denial and obsession are both dangerous. That is why we speak about “balance” in approach. Listen to what God tells us in the Bible, foresee danger and plan ahead (Proverbs 22:3) but remember that even though we make plans, the Lord will determine our steps (Proverbs 16:9). Don’t be afraid; be prepared and trust the Lord. In Christ, Jeff Hawkins Executive Director |
