The Parable of the ‘Policeman’

Years ago, I was part of an interdenominational faith group that committed to outreaches in local communities. One of our fiery and ‘no-nonsense’ leaders had declared that the whole group embarks on a week-long prayer and fasting for empowerment and spiritual rejuvenation.

On what would be the second day of the exercise, I together with another friend, decided we were taking that day off and skipping the fasting. Hence, we dashed into a local eatery in an obscure place, close to where we were having our state-wide event.

Just while we tucked our heads into the main door of the eatery, guess who we saw? – Our fiery and ‘always perfect’ leader. He was seated comfortably with a mighty portion of cassava meal and vegetable soup garnished by assorted meats on his table.

You could imagine his reaction when he saw us – alarmed, to say the least. His right hand shacking profusely and the morsel of cassava meal he held tightly almost dropping back into the bowl of soup, he struggled to say ‘praise the Lord’.

Standards are great; they help us to live higher than our individualized opinion of what is right. One core element of standards however is impartiality. Meaning, if it’s good for the geese, it should be good for the gander.

It’s sheer hypocrisy to hold others to standards that we would blatantly flout. There is no point policing others while we remain ungovernable.

If we would be quick to haul stones at others at their slightest crossing of the lines, then we better be saints ourselves – perfect and ever-right. Otherwise, we should expect projectiles of rocks and boulders in our direction.

Not to say that all policemen don’t comply with standards and rules; the point here is once we take on that noble assignment of enforcing standards, they must be realistic standards and we must also be ready to live by the core principles of those standards.

We cannot make ourselves standards for things that we would not live by.

#blessed2017