Mark Tabata’s Weekday Devotionals:
Tuesday March 31 2026
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Romans 13:7-Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.
Several years back, I had a friend (we will call her Anna, not her real name) who believed that West Virginia should completely defund the police. Now, to give a little context, Anna had been a victim of some corrupt local law enforcement. An officer had “recruited” her in the local jail to be involved in some illegal business activities. When she had gotten out of jail and become a Christian, she had left all of that behind. Well, the officer was not too happy about that lifestyle change! He had retaliated by pulling her over and planting a bag of dope in her car, getting her rearrested and getting hef parole revoked. She had been landed back in jail and had been in the court system again for quite a while before being released and reunited with her family (which was around the time that we had met and started studying the Word of God together).
Even though I could never fully empathize with everything that Anna had gone though, I could certainly understand her anger and frustration.
With that being said, would the solution to police corruption really be to get rid of all the police? After all, just because there are some corrupt police officers, we need to remember that there are many honorable and law-abiding ones!
What would our country be like without police officers?
In fact (in a sort of ironic example of this very point), I remember Anna exclaimed during one of our Bible studies, “All the cops should be arrested!” I responded, “If the police are defunded, who is going to arrest them?”
The Roman army in the first century was well known for having some very corrupt soldiers. When some came to John the Baptist to be baptized, they asked what they needed to do.
Luke 3:14-Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?” So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”
John didn’t say that there was no honor in their profession, and so they should just up and leave. Instead, he called them to bring more honor to their profession by settling down and treating others right. He exhorts them to be a source and example for goodness, and thereby shine as a beacon for the oppressed. If they were treating people badly, they needed to stop and start treating them as they should! Yes, there may be times when a person needs to up and leave a situation or profession (Matthew 10:22-23; Romans 16:17-18; Ephesians 5:11; 2 John 9-11); but there are other times to stay and keep making a difference for good.
Nor is this limited to local police officers. There are other agents that are honorable and should be commended as well (FBI, CIA, ICE, etc.).
Frankly, my knowledge of the existence of corrupt police officers makes me even more thankful for the presence of the good ones.
(Sadly, I am mindful right now of a friend who is a police officer that is in jail. I believe he was himself a victim of crooked police officers and a very corrupt system that treated him as a scapegoat. I don’t want to share his name but would ask you to please say a prayer for him and his family).
What are some ways that we can combat corruption in places like law enforcement? How can we encourage and honor those police officers and others who are trying to live right but may be disheartened? Can you think of some professions that a person should leave behind to follow Christ?
Father, grant us wisdom and a heart to serve. Help those who are suffering. Amen.