And He said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” (Mark 16:15)
“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me.’” (Isaiah 6:8)
As I shared above, our annual Police Week mission in DC is in fact a God-sent one. But my hope for this short devotion/study is to impress on every believer (meaning a Christian as God alone gets to define it) here the importance of answering God’s call and marching orders right where you’re at. And the “Send me!” call can be broken down into a “who, what, when, where and how” police report format.
First, it is vital that you understand that the Great Commission (the what) is not the “little suggestion”, nor is it “optional” for Christians (the who). On the contrary, it is a command from God Himself to every genuine believer to “go!” Go where/do what? Go put your faith into action! Share your faith with the lost (the second part of who) now (the when) right where (where) you’re at and while the unsaved are still alive and able to “repent and believe” (Mark 1:15 – and there is nothing we can do for those who have already passed – Hebrews 9:27). Disciple (Christian mentorship, biblical field training) new believers. Radically live out your faith. Again, ours (law enforcement) is a true mission field and it can’t just be OK to not bring backup when so many are literally going to hell. Please take the time to explore this short, wholly biblical article from our friends at All About God Ministries: Understanding the Great Commission.
Secondly, one of the common quotes on t-shirts during Police Week is Isaiah 6:8 (“…Here am I; send me”). But here’s the deal: it is not about what we do as cops (any more than Matthew 5:9/“Blessed are the peacemakers” is about police work). So, what is the proper (biblical, “God says…” and not my “opinion”) application?
Isaiah 6 describes how the prophet Isaiah, through a vision from the Lord, begins his ministry (service) for God. In the vision, the Lord asks, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” (Isaiah 6:8a). Isaiah’s response was to volunteer for service: “Here am I; send me” (verse 8).
Clearly, the Lord had a message to deliver to the nation of Judah, and He expresses His desire for a messenger in verse 8. Isaiah’s exclamation “Here am I; send me” marked the very beginning of his ministry; the priest was now a prophet, and the Lord’s message for Judah eventually became the book of Isaiah.
Before Isaiah could say, “Here am I; send me,” he had a problem (part of the why) that had to be addressed. Isaiah 6:5 describes how Isaiah was made aware of his own unworthiness (his sin): “Woe to me! . . . I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Standing in the Lord’s presence, Isaiah is made painfully aware of his sin, and he is broken about it in the same way as were Job (Job 42:6) and Peter (Luke 5:8) when they were confronted with the presence of the Lord. God was preparing Isaiah for his cleansing and commission (a word we cops understand).
After Isaiah acknowledges his sin, a seraph takes a burning piece of coal from the altar, touches Isaiah’s lips with it, and says, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6:7). Some why details are important here: Isaiah could not remove his own guilt (sin); the atonement is made possible by the altar—the place of sacrifice—and the purification is specifically applied to the point of Isaiah’s sin—his lips—making Isaiah acceptable as a minister (servant) of God (the how). And (praise God), for us today that sacrifice was made for us by Jesus’ death on the cross.
It is only after Isaiah is cleansed of his sin that he can rightly say, “Here am I; send me.” Prior to that point, he saw himself as an unworthy messenger; once he was forgiven, he immediately desired to serve the Lord in whatever way possible. And that should ring true for every genuine believer today. For us in law enforcement, answering God's call to be sent (including right where you're at) represents the ultimate in cops-serving-cops peer support Click To Tweet
Today the Lord is still asking, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”—He wants willing volunteers in His service—those who are willing to obediently be a grateful and enthusiastic Isaiah who doesn’t hesitate in taking the opportunity to answer God with a, “Here am I; send me.”
And for us in law enforcement, answering God’s call to be sent (including right where you’re at) represents the ultimate in cops-serving-cops peer support (go, tell, share, disciple, win, now).
Accordingly and in closing, it is again with a “Code 3” (lights and siren) sense of urgency that I implore you to be sure of where you stand today. Your eternal destination–ultimately heaven for genuine Christians, or hell for those who die having rejected Christ as Lord and Savior–depends on your answer and what you do next.
