Faith isn’t supposed to be blind, and as cops, we already live that reflects the evidential perspective of the Christian worldview. Like the earliest Christians, we weigh evidence, test witnesses, and draw reasonable inferences from facts. Christianity doesn’t ask us to turn off our investigative nature; it rests on the same evidential principles we’ve used our entire careers. The New Testament presents itself as eyewitness testimony and repeatedly calls people to think, evaluate, and test what they hear.
We don’t file cases on a hunch; we build them with evidence, reports, interviews, timelines, and corroboration. Scripture invites the same kind of examination. The Bible’s description of faith should resonate with us as investigators and detectives. Christians are called to:
- Use our heads instead of living like “unreasoning animals” (Jude 4, 10).
- Love God with our mind as well as heart and soul (Matthew 22:37-38).
- Examine the miracles of Jesus so we can “know and understand” who He is (John 10:37-38).
- Recognize that God has “furnished proof” to all men by raising Jesus from the dead (Acts 17:30-31).
- Appreciate the fact that the risen Jesus offered “many convincing proofs” to His followers (Acts 1:2-3).
- Follow the model of Paul who “reasoned” with people from the Scriptures and his own eyewitness experience (Acts 17:2-3).
- Readily “examine everything carefully” and “test the spirits” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21; 1 John 4:1).
That’s investigative language. It assumes we can and should check the claims before we trust them. As investigators, we recognize that not everyone takes the time to investigate the evidence before trusting a claim, and we typically see three different approaches to truth and evidence every day on the job:
- Unreasonable faith – Believing despite the evidence.
- Like the suspect who clings to an alibi even though it’s been thoroughly disproven by video, GPS, and phone records.
- Blind faith – Believing without evidence.
- Like the citizen who swallows a social media rumor without a single verification.
- Reasonable faith – Believing because of the evidence.
- Like the conclusions we sign our name to in a report or testify to in court, based on the totality of facts.
Biblical Christianity is in that third category. The Bible makes evidential claims—eyewitness accounts, historical details, and events that can be tested against history, archaeology, and prophecy. This means it’s possible for skeptical, “prove it to me” cops to embrace the claims of Christianity without having to ignore our evidential impulses. I, for one, found this incredibly comforting.
Our training equips us to distinguish between direct and circumstantial evidence, evaluate eyewitnesses for consistency and hidden agreement, and assemble a powerful cumulative case. We can take that approach to the case for Christianity. The Gospels present themselves as eyewitness accounts that can be tested internally and externally, and their claims about Jesus can be weighed against alternative explanations like myth, conspiracy, or hallucination—just as we’d weigh competing theories in a homicide.
We’re not asked to “take a leap.” We’re asked to follow the evidence where it leads, even if it disrupts our prior assumptions. Many officers who’ve taken the time to seriously examine the case for Christianity have discovered that the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus and the reliability of the New Testament is at least as strong as evidence we’ve used to send people to prison for life. We’re not asked to 'take a leap.' We’re asked to follow the evidence where it leads, even if it disrupts our prior assumptions. Share on X
So, here’s the point: “faith” in Christianity is not about closing our eyes and jumping. It’s placing our trust in the best explanation of the evidence—something we already do every time we reach a justified conclusion on a case. The Christian life is rational and reasonable, rooted in a real resurrection and a trustworthy historical record, and officers who become Christians don’t stop being investigators; they become “case makers” for their families, partners, and the culture they serve.
If you’ve written off Christianity as blind faith, it might be time to reopen the file and work it with the same skill set you bring to every serious investigation. There is no better time than now to embrace the source of all truth. The guidance and protection of God is available for anyone who seeks Him.