Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.” Luke 3

The Bible has instructions for Gospel-Grounded Policing

Here, John the Baptist is confronting both the actions and attitudes behind ancient soldiering/police abuses.

In light of the gospel, policing could NOT be carried on as usual.

First John addresses the abuses themselves starting with the most physically intrusive ones.

Do not extort money “by threat.” (see 8th & 6th commandments). The gospel demands that people be treated humanely while under the authority of officers. Stop hurting people physically.

Second, John addresses false accusations. (see 9th commandment) False accusations are a way of criminalizing the innocent.

John is saying, the gospel demands that you stop criminalizing people and stop setting people up to justify abuse.

Finally, John addresses attitudes behind police abuse.(see 10th commandment)

After stopping physical harm as a 1st priority, the gospel calls us to address the heart that would tempt us to abuse people. Deal with the greed & lust for power that makes you treat people this way.

There is a race, class, and gender impact to these matters.

The socially vulnerable i.e. poor, enslaved, female, or foreigner/non-citizen were especially susceptible to police abuse because they had no social protection or recourse. John’s instructions protected the vulnerable.