3:164 – Good Puppy, Bad Leadership

#faithbites #faithjourneh leadership

Setting

Are you familiar with the kids show, Paw Patrol? It’s about talking pups, each with a special ability, who live together and work for a human named Ryder and together they protect Adventure Bay. My kids loved that show. The leader of the pups, is a German Shepard named Chase, who is a police dog. Chase is a good pup who tries his best but often makes mistakes. He is counseled, supported, and given constructive feedback through excellent Leadership by Ryder.

You may wonder what this has to do with anything. Well, there is a movement, some sarcastic and some serious, to remove Chase and other police shows, because they show police on a good light.

I began to think hard about this. The individual police are usually not good or bad, it’s the leadership and organization around them that can make them bad or complacent. A bad cop can’t thrive if there is a good organization and good leadership.

Jesus, gave us examples of good leadership. To be kind and rebuke others. To give feedback in a loving and supportive way. Do people call you bad because you are living under a bad organization with lack of leadership?

Scripture

• Luke 17:3 – Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him,
• Proverbs 15:31-32 – The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.
• Romans 15:14 – I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.

Reflection

We are products of our environment and our genetics. I often see bad behavior from my kids and get mad but then realized they learned it from me. Likewise, when we see bad or sinful behavior, it’s up to us to be supportive and help correct it. We are all leaders wherever we are. We need to seek knowledge and share it. When we don’t rebuke and don’t provide feedback, we create a culture that is negative and feeds on itself.

So police aren’t bad. It’s not a clear cut all bad all good. They are products of their leadership and organization. There are wonderful police offers who will do a good job no matter what. There are others who will do a bad job no matter what. Finally, there are the group that will go with the flow. This is the group where not having good leadership and support causes toxic cultures. As a disclaimer, I know many awesome police officers, so this isn’t about them. It’s about any organization that may have a negative culture and that varies place to place and person to person.

This started as a chat about a kids show and went down hill. The key to remember is Jesus wants us to help each other to be better. He wants us to reach and provide feedback. It’s up to all of us as leaders, and not just in a police setting but everywhere, to be agents of change.

So do we need to take Chase off the case? Nope. We need more leaders like Ryder.

Challenge

What can you do where you love work or play to be an agent of change? How can you disrupt negative traits of your organization and help install new positive ones?

Prayer

Father God, first and foremost, we pray for our law enforcement and first responders. It is a difficult job to have in the first place and it is only gotten harder with the riots and people thinking in absolutes. Be with them and protect them. God, help us to be agents of change. Give us your strength and support to stand up against negative organizational traits and help us install ones based on your love. Be with us as we navigate these hard times. In your name, Amen.