The Firefighter Parable #2 – Firefighting Procedures

Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart…Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes. I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word. Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes. Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors. Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.

-Excerpts from the 119th Psalm.

An important aspect of any job with risks is the education of the member and their knowledge of the procedures (to include memorizing emergency procedures), regulations and equipment standards. For firefighters, who deal with literally hot situations, it is even more paramount.

Equipment standards and methods of inspection are critical. Firefighters have to be able to examine their equipment to discern whether it is serviceable. That’s important because if their equipment fails, they or a fire victim may be injured or even killed. Obviously, with the amount of equipment they have at their disposal, they can’t memorize those standards. Instead, they have to be familiar with the regulations in order to best be able to quickly access the information necessary and use it. Clearly, they can’t stumble around checking random books and accomplish their tasks efficiently! Familiarity with the regulations is practical and necessary for firefighters.

The other half is emergency procedures. Unlike regulations, firefighters cannot go grab the written emergency procedures when an emergency rears its head! Instead, they must be memorized, in some cases memorizing, word for word, multiple steps of a procedure: ruptured hoses, ladder failures, air hose failures, building collapses, water loss, blocked exits, etc. In cases such as these, the firefighter must be able to immediately recall the necessary emergency procedure in order to ensure the survival of themselves and the victims they are rescuing.

Remember the others in the fire house? There are others who are familiar with the regulations and emergency procedures besides firefighters. Inspectors, investigators, administrative personnel, and firefighter wanna-be’s. Many are even more familiar with the regulations and emergency procedures than the firefighters are!

Thus, as with the fire house, we have two important facets of firefighting regulations and procedures. First, firefighters are familiar with regulations and have memorized emergency procedures. Second, everyone who is familiar with the regulations and has memorized emergency procedures is not a firefighter.

The parallel is clear with Christians. Like firefighters, they must be familiar with their regulations and memorize critical texts. In this case, both are functions of the Bible (there is a place for church history/tradition in the “regulations” portion as well). Christians have to be familiar with the Bible – its order, it’s general content of the books, the locations of longer texts that are rich in usefulness. People who don’t know how to find the basics in the Bible are not Christians (we are assuming freedom of religion here – this wouldn’t be true in a country or culture that persecutes Christians).

Furthermore, Christians have to have scripture memorized – beyond Genesis 1:1 and John 3:16. When David wrote, “Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” he was only giving one reason to memorize scripture – the preparation to resist temptation. We also need to memorize scripture to be able to apply it in rapid thinking situations where it is necessary – a church council or public meeting event. Perhaps even more important is the need to be able to know the scriptures relevant to witnessing to others about Christ. Failure to have scripture is failure to know the emergency procedure, and not only is a recipe for failure, but is evidence that the person is not a Christian.

Finally, Christians have to believe the entire Bible. Picking and choosing which parts to believe is as foolhardy as firefighters picking and choosing which procedures to learn and which to blow off. Both lead to death.

Unlike firefighters, who have to know the emergency procedures to become a firefighter in the first place, Christians certainly have a progression in this area. But, if someone claims to have been a Christian for any length of time and has not memorized some scriptures, that person is not a Christian.

Again, there are those who know the Bible very well. They know their church history, they know their traditions and doctrines, and they have memorized scriptures. However, that does not make them Christians any more than going to church does. Sadly, there are even pastors and priests who fit this category.

Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction.

- The Second Epistle of St. Peter, Chapter Three, Verses 14-16

The relationship of the Christian to the Bible is also worth getting right, and worth remembering when discerning who is, and who is not, a Christian.