Many worshipers are familiar with the Scriptural passage that reads: “I was in prison and you came to me.” (Matthew 25:36) However, not many are acquainted with the efforts undertaken by those who see it as a mission to visit our jails and prisons. Consequently, few are apprised of how these volunteers try to bring Christ’s message of repentance and forgiveness to the seemingly lost. In the following essay therefore I will sketch a few illustrations of how I have shared the gospel with individual inmates, all of whom were initially strangers to me. And will close by describing an unusual blessing.
Let me begin by noting that each inmate is different; there is no magic formula to communicating with them, only God’s word itself. Accordingly, my approach has always been to convey a message of forgiveness, encouragement and hope. To accomplish this; I have frequently shared with each inmate spiritual thoughts that I considered had universal application. One of these I referred to as The Three Options, or, what Jesus said we could do with our lives. The second option I called A Dangerous Detour, entertaining evil thoughts that cloud our hearts and can lead us to Hell.
The Three Options
At some point in almost every life we ask ourselves what we should do with our life to find fulfillment. In Scripture Jesus relates three options that are available. One option explains how we can dedicate or sell our life to the acquisition of money, wealth or material things; thereby making them our idol. The second option describes a person who throws their life away by merely seeking to enjoy life’s pleasures, such as parties and other indulgencies. Once again, this option becomes an idol separating us from God. The third option, the one which Jesus recommended, was to give our lives to Him; in other words to put God first in our life. His thinking in Scripture was along the following lines.
If we choose the first option, selling our life to attain material things, we risk losing the thing we crave most – salvation. For Jesus said: “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, or loses or forfeits his soul?” (Luke 9:25) We see Jesus’ point illustrated in Scripture when a wealthy young ruler comes to Him and explains that he has kept the Ten Commandments and wants to know if that is sufficient to enable him to get to heaven. Jesus praises the man’s faithfulness, but when the man hears Jesus’ recommendation he walks away saddened. He is unable to follow Jesus’ recommendation; to sell all he had, give it to the poor, and then follow Him. Jesus uses this example to emphasize why it is difficult for the wealthy to enter Heaven. It is not simply because of their wealth, but because material things have become their idol. This prevents them from putting God first in their life.
The second option, throwing one’s life away in self-indulgent living, is certainly relevant to our world of today. We often read of people turning to drugs or drink as an escape to find fulfillment. In Scripture, Jesus uses the Parable of The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:13-14) to illustrate this second option. He gives the example of how a young son squanders his inheritance on loose living, until he loses it all, and has to eat with pigs to survive. Left with nothing with which to sustain himself and filled with shame, he has to return home, with little hope of reestablishing his earlier life. While a forgiving father helps to restore the youth, the option Jesus is addressing is that the youth nearly threw his life away because he solely worshiped the idol of pleasure, leaving no room for God.
The third option, and the one Jesus recommends, is: “Whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake shall save it.” (Luke 9:24) In effect He is explaining to those who wish to follow Him that they must reorder their way of thinking and doing. No longer can worldly idols take precedence in their lives. Instead, Christ and one’s love for God must come first. We must live lives consistent with the example Jesus set – obedience to His word. The question for many is how to do this, especially in view of the distractions, temptations, and difficulties that we all, at some point, confront?
On one occasion, Jesus explains how this can be done during his meeting with the Pharisee, Nicodemus a respected leader of the Jews. When Nicodemus questions Jesus as to how God enables Him to perform His many miracles, Jesus gives an unusual answer. He replies that no one can enter the Kingdom of Heaven unless they are born again. This term was almost entirely unique to The New Testament, first written in Koine Greek. And the closest Greek word to such rebirth was metanoia. It suggests a person has had a change of mind, and thus a change in their way of thinking and doing. And this is exactly what is required if we are to give our life to Christ. No longer can the cares of the world take precedence. God’s precepts, as spoken by His Son, must take precedence. No longer do we worship gods or idols of our own making.
A Dangerous Detour
Jesus` warned of the danger of the detour to Hell for those who continued to turn away from God’s precepts merely to satisfy their own desires. In speaking to His disciples, He said: “Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28) The message was clear. Jesus was warning them of the penalty one faces upon taking the detour to Hell. He realized that at some point anyone can be tempted by evil thoughts or actions. But such temptations come with a price. They could mean the loss of one’s sense of self-worth, the loss of any hope of God’s forgiveness, and most importantly the loss of any hope for salvation. He emphasized these dangers when He said: “For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? (Matthew 16:26)
Christian believers have long been warned how dangerous it can be to ignore God’s precepts, thereby enabling our hearts to give in to evil thoughts or actions. The Great Russian novelist, Christian believer, and Nobel Prize winner, Aleksandri Solzhenitsyn, sought to explain this phenomenon in his book, the Gulag Archipelago, where he wrote: “Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart… And even in the best of hearts there remains an un-uprooted small corner of evil.”
Solzhenitsyn was certainly expressing what Jesus had earlier proclaimed when he challenged the hypocrisy of the Pharisees by saying: “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts… and defile the man.” (Mark 7:21 & 23) Jesus emphasis on the heart was significant because in Scripture the heart represents the will of a person. So when one’s heart is pure, evil can be resisted. But when evil thoughts are allowed to cloud our will, they turn us away from God and lead to a dangerous detour.
Even before Christianity existed, human kind was warned of this detour. For example, the famous Roman poet, Virgil, warned how easy it was for a person to embark on evil purposes, to stray from righteous behavior. He expressed this concern with the following thought: “The gates of hell are open night and day; smooth the descent, and easy is the way… But to return, and view the cheerful skies – in this the task of mighty labor lies.” When Jesus ministered to His disciples, He often spoke of the danger or detour to hell. Nonetheless, He reassured them that God’s church cannot be defeated by evil. As He said to Peter: “The gates of Hell cannot prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18)
An Unusual Blessing
The first jail inmate assigned me was named Tremell, a powerfully built young man in his early twenties. He was in jail because of drug use. At the time I met him, our family had yet to join the Falls Church, although we were attending services there. With Easter approaching, Terrell asked me if he could attend church with me; his being on work release entitled him to do this. I agreed, as I felt like God was calling upon me to truly live the meaning of Matthew 25:36, although I had yet to ask my wife or the Rector. Once I told Ruth what I planned she reminded me that we were not yet members of the Falls Church and that our children, home from college, would be attending service with us. To ease her concerns, I promised to sit apart from them. When I spoke to the Rector he agreed to my plan, but suggested I attend services in the annex, Nicholson Hall.
When Easter Sunday arrived, I felt called to have Tremell sit with me in the main sanctuary, to experience an actual worship service. And what a service it turned out to be. As we walked in to a packed church, Ruth suddenly motioned to me to join her and our children. Once we did and until the service ended, every moment, every word, every prayer, every song seemed to envelop me in its significance. Of the many wonderful church services I have attended throughout my life, never before or since that amazing Easter Sunday, have I ever felt so completely attuned to the power God’s spirit. Afterwards, on the way back the jail I shared my feelings with Tremel. He smiled and said: “Yes, we’ve been to the mountain top.” What a blessing!