There was a recent story in the news about a man wrongly
convicted of rape and murder who spent 12 plus years in prison before DNA
evidence proved his innocence. I wonder,
is he the guy I was supposed to be visiting when I went to prison as part of my
‘Christian’ duties? Should I assume that
somewhere out there is another innocent man, and God would like me to drop in
on him to ease his burden? After all
when discussing the end-times judgment (or criterion) God thought important on
separating the sheep from the goats – His question was did you feed me, did you
clothe me, visit me in prison? I note
often He did not ask what I believed in from a doctrinal point of view, but He
did ask about what we actually did for those ‘less-fortunate’.
Seems to me the greatest preponderance of those in prison
are probably guilty of their crimes. God
would surely know this, so is He really asking me to visit the guilty? Maybe this about redemption. Maybe He wants me to bring guilty people the
good news of the gospel. Or perhaps He
has a deeper intention in mind for me, after all, what is the difference
between me and guy behind bars? Yes
maybe the guy in jail committed the crime he was charged with, how is that
different from me. In the eyes of God,
are not I as guilty as the man behind bars?
Has not my sin caused pain and suffering as well? To God, the guy behind bars is no better or
worse than me, we look like brothers to Him.
So is that it? This is about
visiting family, and learning we are all the same in God’s eyes – maybe. But there might be more.
What is the point of our penal system anyway? We incarcerate those who commit crimes
against us so that they will be unable to repeat their heinous action
again. This forced imprisonment also
acts as a punishment to them for doing their evil deed. We hope it serves as a deterrent to those
would-be criminals on the outside to think twice before doing something that
might land them in here (but statistics say this deterrent is hardly
effective). We talk about prisons as a
place to engender reform. That is the
key isn’t it? A place to go to unlearn
evil behavior and relearn good behavior.
So why is the reform piece of our penal system in such miserable
failure? Recidivism is on the rise, and
the argument could be made that prison only trains criminals how to be better
criminals, not better citizens. It seems
all our punitive efforts have not resulted in many positive changes from this
experience.
And it does not end there.
The idea behind serving your time in prison is that you are in-effect
‘paying’ for your misdeeds. And though
you may serve your entire sentence, your payment is apparently never quite
over. Your criminal record follows you
on every job application, or credit application. Your prospects for meaningful work go down
dramatically because of your ‘record.’
If you were convicted of a sex-crime (and let’s remember the story of
our innocent friend here, not everyone convicted of a crime did it), you must
register as an offender which stigma GREATLY reduces the welcome you get in any
living arrangement. So let’s see, you
can’t vote to change anything, can’t run for political office, can’t find work,
or a place to live – if you are to survive what option is the one left open to
you? Note that military service might
have provided a way out in the past, but in times of war, it is just another
virtual death sentence. Options for
survival seem bleak at best, and statistically, we find our punished ones doing
more evil and finding themselves back behind bars or worse.
What else could we do to deal with crime? Take theft for instance, Christ said, if
someone steals your coat, offer them your shirt as well. How radical an approach is that! Reward errant behavior?! Give a thief more than even he thought to
take, who does that? What kind of weirdo
approach is this? What message would
this send to the thief? Glad I asked
actually … perhaps it would demonstrate way more than any words ever could that
someone in this world actually cared about the thief. It might be the first time in the life of the
thief that he gets to experience love and concern for him. No threats of punishment. No condemnations of his obviously wrong
act. No question about his guilt. But in spite of his ugliness we show him
unbounded love. We attempt to meet his
need based on what he took. This kind of
singular gesture of love inspires the thief to consider WHY anyone would do
such a thing. Returning love to acts of
hate and malice has the most profound effect of getting under the perpetrator’s
skin. It is too hard to understand how
love could be returned for hate. They
poke at it. They prod it. They test it again, and maybe again. What’s the deal? Perhaps this is the only approach that is
capable of changing evil behavior.
Have you considered for a minute that this is exactly the
approach God is taking with YOU personally?
You were and are guilty of crimes against yourself, those you love, and
your creator – but instead of punishment for what you have earned, you get love
instead. Blessed rather than
cursed. Loved in spite of what you do,
what you say, all of it. You deserve to
be behind bars, not because you have broken a law the US government setup, not
because you might errantly be convicted of breaking a law, simply because your
premeditated acts of evil cause pain to everyone you care about. To protect you and those you love, you should
sit in isolation of a jail cell; but that is not how God chooses to teach
change in your character. God reaches
out to you in love no matter what your misdeed.
He gets you asking WHY would He do this?
And you test it, you poke it, you prod it, and you marvel at it. But over time you accept His love, and in
that acceptance are the roots of change in your life. Reformation happens when love enters your
life, not when love is removed.
I know we have hardcore evil-doers in our world. Some seem almost demon possessed in their
passion for causing pain to anyone. Some
do enough drugs to be completely out of their minds most of the time while they
commit heinous acts. I don’t advocate we
open up the jail doors and let them loose on society. But maybe we might take a minute and realize
even the hardcore criminal needs love as much as we do. We were ‘commissioned’ to go to prisons, to
bring love with us. Love inspires
hope. Hope can liberate someone bound to
sin and give them freedom inside their cell.
Freedom the cancer of evil.
Freedom to reconcile with a loving God right where they are. Freedom from the guilt of their misdeed, as
they come to know the price for their freedom was already paid on a lonely
cross 2 thousand years ago. And when
they realize this, and embrace this, we have effectively jailed the
righteous. The state may require its
due, but the soul is made free in Christ.
At that point, the guy behind the bars is exactly like the guy who gets
to go home after the visit – forgiven.
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