Are You in Prison?

My son is a chaplain for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Every day he is locked behind the gates and walls and guards that keep the "bad guys" contained and supervised.  There are times when I am concerned for his safety, but for the most part I keep those thoughts shoved to the back of my mind.  He is there because he feels a calling from God to minister to those incarcerated, to help them know of God's grace and forgiveness, and to lead them toward a better life than the one they have chosen.  

There are times when his job is rewarding, as he can see changes taking place in the lives of those he teaches. Other times I know it must be a discouraging job as he sees his efforts leading to naught.  I do know he is committed to the task before him each day, as he shares the Word, spends time in prayer with prisoners, arranges Bible study and worship services, sets a good example for those who see him on a daily basis.

 Some of the prisoners my son deals with are hardened criminals that have been in just about every kind of trouble you can imagine.  A large number of the prison population has a history of substance abuse, but there are also those that have been convicted of sex crimes, murder, armed robbery, child abuse, and even those lesser offenses that we would call blue collar crimes. 

I have wondered at times if I could walk up to the door of that maximum security prison and tell the guard I am there to take the place of all the prisoners.  Turn them loose and I will serve their sentences. While that would not be allowed, you are getting ahead of me if you have already figured out that I am going to say that is exactly what Jesus has done for us. 

So if they will not let me take the place of all those criminals, maybe they could pick just one and let me serve his sentence while he goes free. I am told that would not be allowed, either.  My thinking is that perhaps one of those inmates would be so encouraged that I took his place, and he would come out of the prison environment into the free world with determination to follow a better path.

My thinking takes me to another prison. It is a prison a young man has made for himself, through choices of his own. Alcohol abuse in his teen years has led to his adult addiction and while he is still enjoying the same freedoms I enjoy, he is spiritually, emotionally and mentally imprisoned.  Our world is filled with such prisoners who are living in the chains of dependency, addiction, guilt, abandonment, or countless other strongholds of sin. 

I can encourage them or try to get them away from the poor environment in which they live.  I can give them a place to sleep or a meal, or maybe a fresh suit of clothes after a hot, soapy bath. The greatest thing I can do for them is lead them to a God who cares for and loves them. Wherever they are, just like you and me, they still need him.  They need the message of the gospel. They need the association of the body of Christ. Their needs are just like mine.

I am not allowed to substitute my life for a single one of those behind Texas prison walls, but for those whose lives have put them in their own prison without walls and bars, there is something I can do. 

Jesus said, “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’" Matthew 25:34-36

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