August 2005 chaplain's corner
The Chaplain's Corner is a monthly message for chaplains.
Chaplain’s Corner – August 25, 2005
Rev. Rich Hines
The Pain Of Doing Time and Some Biblical Answers
This message is primarily for those who call on the name of Jesus Christ as
their own Lord and Savior from sin, and serve as a chaplain in a jail, prison
or a follow-up ministry such as a rescue mission – in the United States.
All Scripture quotes are taken from the New King James Version (NKJV) of the
Bible, copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson,
Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. When quoting a
text, any deviation from the NKJV text is placed within parenthesis signs ().
These usually occur as direct translations from the original languages,
or as notes from the original setting to help apply the text to today’s
culture. ALL CAPITAL LETTERS are sometimes used to emphasize a text, or to make
a comment about a biblical text.
First, for this month, I want to have you note some recent changes to our web
site and how to bookmark the Chaplain’s Corner. Under the link to CHAPLAIN
MINISTRY, and then to “Chaplain’s Corner …a message of encouragement” we’ve
added a link that says: “search corner messages.”
Clicking on this will allow you to connect to any and all messages that mention
a specific word or theme. It’s sort of like a concordance. If for instance, you
wish to see what I’ve taught on prejudice, simply type that word in the box and
then click on “search”. In the case of “prejudice,” two former messages will
appear as links to that word or subject, April 2003 and July 2005.
ALSO, if you have book-marked the Chaplain’s Corner pages in the past, some
recent changes made by our service provider make it necessary for you to delete
your old book-mark and re-enter the current month’s link as your book-mark. Now
for this month’s message. -
I want to remind you that the ministry of a Christian Chaplain is to show compassion
to incarcerated souls as our Lord did with the crowd in
Have you ever noticed the pattern of how Jesus approached people in the gospel
records? To the woman at the well who had come thirsty for water, He described
eternal life as “living water.” (John 4)
To the man born blind, who had just miraculously received his sight He said in
effect, the first One you saw, the One who opened your
eyes – He is the Christ. And that man immediately believed and worshipped Jesus
as the God-Man. (John 9)
To the rich young ruler, who was captive and enslaved to his love of money, He
said in effect, “if you want eternal life, get rid of your sin.” “Sell all that
you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and
come, follow Me.” (Luke 18:22). I believe the
compassion of our Lord was evidenced in all these examples. He understood His
hearers and what they were focused on when He met them.
In the same way, you and your volunteers need to understand inmates and their
pain. I’m speaking of the particular emotional pain doing time brings them.
Christ’s compassion doesn’t just sympathize with that pain, it does more – it
moves with God’s truth to help, and eventually remove it!
This month I want to call you to ease their pain of incarceration with God’s
truth. I want to briefly give you some of the biblical answers to the three
hurtful things that inmates face. These three are: being trapped, lost time and
being separated.
The FIRST PAIN is the SENSE OF BEING “TRAPPED.” It’s the sense of all of a
sudden being caged, like a wild animal that’s used to roaming at will.
Remember, incarceration, especially facing a long prison term, is all about the
LACK OF FREEDOM. Suddenly, the incarcerated man or woman is PREVENTED from
going where they want and when they want to go. They’re prevented from making
the choices they were used to making in free society (even the bad ones) on
their own.
In compassion, you and your workers can gently tell them more than what they
probably already know but may have a hard time admitting, namely that they brought
it on themselves. Putting the blame on others is really an inmate smokescreen.
Deep-down, most of them know it’s their fault they ended up losing their
freedom. You can say their loss of freedom has a good side to it. Read on to
find out why that’s true.
In dealing with an inmate who hurts over their loss of freedom, you should
always take them to the word of God. Psalm 107:10-16, is a good place to start.
I say that because that section is one of four examples used by the Spirit
inspired Psalmist to describe the suffering the Lord delivered Israelite
captives from (in verses 4-32). It was the real experience of being a physical
prisoner.
Even though ALL the redeemed Israelites called upon to praise and thank the
LORD (verses 1-3) weren’t actual prisoners in dungeons, the Holy Spirit was
speaking of the real experience of those that were. It also applies to most who
are actually imprisoned today.
Psalm 107:
10 Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of
death, bound in affliction and irons—
Verse 10 describes the emotional feeling of being imprisoned.
Sitting in the shadow of death IS part of the experience of incarceration. Not
only for those on death row, but because of constant danger from other inmates.
Not only is the reality of possible physical harm and death valid, the focus
implied by the word “SHADOW” is on thinking about the possibility of an attack
and the anxiety it causes. Beyond that, the word “AFFLICTION” in the second
part of verse 10, literally means “depression that
leads to misery.”
The newly caged inmate thinks, “If I were free, I could avoid some of this
danger and stress” (whether it’s true or not, that’s what their mind is
constantly saying).
Verses 11and12 gives the reasons for their
imprisonment.
11 Because they REBELLED against the words of God, and DESPISED the counsel of
the Most High, 12 Therefore He brought down their
HEART with LABOR; they fell down, and there was none to help.
It was their rebellion against the true God and His response to their sin that
brought them to prison.
There are some interesting word studies in these two verses. Focusing on the
sin of the incarcerated one before their actual caging, they rebelled and
despised the things of God. REBELLED literally means they disobeyed from a
heart of bitterness. DESPISED literally means to scorn, and comes through the
idea of the full blooming (or result) of ill-feeling. Both these words point to
the anger criminals carry and act out against society and its’ laws (which were
set up by God, see Romans 13).
Verse 12 speaks of God’s temporary judgment. He brings down the “HEART” of the
prisoner with “LABOR.” This word for “labor” can be both physical and mental.
It means the sense of exhaustion caused by the wearing effort of work AND
WORRY. The Hebrew word for “HEART” here in verse 12 was used for the FEELINGS
as well as the intellect and will.
It should be pointed out from the context of what follows in verses 13-16, that
this stressful sentence from God is not only partial judgment, but also a
reflection of His GRACE.
13 THEN they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them out of
their distresses.
When did the prisoners referred to in Psalm 107 seek the LORD? Verse 13 says it
was IN THEIR TROUBLE that they truly cried out to Him. And when they did come
to the true LORD, He delivered them. He “saved them out of their DISTRESSES.”
Verses 14-16 continues by telling what happened, and what should have happened
with those Jews that were literally imprisoned in the ancient times.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their
chains in pieces. 15 Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His
goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! 16 For He has
broken the gates of bronze, and cut the bars of iron in two.
So use Psalm 107:10-16 to tell them to use their troubled feelings AS A
REMINDER to call out to the Lord, to seek the Lord, to be driven to the Lord
instead of being driven out of their mind. If they are ready to seek the Lord
with all their heart, you need to be ready to give them the biblical gospel of
reconciliation with God and of His regeneration and salvation through Jesus
Christ alone.
A SECOND HURTFUL thing the incarcerated struggle with is LOST YEARS THAT CAN
NEVER BE RECOVERED. The longer the sentence and the older the person serving it
is, the more painful the hurt. Of course, in ministry to those facing life
imprisonment there are different factors. With them especially, as with any
inmate, truly following Christ is still the only real answer to their pain.
In dealing with this hurt of the sense of lost time, I suggest you use three
passages initially.
The first is Galatians 6:7-10
7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever
a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the
flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap
everlasting life.
9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in
due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 10 Therefore, as we have
opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to
those who are of the household of faith.
This principle of what we sow we also reap, is not given in Scripture to grind
the sinner into the dust, but rather to encourage a change of present behavior.
When I served as Chaplain, I often used this passage to help men deal with the
oppressive sense of “I’m doomed, I’ve blown it and I will just continue to
suffer future consequences.”
Though the inmate is presently suffering the harsh consequences of their own
past actions, the principle of sowing and reaping doesn’t leave them with just
the bad result. The chance for a better crop in the distant future remains.
It’s going to be based on what they now do in the present and near future. If
one shall “…sow to his flesh, …(he will) reap
corruption, BUT (not the hinge in that word) he who sows to the Spirit will (in
the future) of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”
The real emphasis of this passage in Galatians 6 is on what one does now. Of
course there’s no way to really do good and right without the Lord. The first
step for them is to repent and believe the gospel. Once Christ by His Spirit
enters their life THEN they can begin to do good and “sow to the Spirit.”
God’s promise in verse 9 is that the believer who continues to sow to the
Spirit WILL REAP good things IN THE FUTURE. I believe that means even during
their time of incarceration, not just when and IF, they get out. The key is in
not growing weary and not losing heart. Real faith in Christ IN ACTION cannot
do either. Tell them God’s word encourages them to keep on the right path, no
matter how long it takes for the new good crop to come.
NEXT, in dealing with the concern over lost time, even lost years “in the
slammer,” take them to Joel 2:25. But explain the context.
Here God dealt with a sinful nation by sending locust hordes to devour their
crops. Their whole economy was agricultural. The results of this judgment were
absolutely devastating. But again in mercy, God gave them a chance to repent and
in faith, to follow Him. When they would do that, the prophet Joel said the
LORD would restore their crops and economy (reference Joel 2:12,13,18,19), then
in verse 25:
25 So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the
crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, My great army
which I sent among you.
The same principle is something they can count on. If they repent and follow
His ways, the Lord will take away their reproach and give them (although not
necessarily economically) a better future. They can have something good to look
forward to. The years of time under His training will produce a good future,
even into eternity!
A THIRD PASSAGE I think you should teach and counsel inmates from is Jeremiah
29:11-13. Here the sinful nation, as one man, was given a sentence of 70 years
captivity in
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of
peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
God’s THOUGHTS in this context were HIS PLANS for the sentence He gave them.
“Evil” in verse 11, comes from the root word “bad.” It implies hurt, grief, and
misery. God says here His dealing with their sin was remedial not just punative – “To give you a future and a hope.”
12 Then (after the 70 year sentence would bring them to repentance) you will
call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen
to you.
13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search
for Me with all your heart.
14 And I will be found by you, (literally, ‘I will allow Myself to by found by
you’) says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; …
What the LORD was telling them was that in His perfect plan, He knew it would
take exactly that length of years in captivity to break them of themselves so
that they would truly seek Him with a sincere and repentant heart.
Similarly, God’s message to an inmate struggling with the length of their sentence, is that they must trust that God means to cause
them to learn the lessons He has through it, for their eternal good.
The THIRD AND FINAL thing I want to help you deal with is the HURT OF
SEPARATION FROM LOVED ONES. It’s like a severed limb. The pain deepens as they
realize what they’ve done to them. There’s the one that remained free but cut
off from them or else, was also incarcerated - because of their actions.
If the “loved one” is a girlfriend, or in the case of female
inmates, a boyfriend, many questions begin to flood their minds. “Will
they remain faithful to me or will they find somebody else?” If they’re married
the stress is greater. If the free spouse was a good one, then the hurt of the
separation is greater still. The greatest hurt of all is when they have young
children, especially when they have a sentence that means missing seeing them
grow up. With the compassion of Christ in mind, although it’s a secondary
application to the meaning of the text, we Christians need to pay attention to
Hebrews 13:3 which says: “Remember the prisoners AS IF CHAINED WITH THEM –
those who are mistreated – since you yourselves are in the body also.”
We need to remember, however guilty they are, that they ARE SUFFERING. Although
God hates sin, He still reaches out in love to sinners while they are still
alive. He identified so much with sinners He even took their sin upon Himself
in the person of His Son. You and your staff need to share the hurt of the
separation they feel and comfort them with biblical truth. Start with the truth
that marriage was instituted by God and He says it is to be for life! Use
verses like:
Genesis 2:24
“Therefore a man (male) shall leave his father and mother and be joined (a very
strong bonding word meaning - permanently adhere to) to his wife (female). And
they shall become one flesh.”
Matthew 19:4-6
4 And He (Jesus) answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made
them (in context from v.3 – a man and his wife) at the beginning ‘made them
male and female,’
5 “and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be
joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?
6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. THEREFORE WHAT GOD HAS JOINED
TOGETHER, LET NO MAN SEPARATE.”
Malachi 2:16
“For the LORD God of
Lennie Spitale, in his
recent excellent book on ministry to the incarcerated said: “…80 percent of
those who are married when they enter prison are divorced within the first
year. But what may surprise some is that this is not always initiated by the
mate on the outside.”*
*See “Prison Ministry - Understanding Prison Culture Inside and Out,” by Lennie Spitale, published by Broadman and Holman Publishers, Nashville, TN)
As a Christian witness of God’s truth and a compassionate helper you should
always tell inmates that God “hates divorce” (Malachi 2:16). It doesn’t help
either person to break their vow to stay with that person in the God-designed
state of marriage, “till death do us part.”
Spitale also said, “A former prisoner and his wife
once pointed out to me that when a spouse goes to prison – say for three years
– they are not three years apart when he or she comes out but SIX years. She
has spent three years going in her direction and he, going three years in his.
While this is true in some respects, there are still healthy practices they can
adopt to build togetherness while they are apart. FOR EXAMPLE, STUDYING AND
READING THE SAME PASSAGES OF THE BIBLE AT THE SAME TIME OF DAY is a positive
activity they can learn to implement together. The idea is to build shared
experiences as much as they can.”
That’s a great idea. And there are other things they can do with loved ones to
keep connected and grow together, even though they are physically separated.
Recently, more and more parenting education goes on within the correctional
system. I know of
In closing, remember Christ’s compassion, and help heal inmate hurts.
Rich Hines, Minister To Chaplains