But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 ESV
“They’re a bunch of rapists, murderers and drug dealers. Filthy animals! Let’s lock ’em up and throw away the key!” When we read accounts of the recent deportation of gang members to a prison in El Salvador, if we are honest, we might have to admit that we have used these kinds of words. Does our heart secretly do a little dance each time we hear of another one being thrown in the clink, deported or shot by the police? I struggle with these very thoughts myself, but the Holy Spirit reminded me recently that God created each one of those young men and women in His own image. He breathed the same breath of life into their lungs, knit them together in their mothers’ wombs, and planned a home in heaven for them, just as He has done for me. Though they may have covered themselves with tattoos, and have lived a lifestyle contrary to God’s will, it in no way means that they have no value to Him. When Jesus looks down from heaven over them, He doesn’t say, “Well I told them so! Now they’ve finally gotten what they deserved!”
In fact, in the Bible we can find a list of men and women, a lot like them. “Yeah, like who?” you might ask with a gasp. Well, we could start with a murderous guy named Saul, who tells us that he was the chief ringleader of sinners. Then there was the working stiff named Peter. He fell to his knees in shame when Jesus blessed him with a boatload of fish, shouting, “Go away from here, I am a sinful man!” We also mustn’t forget the unfaithful woman caught in bed with her neighbor, the corrupt tax collector named Zaccheus and the brutal executioner standing at the foot of the cross, waiting for Jesus to die so he could go home for the night. None of these folks sounds like the type of company we hope to have sitting next to us in church on Sunday, but Jesus does! No, He didn’t join them in their sins, but He loved them with a radical love, that drove Him to the cross, accepted nails to be driven through His hands and feet, and allowed Himself to be stripped, crowned with thorns and spit on. His kind of love reached the thief dying next to Him, forgave those who killed him and even allowed Judas to kiss Him. The God who loved the world so much that He gave His only Son to die for us, came for sinners, because there were no other kinds of people. We all deserve to be locked away in the dark place of eternal punishment named hell and have the key thrown away forever. But instead of throwing us away, Jesus took our place and gave eternal life to everyone who repents and believes in Him: no exceptions! Now He commands (not suggests) that we offer that same love and forgiveness to others, because there are no, “Throw away people.” and no one so far away, that they cannot return to Him!
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Noteworthy post, Pete. Some have somehow forgotten the mercy, forgiveness and grace that we who believe and trust in God have been given. Jesus gave us a parable about this but we’ve waylaid that too. Blessings!
Thank you Bruce! I believe it, but have caught myself thinking and speaking otherwise. I hope this post encourages us to lean on the power of grace, involvement and prayer.
Pete, you’re right. We all deserve judgment from a holy God, but God is merciful. He loves us in our fallen state, but He loves us too much to leave us there! After extending grace to the woman caught in adultery, He told her, “Go your way, and sin no more.” If we truly love people, there are times for “tough love.” The worst thing that could happen to a criminal is to go to his grave thinking he got away with his evil deeds. He’ll be in for a very unpleasant (and eternal) surprise.
So true, and my comments were not meant to excuse or minimize the reasons they are there. I believe that God’s concern is in how we view the worth of others, and I find that sometimes I have been guilty of joining the stone throwing crowd.
I figured that’s what you meant. 😉
Yes, Pastor, the closer we get to the Master the more hideous even our “respectable sins” appear, and the more we recognize our need for mercy, which Jesus said we must show to others to receive from the Father.
However, there comes a point in a sinner’s life that he/she must make a final decision and C.S. Lewis describes such a decision clearly: “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no hell.”
As for temporal punishment, we need to acknowledge that some people need to be separated from the general public for their own good as well as for the general good. We would hope that prison chaplains and ministers could point them to the Savior who is not restricted by prison bars.
And as God enables,those of us able to do so should visit the prisoners… “as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” Matthew 25:35-46
Amen, C. A. Prison ministries have one thing going for them: Generally, it’s not hard to convince the convicted that they are sinners. I know people who were caught and did the time, who say in retrospect, it was the best thing that ever happened to them.
One of our friends went through exactly that. I am so grateful that someone cared enough to share the word of God with Him there.
I have known several of the same cut. However, one of the biggest obstacles to those of us who have ministered in prisons is the fact that they KNOW the simply got caught and that worse offenders are still on the streets. It hampers their acknowledgment of their sin when “justice goes forth perverted.” (Habakkuk 1:4)
Thank you for joining the conversation and adding your experience. There are not a lot of easy answers.