From Inside the Walls

For some, the words "Jailhouse religion" conjure up the idea that the experience can't be authentic.  If it is genuine they ask, how effective could it be or is it just being used as a front? On the contrary, many of us who are physically bound for our transgressions against the law take a committed relationship with our God as serious as those not in our condition.  But I'm Not saying that everyone is sincere on the outside. 

We say we feel sympathetic to the situation of the incarcerated. As believers, we know that God is an all-forgiving God, and that he is kind gracious, and his presence supersedes all of our understanding. So why be judgmental about inmates who find Christ in jail? Even though some are put away because of horrific crimes, when a convict gets truly saved, does God's Word not shine as a beacon of light in a place where societies' outcasts have been put away?

When we believe and fully give ourselves to Christ, there is change.  Those who have committed themselves to Christ know that it is a true experience.  It is not just doing nice things, its being Christ-like, because internally there is a joy that is genuine.  It's showing the fruit of the Spirit of love, peace, long-suffering, loving-kindness, and goodness. 

To really experience God is to know what it is to be broken and put in a place that either forces you to change or allows us to remain lost and miserable.  Your situation may be the loss of a job, a loved one. . . Something that made you realize that you have no control of your life because initially it was never yours.

Prison is the breaking point for some of us.  We either rededicate our lives, or we become born again in Christ Jesus for the first time.  We accept that the time we spend behind these walls is part of our growth, and if given the spiritual insight to see it, it may very well be God's plan for us.  

For we who know that eternity with our heavenly father awaits us, being here in prison is not so bad.  It is just a temporal step. Some of us will never be freed from behind these walls, but we are still free. We know that super-ceding peace that only Christ can give. Those who have truly accepted Christ and are released show by their actions that they have truly been redeemed.  They continue sharing with others and discipling them so as to preserve the sanctity of a spirit filled life.

I feel the words "Jailhouse religion". take away from the authenticity of one's belief as an incarcerated Christian.  It leaves one with the sense, that "because I am behind bars that my salvation is just not as good as yours." But, I would be just as judgmental if I thought everyone felt that way. So now is the opportune time to give the true purpose of this article.  It is not written as a pathetic cry for readers' commiseration. But to set the stage to inform and minister to those who are just not sure of our conditions. It is to give praise for God's work in our lives. And, last but not least, we may be able to encourage them in the way our father sees fit.  

I would like people to know that there is a brother in Christ at USP Coleman who has felt burdened to influence those around him to live in Christ likeness and change the system,

so that it functions in a fair and efficient manner.