Dear Supporters, Brethren and Friends,
The months fly by. The second quarter is finished, and the summer is fully upon us.
I want to talk this quarter about dealing with sex offenders behind and beyond the fence. Honestly, when I thought about doing prison ministry I didn’t think much about the types of crimes the men I would study with had. I was a little naïve. Our first resident in our transition program in 2005 was a sex offender. He is still faithfully serving God and although he no longer lives in the area, he continues to visit periodically and stays in touch.
I meet most weeks with men in prison who are criminal sex offenders (CSOs). All these men will have to register their status publicly once released and then update that registry several times per year, depending on the exact crimes committed, for the rest of their lives. The number of CSOs that I interface with continues to grow mostly because of the use of the internet in the commission of such crimes. These would include online solicitation, traveling to meet a minor with sexual intent, possession of photos of children considered to be pornographic, etc. It is hard to go a week where there are no arrest reports in the news of these internet-based sting operations.
In the most absolute sense, sexual sin of any kind is no different than non-sexual sins – they are all transgression of God’s law – 1 John 3:4. However, the scriptures do declare that in some ways sexual sin is different. Here is what Paul said…
1 Corinthians 6:13–19 (ESV) …The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord…15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you…
We understand on many levels how different sexual sin is from other sins. Adultery in a marriage is clearly more harmful than a spouse who is lazy, or a drunk, or lies, or even steals. Those things are all sinful and can separate us from God, but sexual sin in practicality and consequence is different. In fact, this is proven absolutely by God’s only allowance for divorce and remarriage being adultery. Therefore, as we think about dealing with men who have committed sexual sin it is no surprise that we would need to understand and work through the practical differences and difficulties.
What makes dealing with CSOs even harder for many of us is that most of these crimes are committed against children or non-consenting adults. Frankly, these sins are harder for a lot of Christians to work through with men because they cannot see themselves in the behavior. In general, we are more sympathetic, compassionate and willing to forgive when we can say “There but by the grace of God go I.”
Practically speaking, then, we need to deal with the consequences of such sins while still recognizing that those sins are cleansed fully by the blood of Christ, just like every other sin. I have never heard anyone say to me or suggest that these sins are not covered by the blood of Christ, but there are some who would agree with this and then betray their statement by the way they treat such a sinner. We have had some people through the years criticize the fact that we have members at Middleburg who are CSOs. Some have refused to be a part of our congregation because of that fact. In some cases, fear drives their opinion. In others, it is a lack of love and forgiveness for those who would commit such acts.
I face that challenge regularly as I learn men’s offenses. Will I actually love them and forgive them? I make it a point to always know why men are in prison so I can deal with God about this problem before I commit to working with the man. Even after dealing with so many men in the last 21 years, this can still be challenging on occasion. I know God wants everyone to be saved – 1 Timothy 2:3-4. It is my desire and responsibility to offer the gospel to anyone, not just those I deem “acceptable.”
Here are the practical steps we use at our congregation to work with these men…
CHURCH SAFETY PROTOCOLS FOR SEX OFFENDERS
- The advanced identification and notification of a man that comes who is a registered sexual offender.
- We don’t allow these men into positions where they’re going to be alone or influencing children in any way, i.e., no teaching class with kids, involvement with VBS, etc.
- We don’t allow these men into the restrooms alone with a child.
- We monitor even the casual interface that these men have with children, though some of this is governed by the comfort level of the parents.
I hope this helps us all as individuals and groups of God’s family to facilitate the gospel going to all. We pray for God to give us wisdom as we deal with each other and our sin.
Thank you for reading.
Daryl Townsend