Dear Supporters, Brethren and Friends,
First, thanks to the generosity of a single donor, the $18,000 yearly fee for our Pando Channel has been covered for the next year! It is overwhelming to see the generosity of God’s people.
It seems to me the Bible focuses much more on those who have been the offenders rather than those who were offended. For example, the story of David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11 – 12. Uriah is the chief victim in this story. If you know the story, then you know (spoiler alert) that he is essentially murdered by David. The rest of the narrative focuses on David’s repentance, punishment and the rest of his life story. What about Uriah’s family? His friends? We learn nothing of the rest of their story, the wrongs they suffered, the hurts they endured because of David’s sins. Instead, the Bible focuses on the guy who did the wrong and his restoration to God.
Paul certainly is another glaring example of this in the New Testament. We read in Acts that he was persecuting Christians. We are only given the name of one of the victims his sins directly impacted – Stephen. After his conversion in Acts 9, the narrative of his repentance, punishment and future life is what we are given. What about the other countless victims he hurt, tortured, put in prison, etc. We get none of that.
Furthermore, in 1 Cor. 5 we have the story of a man who is involved in sexual immorality – he has his father’s wife! The focus of that chapter is how the church should handle his discipline and what the desired result would be – the saving of his soul. We don’t hear anything of the impact his sin had on his father, other family members, or even on the individuals that may have been led into sin because of his actions. Instead, the only further mention of the event and the fall out seems to be in 2 Cor. 2:5-11(ESV)…
Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. 6 For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, 7 so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. 10 Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.
Paul does briefly mention the pain this man has caused to others, but then his attention is fully focused on the man – the perpetrator, the criminal, the wrong doer. He warns them to reach out to him, to forgive him and then of all things to comfort him. We may read this and scream out – What about the people he hurt? However, Paul seems mostly concerned about the sinner having excessive sorrow. He literally begs them to reaffirm their love for this man lest Satan “outwit” them. I don’t believe it is because Paul doesn’t care about the hurt of the others. I think he cares, but he focuses his attention on the restoration of the one who did the harm and his spiritual well-being.
These examples show the essence of the prison work. We focus on the perp, the criminal, the wrong doer. At times we are criticized for not focusing on the victims of these men. While it is true that their victims are not our primary focus, I can assure you that I interact on a regular basis with families and other victims of the men I work with. We talk often about their decisions and the impacts of those decisions on others. However, our emphasis, the main narrative of this work, is about the men who have done the harm.
I think that sums up the gospel. Go to a world of perps, criminals, wrong doers, and offer them healing. Offer them the hope of reconciliation. Offer them the chance to be comforted and loved and forgiven. That is what we all need. That is redemption. That is the hope that we all have.
Thanks for your continued support to offer that hope to men in prison.
Daryl Townsend