Last weekend I saw a "48 Hours" episode that recounted the story of a seventeen-year-old boy who was wrongly accused of violently murdering both of his parents. He was found guilty and sentenced to fifty years to life. Marty served almost twenty years of that sentence before he was exonerated and gained his freedom.
Immediately after his release from prison, Marty moved in with his aunt and uncle and enrolled in college. He has now earned his degree and is working as a paralegal while he attends law school.
When the young man’s uncle was interviewed, he said that before Marty came to live with them, he was afraid that Marty would be changed. The uncle thought that because of the years he had spent incarcerated, Marty would be hardened and rough—a mere shadow of his former self. The uncle was, therefore, surprised to discover that Marty had not changed. He was still gentle and considerate. He had retained his “good manners” and was attentive to the needs of both his aunt and uncle.
The interviewer asked Marty how he had managed to remain well mannered and thoughtful while living under such harsh conditions, and his answer was very interesting: “I never lived in prison. My body resided there, but my spirit and soul were never there.”
What a powerful statement! Marty went on to say that the worst part of every day was waking up to the sounds and smells of prison. Nevertheless, after the first few minutes he would steel himself to get through that day without becoming a part of the prison life.
Although Marty is not a Christian, his remarks reminded me of the accounts of the famous men and women of faith recorded in chapter 11 of Hebrews. The Bible says that they all died without receiving everything that God had for them, but they were happy, “for they agreed that this earth was not their real home but that they were just strangers visiting down here.” (Heb 11:13 Living Bible)
I think that Marty’s approach to prison is exactly the approach that the Bible teaches we should take concerning our lives here on earth. Our bodies must reside here for a while, but we must not allow our souls and spirits to become entrapped by “those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up.” We must be in this world but not of this world.
As Christians, of course, we must constantly reach out to other people, but even while doing so we must keep our distance from those things that would drag us down and destroy our witness. We must treat the unsaved world with love and patience, but we can never allow ourselves to join them in anything that dishonors Christ.
Living in a sinful world and associating with those who mock our faith can be difficult. Yet, Chapter 12 of Hebrews tells us that we have “a huge crowd of men of faith watching us from the grandstands,” cheering us on. Since we are privileged to be in such good company, can’t we do at least as much as Marty, who resided in prison but never allowed himself to live there because he looked forward to a day when he would return to his real home?
No comments:
Post a Comment