Jail Diary - Dave's time of crisis

I didn't want to go to jail last night. Our son has come home from college for Christmas and I really wanted to hang out with him. Plus, I just wasn't feeling very "spiritual". I've learned though that when I don't want to go, it's a good thing. It usually means God is going to do something extraordinary. It's those times when I don't want to go that I fall back on what my friend Jude always used to say about ministry, "Just show up."

So we went. Carla and I got to the jail, situated ourselves in the room where we have our Bible studies and waited for the inmates to arrive. Only one person came. Dave (not his real name) is a young guy who has been faithfully attending our Tuesday night Bible studies and Sunday chapels for a few months now. He is a sweet-natured, slightly goofy 20 year-old with longish hair, a beard and big brown eyes. Over the last few months we've watched Dave come out of his shell and interact more during our studies. We've also seen his excitement and interest in Jesus grow.

Dave is going to be released in a few days and will be taking a bus home to the small town where he comes from. We asked him how he was doing as his release day came closer, if his bus ticket was all squared away, etc.

We prayed and began our study of John 5:16-30 (we've been studying through the Gospel of John - even though the inmate population is constantly rotating, Carla and I just keep teaching on whatever comes up next in John). One of the interesting things about John 5:16-30 is the repeated use of the Greek word "krisis", which is where we get our word "crisis". In the Greek, it has roughly the same meaning as it does in English - an upheaval, a turning point (for better or worse), a critical juncture. I have heard that when the word "crisis" was translated into the Chinese written language, they combined the characters for "danger" and "opportunity". In the NIV, the word "krisis" is translated as "judgment" (v. 22), "condemned" (v. 24), "judgment" (v. 27), "condemned" (v. 29) and "judgment" (v. 30). Based on that, one can pretty clearly see a presupposition towards eternal judgment and condemnation on the part of the NIV translators.

In John 5:16-30 Jesus was speaking to the Jewish authorities. It was the Pharisees who placed their hope in resurrection, while the Sadducees did not. The Pharisees believed that only the righteous (meaning themselves) would be resurrected, while the Sadducees didn't believe in the resurrection at all. Jesus is telling them that the resurrection will occur, but that He will be the one who brings it about. Furthermore, some will be resurrected into life eternal but some will be resurrected into "crisis". That which is evil, sinful and of death must be seperated and destroyed. This reminds me of Paul's language in 1 Corinthians about those who will be saved, but "as though through a fire". Carla, Dave and I discussed what it might be like for those who have lived a life of evil-doing to find themselves resurrected and surrounded by pure light and love and goodness and truth. Ackward to say the least! "Crisis" seems to be a very good word for what that will be like. Yet, I believe that the purpose of the crisis will be to ultimately redeem and restore the person, though the experience may be excruciating. This reminds me of a speech I once saw given by a man who was horribly burned in an industrial accident. At one point in his story the man explained how one of the treatments at the burn unit of the hospital was to lower the patients into vats of purified water and have the nurses scrub off the dead skin, while the patients screamed in agony. It had to be done in order to prevent infection and save their lives. That which was dead had to be seperated in order to restore life. That seems to me a pretty good description of an extreme "crisis".

Of course, there was another "crisis" looming on the horizon for the Jewish authorities that Jesus was speaking to in John 5, namely the seige of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple that would occur in 70 A.D.

During our Bible study, Dave talked about how being arrested and sent to jail had been a crisis for him. He said that he would always look back upon this time as a turning point in his life. This was the first time he had been in serious trouble with the law. He had come from a broken home and had been kicked out of the house by his domineering father and step-mother when he was 15. Since that time he had moved around from friend's house to friend's house in the small town where he had grown up. He had "allowed himself to be tempted" and committed a serious but non-violent crime, which landed him in jail. During his time in jail he had read The Purpose Driven Life and become serious about following Jesus.

Dave had decided to try to make amends when he got home with the people that he had affected, including friends and family that he felt he had taken advantage of. Carla warned him that those closest to him might not be able to see the change ("a prophet is honored everywhere except in his home town") and to not be discouraged by that. She shared some other words of wisdom with him that were very direct and specific and could only have come through the Holy Spirit. In the Vineyard we learned to call this divine insight "words of knowledge". After Carla spoke Dave thanked her, as tears welled up in his eyes.

Dave told us that, as a child, he had always walked around staring at the ground. He had been so dominated and put down by his father that he didn't look up. Now he was looking up again. Rather than focusing on his shortcomings and sin he was focusing on Jesus and on following Jesus. He was looking up and looking forward.

As our time drew to a close Dave thanked us again and told us he was so grateful that we had had this special time together - just the three of us (and God). He said that we had been like "surrogate parents" to him while he had been in jail. Then he hugged us.

It stuck me, here was this 20 year old young man, not so very different from my 19 year old son that I had wanted to stay home and hang out with. Only Dave had been damaged and beaten down and abandoned and incarcerated by sin. It had led him to a crisis. And now he was being healed and restored and encouraged. Carla and I had been honored to see part of that process occur and now our hearts were broken for Dave and we knew we would continue to pray for him and wonder and worry about how he was doing after returning home.

When we arrived home from the jail I gave my son a hug and told him how much I loved him.