“Therefore put
to death your members which are on the earth: fornication,
uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which
is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5)
We’re pleased to have been part of the
Kairos Prison Ministry, which sponsors three-day weekends
designed to “jump-start” prisoners out of mere anger and
depression, into the love and grace of Jesus Christ. The
weekends are followed by periodic reunions with the
prisoners and the attempt is always to form an “inside team”
to continue the work (the joy) within the prison. I’m
increasingly unable to be a part of that ministry because of
other commitments, but I’ve seen this: The prisoners DO have
their lives changed by what they experience, and there’s
more – The “outside team” is also changed as they encounter
these men (and women) and the realities of life inside
prison.
For one thing, we have seen that the
“prisoners” we meet are just people. They are not any more
strange than the rest of us, and all who meet them are
struck by the reality that, with just a couple of different
outcomes, “This could be MY life! I could be in prison,
too!” And we could.
Here is a key reason why you and I
should visit and comfort prisoners: Because we are
prisoners, too. We may not be locked up in a jail, but all
of humanity is locked-up in sin, which may be defined as
selfishness and self-centeredness along with a hatred of the
limitations we face; often manifested as bad treatment of
others.
You might wonder: What if the prisoners
were in charge of the prison? How would things be
different? When I read the daily newspapers, it occurs to
me that this life here on earth is much like the prisoners
ARE in charge of the institution. This planet could easily
be the insane asylum of the universe, where other
civilizations routinely dump trouble-makers. The only other
idea that would explain murder, which is a form of insanity,
as is theft, along with lying, gossip and the other many
forms of mental illness that are manifested all around us,
is that all of us are simply sinners, just as the Bible
teaches (1 Corinthians 3:23).
ChristianGlobe.com reports that the
following was in an article from “Today
in the Word,” dated July 12, 1993: “After
a wealthy contractor had finished building the Tombs prison
in New York, he was found guilty of forgery and sentenced to
several years in the prison he had built! As he was escorted
into a cell of his own making, the contractor said, ‘I never
dreamed when I built this prison that I would be an inmate
one day.’” We create our own problems, prisons of
our own making, far more than we will ever know in this
life.
The context of our Scripture verse for
today, offers much that will set us free. You’ll recall
that verse, which says, “Therefore
put to death your members which are on the earth:
fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and
covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5).
The problem is that anybody who has tried unsuccessfully to
keep “New Years resolutions” knows that we lack the strength
to “put to death” evil
desires.”
Indeed, the last section of Colossians
Chapter Two, addresses the reason for that problem: There is
“an appearance of wisdom in
self-imposed religion, false humility and neglect of the
body, but (they) are of no
value against the indulgence of the flesh”
(Colossians 2:23 – NKJV). As the Living Bible put it, “They
only make him proud.” Chapter 3 begins with the
assumption that those who want to escape the base
depravities of this life, will be “raised
with Christ,” enabled to seek “those
things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the
right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1). When you have
received Jesus Christ, you have “died”
(to the things of this world) and you will find “your
life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).
We cannot be free alone, but Christ in you WILL set you
free.
Those who are changed by Christ have
available to them the strength (His strength, not our own)
to “put to death” attitudes,
actions and emotions like “fornication”
(sex outside of marriage), “uncleanness”
(impure thoughts and actions), “passion”
(suffering due to passionate desires) “evil
desire” (lust), and “covetousness”
(an endless desire for more). Not only do bad attitudes and
actions hurt other people, but they also ruin any chance you
might have for happiness. We need the help of the Lord.
Paul (the writer of the Letter to the
Colossians) later adds to the list of thoughts and actions
that we are to “put off”
(get rid of) including: “anger,
wrath, malice, blasphemy,” and “filthy
language” (Colossians 3:8). Precisely how does God “put
off” things like your “anger,”
since most people have ingrained tendencies toward subtle or
overt anger, stemming from incidents we don’t even remember,
like not getting our needs met, early in life? The answer
again is: we can’t directly “put
off” anything, but He can.
To “put off”
is to repent. You don’t want to be angry anymore, and so:
Take your anger to God! He has “broad shoulders” and is not
at all surprised that you are angry. He is the only place
you can take your anger where it will not return – “If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”
(1 John 1:9). The second step is to “put
on the new man” (Colossians 1:10). “Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things
have passed away; behold, all things have become new”
(2 Corinthians 5:17). We not only repent, but we also
RECEIVE Christ.
When you give your heart and life to
Christ, you enter a lifelong process in which you will want
to give Him your evil desires. He will forgive them, and
you will be changed by the love of God in Christ Jesus. As
stated, Paul (and the Holy Spirit) refers to the “new
man” (in us),
who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him
who created him” (Colossians 3:10). This is actually
much more than getting help – this is a whole new NATURE,
given to those who trust in Him.
To some extent we will be “inmates” all
of our lives on this earth. But consider the prisoners that
are part of the Kairos Prison Ministry – Their BODIES are
still in prison, but their hearts are free. Paul the
Apostle, though innocent, was often in jail, and he was
finally executed for crimes he did not commit. But he was
always free in this life – in Christ. And though dead to
this world, he LIVES in another!
Father, we confess that we are
sinners. Please forgive us our sins. We ask that You will
“put to death” the evil tendencies within us, and set us
free. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit and let us know the joy
of the Lord. In Jesus Name. Amen.
