Extending Grace and Mercy Where it is Least Deserved

This past week Doug Tjapkes from Humanity for Prisoners came to speak to a small group of prisoners at the Handlon Correctional Facility where I am housed. Doug is one of a few big-hearted prisoner advocates who recognize that not all prisoners are guilty (he helped to free at least one prisoner), and that those who are guilty are still worthy of love.

Doug, and the volunteers who work with him, tirelessly help prisoners address medical and administrative issues when very few people care to make that investment. He and his volunteers also help lifer prisoners who are facing a public hearing or other prisoners who are preparing to see the parole board put their best foot forward.

One of the things that Doug said when he was here really stuck out to me. Doug is a Christian, and as such he often approaches churches about funding for his organization. Yet, according to Doug, very few churches are interested in helping prisoners, a class of people who Christians (and other religious people) have traditionally avoided. In my experience, there are plenty of large-hearted Christians who believe the Bible when it says to "remember the prisoners as if chained with them (Hebrews 13:3). But it is also my experience that there are plenty of Christians who would rather turn a blind eye to the dregs of society and stay in their safe, comfortable bubbles. It's a shame that Doug cannot find churches who are willing to be part of a ministry of help to people who do not deserve it. Bryan Stevenson, the author of Just Mercy, said that true mercy is that which is extended to those who do not deserve it. Christians would call this grace. Too many Christians want God's undeserved grace, but then they fail to extend it to others who likewise don't deserve it. 

The fact is that helping prisoners in any way is culturally unpopular. It may also open one up to being taken advantage of. Some prisoners just want someone who will take care of their financial needs while they are incarcerated. But God does not call us to minister only where it is safe. He calls us to minister to those who are cultural pariahs. God has a heart for the marginalized of society. This means the fatherless, widows, foreigners, and yes, the prisoners. Before I came to prison, I was one of those comfortable "Christian" people who found ways to minister to others which felt safe. Now, I recognize the hypocrisy of this behavior. Showing grace and mercy to others is never safe; extending grace and mercy where it is not deserved always costs us something, but it is what we are called to do.

It is time for Christians to be characterized by compassion. Jesus was known for his compassion towards people who did not deserve it (in the culture's eyes). We too ought to open our hearts and minds to the example of Jesus in extending grace and mercy in ways that will shock cultural expectations. It is time for Christians to become a part of the redemptive work of Christ by reaching those who most need the redemption.