I’m staring at barbed-wire. It looks sharp. It surrounds a building that is very secure. Inside are inmates who are in cells that are very secure. How is it that someone arrives at a point in their life that they are so restricted? Can you imagine being such a person? Consider the prospect of being forcefully taken to where you don’t want to go. You are removed from your loved ones. Your friends. Your comforts. The underlying message? You must pay for how you have harmed us (society) and you are presently not welcome on our streets.
Even after working in Corrections for so long, I still look at this notion of incarcerating people and think about how unnatural and bizarre it all seems. Yet, I know it is necessary. I know that if such institutions did not exist, there would be a lot more people in our communities looking to harm others, or behave in very bad ways. Our society would be chaotic.
I also know that incarceration starts long before the police bring a person to a Correctional Facility.
An example of the attitudes and ideas that move people toward such an outcome is detailed in the book of Proverbs, the second chapter.
11 If they say, “Come along with us;
let’s lie in wait for innocent blood,
let’s ambush some harmless soul;
12 let’s swallow them alive, like the grave,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
13 we will get all sorts of valuable things
and fill our houses with plunder;
14 cast lots with us;
we will all share the loot”—
15 my son, do not go along with them,
do not set foot on their paths;
16 for their feet rush into evil,
they are swift to shed blood.
Did you hear the chain being built link by link with each idea?
People who hold such a perspective are in the:
- Prison of hate
- Prison of violence
- Prison of destruction
- Prison of greed
- Prison of dishonesty
The truth is that for many who hold such attitudes, they are reserving their prison cell (if they survive at all). It is also true that they are already shackled in their heart. Chained to a life of darkness and ruin (if not in this life, than the next). What amazes me is that I work with inmates all the time who find it hard to believe that they ended up in jail and their life is in ruins. Yet they held such destructive attitudes for so long. What is also amazing is that many of them are quick to blame others for what they have done.
Jesus was very clear that our thoughts can be dangerous, destructive, and sinful. He taught that thinking certain thoughts are similar to actually doing them.
Matthew, chapter five, contains examples of this:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’[e] 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
““You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,[a] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister[b][c] will be subject to judgment.”
One of the things that I have learned about the criminal mindset is that it is a precursor to actual incarceration.
On a different level, I wonder if we have any attitudes or plans that are sure to lead us down a trail of trouble and destruction. We must guard against being deceived. Just because we haven’t had any problems, doesn’t mean that our thinking isn’t problematic.
How much better to just live as God has called us. Nobody want to end up in trouble. Nobody wants to be in bondage (physical or otherwise). Instead, let’s cling to this great truth:
“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” 2 Corinthians 3:17
For Him,
Rob